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Wesson gets grant for emergency sirens

Wesson mayor Alton Shaw reported at Wednesday’s meeting of the Board of Aldermen that the town had been approved to receive a sizeable grant to help with the town’s emergency broadcast system.

Homeland Security will be sending Wesson $29,000 to purchase two new modern emergency alert sirens that are identical to those place in Georgetown in 2007.  Of the two, one is a replacement for an aging siren on the north end of town, and the other is an additional one that will be employed at a location that will be deteremined later.  Both will have public address options, allowing emergency personnel to broadcast updated weather and civil defense advisories from the national authorities, along with regular siren alerts.

“We needed these badly,” Shaw said, and added, “the new sirens add another layer of protection for our citizens.”

The new sirens will be installed soon, and “hopefully in time for the major storm season in spring,” Shaw concluded.

In police matters, Steven Carlisle, Chief of the Wesson Police Department, asked the board to declare as surplus a vehicle that had been seized several weeks ago, so that the department could sell it for the revenue.  On a unanimous voice vote, the board acquiesced to Carlisle’s request.

The board briefly discussed pay adjustments for all police officers before approving an across the board cost of living adjustment for the department.

The board also passed a motion that allows the town’s attorney, Dudley Lampton, to seek a remedy in Copiah County Chancery Court to a legal matter involving a possible public hazard on private property on the corner of Short Street and East Railroad Street.  The decision will put the outcome of the matter into the courts, since the property owner failed to take action to secure the property after several official requests by the town were ignored.

Claims for December were nearly $45,000 and approved by board action before the body recessed until Tuesday, February 5 at 7 o’clock in the evening.  The board meets monthly on the first Tuesday at Wesson Town Hall, and the public is encouraged to attend each time.

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