By John Howell

Today’s First Tuesday meeting of Batesville’s mayor and aldermen includes a one hour earlier starting time and four public hearings.

At 1 p.m. the mayor and aldermen will meet with Will Polk and Associates CPA Bill Crawford to consider amending the 2016 budget.

Public hearings are scheduled at 3 p.m. to consider Jeremy Jackson’s request for a variance to manufactured home design standards for 319 Patton Lane, to consider Joe Snyder’s request for a conditional use permit that will allow him to operate the “Shrimp Man” at 490 Highway 6 East and to consider Woody Loden IV’s request to rezone his C-3 property at 569 Highway 6 West to C-2.

The fourth public hearing will consider an amendment to design standards for mobile and manufactured homes.

Attorney Al Welshans is scheduled to represent TG Missouri Corporation in their application for ad valorem tax exemption during today’s meeting. Welshans states that the manufacturer that operates its facility under the name Toyoda Gosei in the W. M. Harmon Industrial Complex  added $3.7 million in personal property to the facility during 2015, creating 15 new full-time jobs.

Training requests for city fire and police personnel are included in the consent agenda to be considered today. Police Chief Tony Jones is seeking approval to send Patrol Officer Steve McLarty to Oxford for Radar and LiDar for instructor certification.

(LiDar calculates speeds by measuring the return time of a laser beam emitted from the device to be reflected back to it. We were somewhat disappointed to learn that it was not some new type of lie detector.)

Detective Tommy Crutcher and patrol officer Wesley Hawkins will attend pharmaceutical diversion training in Raymond, pending board approval.

The consent agenda also includes Fire Chief Tim Taylor’s request that James Bryant, Layth Terry and Jason Turner be allowed to attend Fire Officer I-II class at the Mississippi Fire Academy.