The Northside Sun from Jackson, Mississippi • Page 1

THE WEEKLY $16 For A Year. Call 957-1122 9,337 Riid Circulation; 28,01 1 Readership a Jackson, Mississippi For 28 Years, Covering Northeast Jackson, Madison, Ridgeland and Northwest Rankin Two sections, 24 ftiges, so cents, ihursday, March 7, 1 996 CREWS RUNNING BEHIND SCHEDULE Ice storm clean-up costing city thousands 1 nil, fr ft- much storm debris there would be, but people have used this as an opportunity to put everything out. We have people who are trimming trees, and more is being put out than just storm debris, and we're not going to leave someone's stuff out there. It's just better to go ahead and get it all." The clean-up effort began February 1 2 in the area north of Woodrow Wilson Avenue and west of 1-55. That portion of the city was designated "zone one" when the solid waste division divided Jackson into four sections and ranked them in order of storm debris severity.

Northeast Jackson, stretching from Lakeland Drive to County Line Road east of 1-55, was determined to be second in order of priority. Clean-up efforts here are expected to take a little over a week. "With zone two," Perry said, "we're going to do the main thoroughfares first. We'll do Ridgewood Road, for example, then work our way to the residential streets. (See CLEAN-UP, Page 18A) cost of operating the rubbish fill.

When we finally have all of it calculated, we will factor in the cost of operating the rubbish fill as well as the cost for operating the equipment and for hiring the men to work extra hours." The city rubbish fill's operating costs are incurred mainly through the use of a front-end loader located there. The city had looked into the possibility of chipping the debris for use as mulch, but the equipment needed was determined to be too expensive and process too time consuming. Perry said. CITY CREWS BEGAN collecting storm debris from northeast Jackson neighborhoods and thoroughfares near the end of last week. Workers collecting the debris had arrived in the area a little behind schedule, partly due to the actions of a few opportunistic homeowners, Perry said.

"We're three days behind schedule," Perry said, "and BY JOHN DILMORE Sun Staff Writer RESTORING JACKSON to its pre-ice storm 1996 form is shaping up to be a fairly costly endeavor. Conservative estimates for the city-wide clean-up project, which is being coordinated and carried out by the Department of Public Works' Solid Waste, Division, place its cost in excess of $75,000. Alice Perry, manager of the Solid Waste Division, said city crews are working six 10-hour days a week collecting ice storm debris and transporting them by the ton to the city's rubbish fill. This work schedule is costing the city considerably in overtime paid to employees working on the clean-up project and in vehicle operation and maintenance costs. "We don't have the total figures yet," Perry said, "but with what we have figured so far, it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of of $75,000.

"That is just an estimate, and it does not include the Pl10 by Beth Buckley Piles of storm debris lines North Jackson streets including these along Briarwood Drive it's frustrating. There was more of it than we realized. "I think we did an excellent job in anticipating how Fulfilling wishes Reservoir officials consider swapping land for services Redrawing lines could delay vote -v. A 4- divisions, Griffin said. "The only difference here is for the developer," Griffin said, "who would normally have to bid competitively for the district land and then promise to make minimum lease payments per acre until it was sold off.

The developer here doesn't have to make the minimum lease payments, because those payments don't start until the individual purchaser buys a lot from the develop- welcome PAI1HELLEI1IC TEW T0URM. AN APRIL 2 SPECIAL election to fill a vacant City of Madison alderman seat could be delayed to redraw ward voting lines in the city, only if a court orders the lines redrawn, said a spokesman from the Attorney General's office last Friday. "They (Madison) do not have the 'authority on their own to decide they're not going to fill the vacancy 'in accordance with state law," said Assistant Attorney General Phil Carter. But, Carter said, if a court issued an order to delay the elections for the implementation of the new ward lines, then the city would have to delay filling the vacancy. The board of aldermen set the date to fill the Ward 4 alderman seat at the February 20 meeting, 31 days and two regularly scheduled meetings after Griff Weaver resigned amid allegations of fraud in his business dealings.

State law requires that if a vacancy occurred in a municipal office, then at the next regular meeting or within 10 days of the vacancy, a special election should be ordered and held within a 30 to 45 day period. (See ELECTION, Page 3A) PEARL RIVER VALLEY Water Supply District (PRVWSD) officials are considering a deal that would see an approximately 25-acre tract of land donated to the district by a local developer in exchange for water and sewer service to the area. The land, located east of Highway 471, south of Holly Bush Road, and adjacent to the Bay Pointe Golf Course, is being offered to the district by the Jackson-based development company ETE Homes, Inc. PRVWSD Director Ken Griffin said closure of the deal would mark a first for the district. "There have been many requests by developers over the years for the district to provide water and sewer service outside the district, and we've been reluctant to do that.

"Our response has always been 'well, if you want to donate the land to the district, we can Somebody has come forward with such an offer." Under the agreement being considered by the PRVWSD, the developer would sell off sections of the land, which is planned for residential development, at a profit, while assigning reservoir leases to each individual purchaser. The purchasers would become responsible for making annual lease payments to the district, which would provide water and sewer service to their homes. For the purchasers, the process would be no different from that involved in taking up residence in other reservoir sub EXACTLY HOW MUCH lease payments will run for purchasers of the land has yet to be determined, but Griffin said they will likely be comparable to the fees charged other homeowners in the Bay Pointe area, or in the $500 range. District officials had many things to consider while weighing the offer made by ETE, most importantly whether or not providing sewer service to the land would impact already existing reservoir properties. "We asked ourselves 'will this hurt us in terms of providing sewer capacity to all of the current district properties on the north After a detailed look at waste water flow, and the capacity of lines and pump stations, the answer to that question was "Also, it would not preclude us from accepting other offers if someone comes forward with a similar deal in the future." In anticipation of other similar (See RESERVOIR, Page 3A) Spring ladies' tournament The Sixth Annual Panhellenic Ladies Doubles Tennis Tournament, a round robin tournament, will be March 23 at Ridgeland Tennis Center, beginning at 8:30 a.m.

