ANNUAL REPORT 2017 meridianms.org We are finding our cadence as a city, marching to the same beat, and MOVING FORWARD AS A COMMUNITY. TABLE OF CONTENTS MAYOR’S LETTER 04 CITY COUNCIL 05 POLICE 11 FIRE 13 PUBLIC SAFETY & TRAINING 15 FINANCE & RECORDS 17 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 21 PUBLIC WORKS 23 PARKS & RECREATION 25 CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 2 To the PEOPLE OF MERIDIAN The City of Meridian, like most cities across the country, has many challenges relating to poverty, aging infrastructure, and competition with online retail, but our opportunities are endless. We have been working diligently to improve the quality of life in our community by increasing our number of officers for public safety, working with numerous agencies for employment opportunities, and focusing on projects that will bring jobs and open the doors to the creative economy. In 2017, the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience began to rise up on the corner of 22nd Avenue and Front Street, John Tampa and Ascent Hospitality crossed the final hurdles with the U.S. Department of the Interior to begin transforming the Threefoot Building into a hotel, and work began to improve our entranceway and streetscape on 22nd Avenue and the interstate. We are finding our cadence as a city, marching to the same beat, and moving forward as a community. Partnerships are becoming stronger, businesses are uniting, and our school systems and institutions of higher learning are collaborating now more than ever. The year 2018 will be a year of challenge and opportunity. We will be focusing on enhancing livability by fixing our sidewalks around downtown and along our main thoroughfares while continuing to make huge strides with our LED lighting initiative. We are focusing heavily on developing our creative economy by building on the strength of our art community and utilizing our local culture as an economic development tool while celebrating our history, architecture, and location. We will continue to seek outside investment, building on the strides made by Bill Hannah and the East Mississippi Business Development Corporation in industrial recruitment. The City of Meridian is poised for growth and the great things to come beyond the horizon. We look forward to an exciting year, filled with hope and optimism because of the City of Meridian’s greatest resource, our people. Percy Bland, III Mayor of Meridian CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 4 CITY COUNCIL George Thomas Ward 1 New development included the openings of two new restaurants located on North Hills Street. Domino’s Pizza opened a newly designed store featuring an open-concept pizza theater or local residents, and Smoothie King offers smoothies with a purpose by providing healthy products for customers. Other big expansions in the area included the openings of an insurance company, a Western and tack store, and a fudge and gift shop. Paving and bridge improvements continued in Ward 1, along with improved LED lighting along Highway 39 North. CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 6 Tyrone Johnson Ward 2 The official opening of the Velma Young Community Center was celebrated with city and county officials coming together. The $2 million facility will host a variety of classes and programs as well as community events. New development in Ward 2 includes the grand opening of the Walmart Neighborhood Market on Highway 39. The construction of the new Tru by Hilton hotel highlights the need for hotel rooms for those visiting the Meridian area. Councilman Johnson also brought the community together with cemetery cleanup events and charity basketball games and programs. 7 CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report Fannie Johnson Ward 3 Last year brought newly paved streets and improved lighting to citizens in Ward 3. Meridian Community College celebrated the reopening of a $6.2 million Workforce Development Center, located on Highway 19 North. This state-of-the-art training center will be a showcase to prospective industry. Councilwoman Johnson supported many initiatives by engaging the community to get involved in education, mentoring, and local events. In December, the Highland Park swimming pool was renamed the Barbara A. Henson Aquatic Center in honor of Henson and her service to the citizens of Meridian. CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 8 Kim Houston Ward 4 2017 was another great year for Ward 4 in that we were able to complete adding playground equipment to James Chaney Park. We also hosted several community meetings to keep Ward 4 residents informed and to address community concerns. New lighting was added to the Southside. Also, issues with paving and dilapidated houses were aggressively addressed. The Sarah’s Daughters Leadership Academy, sponsored by Councilwoman Houston, graduated 19 middle school girls from the program. 