By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
Sept. 19, 2001
Meridian City Council members voted Tuesday night to give people six months to upgrade their single-wide manufactured homes to double-wide manufactured homes.
The provision was an amendment to the city's zoning ordinance; the council approved the amendment 4-1. The council rejected a recommendation by the mayor and city planners opposing the amendment.
Ward 5 Councilman Bobby Smith cast the sole vote against the amendment, calling it a Band-Aid solution to the manufactured home issue.
The mayor has 10 days to veto the council's decision. If he vetoes the measure, the council can try to override it at their next regular meeting.
A veto override requires at least four votes.
In other business, city councilmen voted 3-2 to hire William E. "Bill" Stewart as Meridian's new director of Public Works.
Mayor John Robert Smith recommended the hire Tuesday night, saying that Stewart has the "leadership skills, the administrative skills and the organizational skills" to do the job.
Stewart was deputy director of McComb's Department of Public Works and a private business owner for nine years.
Councilmen Bobby Smith of Ward 5 and Jesse Palmer Sr. of Ward 4 voted against hiring Stewart.
Smith said he was disappointed the mayor didn't appoint a senior city employee to the position. Palmer said he didn't want to give the job to a non-Meridian resident; he said he also didn't know about the appointment until Tuesday morning.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3275, or e-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.