Members of the Hattiesburg City Council voted 5-0 Tuesday to fund the creation of six new part-time firefighter positions in hopes of alleviating mounting overtime expenses in the Hattiesburg Fire Department.
The newly-created positions will cost the city $109,620 annually, but will be enough to cover the expense of 30 shifts per month at $13 an hour.
Most firefighters generally work for 24 hours straight and then have 48 hours of leave before they must report for another 72-hour shift. When someone calls in sick or takes a vacation, a substitute who is already working a full-time schedule is able to accrue 24 hours of overtime on a single shift – leading to the increase in overtime wages.
Under the city’s new plan, the part-time positions will be filled with qualified individuals from neighboring departments. In addition to saving money, city officials believe it could also serve as a way to recruit firefighters, who will have an opportunity to see the inner workings of the Hattiesburg Fire Department.
NEW HOME
During the meeting, councilmembers voted unanimously to make way for a permanent site for the home where Oseola McCarty, Southern Miss’ most-famous benefactor, once lived.
The small, two-bedroom home where she lived was originally located near Hattiesburg High School, but it was moved to Miller Street during the construction of the school’s football stadium. Its permanent home will be near the African American Military History Museum and the new Eureka School Museum in the city’s Sixth Street Museum District.
McCarty, who died in 1999, gifted her life’s savings to the University of Southern Mississippi to help provide college scholarships for African-American students.
To make way for the relocation of the home, which was purchased in a tax sale by the Hattiesburg Convention Commission, the council agreed to grant a conditional use for the home to be used as a museum and closed and vacated an unused alleyway where the home will eventually be placed.
Rick Taylor, executive director of the convention commission, told city officials the site prep and renovation of the home will take 12 to 18 months to complete.
Once completed, the new museum would be Hattiesburg Convention Commission’s seventh tourism facility. The commission currently operates the Hattiesburg Zoo, Lake Terrace Convention Center, Saenger Theater, African American Military History Museum, Eureka School Museum and Hattiesburg Visitors Center.
CLEAN-UP COSTS
The council also voted 5-0 to approve the assessment of nearly $70,000 in clean-up costs on a dozen dilapidated and unkept properties located in Wards 2 and 4, including:
** 311 Park Avenue owned by Merritt, Inc. ($9,615).
** 2011 Brooklane Dr. owned by American Pride Properties ($25,893).
** 1016 Franklin St. owned by Angela Davis ($5,505).
** 905 Duke Ave. owned by Earl & Lulsa Mae Collum ($13,935).
** 911 Duke Ave. owned by Barbara Jean Keys ($5,250).
** 441 W. 4th St. owned by Alcus & Ashley Hudson ($125).
** 1016 Dewey St. owned by HL&C Forrest, LLC ($110).
** 115 S. 10th Ave. owned by Ann McBride Miles ($135).
** 1108 W. 4th St. owned by Heritage Investments, Inc. ($175).
** 700 Walnut St. owned by Nancy Horne ($100).
** 306 J.D. Randolph St. owned by Mary Graham Lott ($13,577).
** 308 Mable St. owned by Gus Timothy Georgian ($4,303)