9 CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report Weston Lindeman Ward 5 Anticipation continues with the construction of the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience in downtown Meridian. The $49 million project is slated to open in April 2018 and will showcase Mississippi’s legacy and honor Mississippi’s worldwide legends in arts and entertainment. Work on developing the historic Threefoot Building into a Courtyard Marriot hotel began in December. The ribbon cutting of the Fifth Street improvement project promises to bring new development to the historic African American Business District with the opening of Dontea’s Seafood and BBQ and other businesses, including East Mississippi Oral & Facial Surgery, now located at 1212 24th Avenue, and a blood bank on Fourth Street. CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 10 POLICE CITY COUNCIL The Meridian Police Department initiated Phase 1 of its Public Safety Camera Program by installing cameras in strategic locations in the downtown area. These cameras are monitored 24 hours a day by police personnel and will allow for the monitoring of downtown events and other activities that occur in the area. The program will be expanded in 2018 to include other areas throughout the city. The Meridian Police Department continued its Junior Police Academy for children and also reinstituted its Citizens Police Academy 11 CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report in the fall of 2017 to allow citizens to attend a 10-week academy, which focuses on familiarizing attendees with the many facets of police work. Those include, but are not limited to, patrol, investigations, and crime-fighting strategies. The Meridian Police Department continued to emphasize training in 2017 by exceeding all state-required training hours for its officers. Further, all officers were required to attend specialized training in de-escalation techniques and bias-free policing in an effort to improve the relationship between officers and members of the community. CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 12 FIRE The Meridian Fire Department is pleased to report its 2017 accomplishments. The department was truly pumped up when Engine 3 was replaced by a brand new, state-of-the-art, and dual-purpose apparatus. Firefighters will use this new, customized fire apparatus as a ladder truck and a pumper. The Meridian Fire Department is also the proud owner of a shiny new Pierce Arrow XT engine. Both of these machines help us ensure the safety of all our Meridian citizens with fast and efficient equipment. We are also proud of our new smoke detector installation program for our high-risk populations. This program was funded by a federal grant. We have also used federal grant money to obtain updated equipment and supplies. The department has reduced the number of overtime positions by hiring new firefighters. All of these efforts increase our overall efficiency and provide jobs of area residents. Kudos to Firefighter Shannon Mathis, who is our newest graduate of the Smoke Diver Course for Mississippi firefighters. Mathis completed the four-day course, which is known for being the toughest class a firefighter can master. CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 14 PUBLIC SAFETY & TRAINING The Training Facility has hosted a total of 189 classes in 2017, 88 of which were for City of Meridian employees only. The other courses were mostly for law enforcement-related training, including use of the five shooting ranges. Additionally, the facility has hosted two pre-academy law enforcement programs of at least six weeks to prepare Meridian’s newest officers to attend the State Law Enforcement Officer’s Training Academy. The Public Safety Department has worked closely with other local and state agencies to respond to four hazardous materials spills. It assisted with four major community events and, in January 2017, one ice event. The Public Safety Department received one new grant for $75,000 from the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security to further statewide response training, especially in the area of search and rescue. The department continues to serve as the designated lead agency for the State of Mississippi for NASAR (National Association of Search And Rescue) training, having hosted three classes on-site and three off-site. The department has also used this grant funding to provide executive-level training in responding to large events at schools or community events. The Training Facility is proud to have been a sponsor for the 2017 4-H District Shooting Competition and two Junior Police Academies for area youth. 15 CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report CITY OF MERIDIAN 2017 Annual Report 16 FINANCE & RECORDS Finance & Records had many accomplishments for 2017. The department worked to improve the infrastructure of the city with the issuance of $20 million in general obligation bonds for the construction of the Mississippi Arts + Entertainment Experience. These 20-year bonds are paid from a special 2 percent prepared food and beverage tax approved by Meridian residents. In addition, we identified and worked with an architect to replace the roof of the Meridian Museum of Art; the old Carnegie Library building was completed in 1913 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.