By Myra Bean

The Como Mayor and Board of Aldermen had an extended agenda to get through last Tuesday, April 9, at its monthly board meeting.

The first item of new business was a complaint from Mrs. Gravatt about getting copies of the dockets of claims. She questioned the addition of money in columns. She said the city clerk never talks directly to her but through the Mayor.

The claim dockets are hard to read and some of the entries are questionable, Gravatt said.

When it was City Clerk Alice Houston’s turn, she accused Gravatt of being rude and said she does not have to speak to her.

Houston explained how the claim dockets are printed out in Excel and that she has to keep reading across more than one page to get the total balances.

Grants

Lillian Morris-Hilson appeared before the board for grant projects through North Delta Planning and Placement. They rated engineering proposals for the completion of the preliminary designs for the project.

Bids were received from Elliot-Britt and Cook-Coggin.

The board did not make a decision because they wanted to read over what the engineers submitted. They will meet later and make a decision.

The JAG grant the town received for police equipment is waiting for reimbursement. The equipment has been purchased, according to Morris-Hilson. It was a $5,000. The town will be reimbursed $3,800 for the 20 percent match.

The Delta Regional Authority grant for $500,000 is still waiting on the application from the USDA which is $4.3 million. Once they received the money for that, can start construction on the sewer project.

The CDBG application is due to Mississippi Development Authority May 17. The town is considering applying for infrastructure improvement.

A public hearing for that grant will be April 30 at 4 p.m. at the Town Hall. In 2014, they did a USDA resolution for the purchase of police vehicles. They did surveys and the town became eligible for 75 percent grants.

They approved the USDA resolution to apply for community facilities grant.

Stray Animals

Mrs. Ford approached the board about the escalating problem of stray dogs showing up at her place. Police Chief Earl Burdette said he did not have any way to transport or any place to take the animals if he was able to catch them.

Alderman Melvin Crockett spoke up and told the crowded room that shooting animals is against the law. Right now, the city does not have an answer for stray animals.