The City of Biloxi will help children and adults learn the ins and outs of bicycle safety, bike riding and bike repairs during a session Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the parking lot at the Walmart Supercenter in west Biloxi.
The free event is in celebration of bicycle month and will include an obstacle course, tips on buying a helmet and how to make bike repairs, and will offer a chance to register your bike with the Biloxi Police Department to deter theft.
Children are encouraged to bring their own bike and helmet, but are not required to do so.
Free refreshments will be served, and Walmart will give away two bicycles as door prizes.
The weekend preview: To see a preview of the weekend’s entertainment lineup, courtesy of listings from the Mississippi Gulf Coast Convention and Visitors Bureau, click here.
Council meeting preview: New fire chief on agenda
Mayor A.J. Holloway on Tuesday will ask the Biloxi City Council to confirm the appointment of Anthony Shook as the new chief of the Biloxi Fire Department.
Shook, 47, joined the fire department in November 1988. He was promoted to the rank of captain in February 2001 and became a battalion chief in August 2004. Fire department veteran Mark Dronet has served as acting director since the retirement of longtime Fire Chief David Roberts, whose departure became official May 7.
The Shook resolution is one of 17 measures on the council agenda for Tuesday. The meeting begins at 1:30 at City Hall.
Among the other issues: A resolution of intent to borrow $14 million for streets and drainage repairs not included in the $355 million FEMA program, three zoning issues, and a measure to spend $129,000 to replace an air conditioning chiller at the Lopez-Quave Public Safety Center that was damaged in Hurricane Isaac.
To read the entire agenda and available resolutions, click here.
Runoffs to be settled in Tuesday balloting
Voters in Wards 3, 4 and 6 will be asked to decide runoffs in those respective wards on Tuesday.
Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and all registered voters are eligible to vote in those wards — regardless of whether you voted on May 7.
The races are:
— In Ward 3, Dixie Newman and Joy Barhanovich Tucei will compete for the Republican nomination.
— In Ward 4, Robert Collier faces Robert L. Deming III.
— In Ward 6, Edward “Ed” Gemmill faces Kenny Glavan.
The winner in the Ward 3 race will face Democratic nominee and incumbent Lucy C. Denton in June.
City releases annual water quality report
Biloxi residents have known for years that they have some of the lowest water, sewer and garbage rates of any community in the state, and a new report confirms that the city’s drinking water meets or exceeds federal and state requirements.
The city’s Annual Report on the Quality of Drinking Water, a scorecard mandated by the state Department of Health, will be mailed next week to the city’s 13,717 water customers and will be published in The Biloxi-D’Iberville Press. A copy of the new report -– and reports for previous years — can also be seen online.
The four-page consumer-confidence report provides “detailed information on the quality of water and related services, and determines the overall susceptibility that the source of our water faces from identified potential contaminants.”
Biloxi’s municipal water is provided by a series of city-maintained wells located throughout the community.
Read the reports: To see a link to the 2013 report — and to see an archive of previous reports —
click here.
Compare the bills: To see a comparison of water, sewer and garbage fees for Gulf Coast communities, click here.
News and notes
Looking forward: The inauguration ceremony to launch the four-year term of elected leaders in Biloxi will be Thursday, June 27 at the Biloxi Civic Center. Members of the City Council have five scheduled meetings remaining on their current four-year term: May 21, May 28, June 11, June 18 and June 25. The first meeting for the new term will be Tuesday, July 2.
Webcasting: Chief Administrative Officer David Nichols has a word or two about the issues du jour in this week’s City Desk webcast. To listen to the program, click here.
Council meeting photos: To see photos from the City Council meeting Tuesday, click here.
Traffic update: To see the latest update on road construction, courtesy of the weekday Traffic Update from the Public Works Department, click here.