Proceeds from the event will be donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Mississippi and to a Panhellenic Scholarship Award. Warm up and check in is at 8 a.m. The entry fee is $20 per person and includes door prizes, snacks, beverages and awards. Organizing the event are (from left) Lori Newcomb, Sherri Russell, Ginger Wiggins and Ann Heason. Businessmen hire attorney to fight city Delay in equipment slows reservists training BY TERRY BRAMLETT Sun Staff Writer SEVERAL RIDGELAND business owners have hired an attorney to challenge the 1991 Ridgeland sign ordinance which went fully into effect February 3 of this year.

"We decided we're going to have to litigate," said George Mandas, owner of the Village Mall on Old Canton Road in Ridgeland. Mandas said he and fellow businessman Ben Duckworth would collect fees from the other participants in the lawsuit and put the money into an account that attorney Mark D. Herbert can draw upon for expenses in the case. "We are proceeding to get ready to file suit," Herbert said. The February 3 deadline, five years from the adoption of the ordinance, was only for businesses with signs that had original construction costs of over $7,000.

All other signs should have already been in compliance with the ordinance. Mike McCollum, a building official and zoning administrator for the city, said no fines had been assessed in relation to the deadline. "We have to give 30 days notice before citations can be written," McCollum said. "Everybody that is in violation (of the ordinance) has been given notice." Citations won't be written until the middle of March, McCollum said. But Herbert said that it would be best for all involved in the potential lawsuit if the fine enforcement was delayed.

"We have requested the city attorney to discuss with the city the possibility of a moratorium on enforcing the penalties while this matter is in the courts," Herbert said. "We're going to file suit one way or another," Herbert continued, "but this would make things easier and more amicable, at least." "We haven't been notified of anything, yet," FORTY-SDC POLICE academy graduates were inducted into the ranks of the Jackson Police Department's reserve unit near the end of last month, increasing the department's reserve unit manpower to 101 officers. The 46 new reservists, who were graduated February 23, are currently training for duty at precincts throughout the city, including Northeast Jackson's precinct four. But their training is being hampered somewhat by a lack of equipment. JPD Reserve Lieutenant Tim O'Leary, a minister who operates Spirit ChurchTim O'Leary Ministries in Ridgeland, said red tape, as well as funding shortages, had played a part in the officers being without equipment.

"We had put in an order for supplies to equip this class last (See RESERVISTS, Page 2A) Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee said last week. "All of it is heresay to me at this time." MCGEE SAID THE comments his office has received from the community have been overwhelmingly positive. "We think we are right on the line and we're doing the right thing," MeGee said. "As a matter of fact, most businesses are willing to come into compliance." The public has commented on the "aesthetic improvements" in the look of the city since the ordinance went into effect over the last five years, McGee said. Some businesses have reported to McGce that complying with the sign ordinance has increased the effectiveness of their signs.

In the opening section of the sign ordinance, assisting businesses with providing signage which directs customers to individual business-(See SIGNS, Page 18A)) Court to hear arguments in apartment battle ARGUMENTS ON SEVERAL motions will be made tomorrow in Madison Circuit Court concerning a two and one-half year court battle over the right of a Ridgeland-based developer to build apartments inside the City of Madison. Judge John Toney set the March 8 date for the hearing after several motions were filed by developer Steve Bryan and the City of Madison, adversaries in the case. "The City submits that this litigation is now mix Madison's city attorney wrote in a motion asking Toney to dismiss the legal action since Bryan no longer has an option to purchase the propertv on Locust Lane where the upscale (See APARTMENTS, Page 3A EX Public hearing scheduled on Corps flood solution report 12A J6-17A 13A 4A KX1S For the latest in Northside fashion lookforthe Northside Sun's spring fashion edition. Coming March 14 13A 5-6A 14-15A 1-6B 9-11A there is a federal interest in the plan, and that a non-federal interest is willing to participate in the project, we ould be ready to go into design and eventually into construction. But a key component is having a non-federal sponsor which is capable of participating in the project." The flood control project was dealt a serious blow last week when a bill which would have made the Pearl River Basin Development District (PRBDD) its non-federal sponsor died on the floor of the State House of Representatives.

As the non-federal sponsor, the PRBDD would have been allowed to issue $45 million worth of bonds to pick up the state's end of the (See HEARING, Page 18A) A PUBLIC MEETING will be held tonight at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum for those wishing to voice their opinions on a U.S Army Corps of Engineers report on a possible solution to future Pearl River flooding. Corps of Engineers representatives will present findings of a feasibility study which has been in the works for more than four years. The study has explored the possibility of building a new system of levees throughout the area and increasing the height of existing levees. Gregg Ruff, a project engineer with the Corps, said the feasibility study has all but been completed.

"Basically, we're at the very latter stages of this feasibility study. If it is determined that No. 17 i.