Selma City Council wants details on roads, rebuilding and credit rating

The Selma City Council wants details about road repairs, housing ordinances and plans to refinance the city’s budget-choking loan.

At their Feb. 8 work session, Public Works Director Henry Hicks told the council he is working on a list of every road repair in the city. “These streets are getting old,” Hicks told the council. “We need to know the priority (of repairs) and where we are.” 

The city council holds its next regular meeting Feb. 13 at 6 p.m.

Hicks said his public works budget is almost depleted, so any major projects will have to be paid with the discretionary funds held by each councilperson and the mayor. Councilperson Jannie Thomas asked if road projects could be paid from about $2 million in business license fees the city has received for electronic gaming machines. 

Council President Billy Young asked Hicks to report to the council about the condition of the infrastructure beneath downtown streets that are about to be repaved using a grant from the Delta Regional Authority. “We don’t want to repave and the next big rain, everything washes out,” Young said.

Young said he also asked a representative of the mayor’s office to submit a plan for rebuilding projects after last year’s tornado so the council can address any needed zoning or building code changes. 

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“I do not want to look silly as a member of this governing body,” Young said. “We need to know what we need to do.” 

For example, Councilman Clay Carmichael said some lots that once held small houses may have to be combined to accommodate a house that meets current housing code. 

“We need to see what changes need to be made (in building and zoning),” Young said. “We want to make sure we’re putting the city in a good position to prosper. This is nothing to fight about. It’s something to solve.” 

Young also asked the mayor’s representative to ask Mayor James Perkins Jr. for an update on efforts to reestablish the city’s credit rating. The city lost its credit rating in the last administration, which means the city can’t refinance a loan whose annual payment has ballooned from about $650,000 to $2.3 million. 

The city has made some progress in refinancing the debt. It has completed three city audits in two years, and it hired a consultant to help them navigate the process of reestablishing the city’s credit rating with rating agency Standard and Poor.