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Giving Teeth to Preserving Historic Homes · Between the Headlines: Columbus

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what he has come up with today to talk about.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm not asking you to hide anything.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, no put it out there.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Let the people see it.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_03: I've never not worked in a hospital working department.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: You can't argue with anybody when they're putting facts in your face.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: Zach, that's a hard question.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: I have no answer for it.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: From the opinion page of the commercial dispatch.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: This is Between the Headlines.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: This week on Between the Headlines, Zach has for us a veritable cornucopia.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: His words of topics.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: We'll start with the historic preservation ordinance, so passed.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: We'll also talk about the Columbus Police Department now having a full roster of officers and trucks on College Street and whatever else.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: But first.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: Retirement looks different for everyone, so your plan should be built around you.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: For over 40 years, Financial Concepts has helped people create retirement strategies that fit their lives.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_02: Our team in Columbus takes the time to understand your goals and build a plan that works for you.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: Wherever you are in your journey, we're ready to help.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: We plan retirement.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_02: Financial Concepts is a registered investment advisor.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_02: This episode of Between the Headlines is brought to you by Bank First, a bank headquartered right here in Columbus, Mississippi.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: That means your banking decisions aren't made hundreds of miles away by someone who doesn't know you.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: They're made here locally by bankers who know your name and care about the community.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: At Bank First, we're more than bankers.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_02: We're your neighbors.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Whether we're cheering in the stands, catching up at a local pancake breakfast, or celebrating milestones across our community, we're part of the moments that matter most.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: Stop by your local Bank First branch or visit BankFirstFS.com to learn more.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_02: Bank First is a member FDIC and Equal Housing lender, Bank NMLS 454063.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_02: In the heart of the friendly city, we welcome you again to Catfish Alley Studio, where it is T plus 282 days and counts since the completion of the amphitheater.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not going to do that every episode, but I do feel it is imperative that I keep that time frame on the forefront of everybody's mind.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_02: Because it's got to get done, man.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's got to get done.
• 2:22
  SPEAKER_03: It's going to get done.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_03: It's getting done right now.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_03: That's happening right now.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_03: In fact, they extended the contract for the company that's marketing the thing.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_03: They extended that uh over the n for the next ten months at the council meeting Tuesday, and the C V B has agreed to pay the bill.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so did I read that wrong?
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_02: Because that has nothing to do with construction.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: I see extension.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think something's gonna last longer.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_03: I'm just saying that they wouldn't be doing these secondary steps if the primary steps weren't getting done.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_03: It'll be it'll be open by April.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_03: Don't worry about it.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: Good deal, good deal.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_02: For today, top headline is this historic preservation ordinance that um has passed and technically, officially, makes it criminal to neglect your historic home in Columbus to the point that it needs to be demolished.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: And this right here, I'll just tell you, it's a complicated deal.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of bits and pieces to it.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_03: And let me simplify it for you.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_03: First of all, a bit of a misnomer in what you or mischaracterization in what you just said.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_03: It was already a misdemeanor to allow your historic property to get to that point.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_03: However, this applies a fine structure, this new ordinance applies a fine structure to that that can get pretty expensive depending.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_03: So the way it was first reported, it it was um So it was already on the books as you can't do this, and they applied a fine structure to it now that gives it teeth that they can enforce.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: And and his complaint make it expensive.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: His complaint as I read it quite simply was he wanted it to be so that the punitive is last and not first.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_02: It was basically the whole point of the deal is to keep downtown historic.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_03: And and and this doesn't just apply to the historic district, it it applies to any historic landmark in town and everything in the historic district.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so that that's a lot of homes.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_03: Um Or and businesses and whatnot.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and so I well well let me start at it from this standpoint.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of folks out there that believe that private property is private property, and some of them are are so steadfast in that belief that they'll say their end's the matter.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um others are simply saying, look, we already pay property taxes, which makes us feel like we are renting our abode from the government.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_02: And so when when you get in here and you try to enforce these these laws that um do not have a specific victim, okay.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: If it's a crime to allow your house to to go to pot, who's the victim there?
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's one question we could ask.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: What say you?
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_03: Oh well, I mean the very There are two victims in that.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um one is the the historical a uh uh a historical asset in the city.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so the building and the property.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_03: And and and the and the culture that goes with it if it if it goes to pot, if it has to be demolished.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_03: And the second victim is the property owners around.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_03: If you had a property beside you that was uh deteriorating, and they said and it was right beside you, and they said, well, this is none of your business, but your property value is going down because it's an eyesore right beside you, then you are also a victim.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_03: And and that's just uh that's just how that works.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_03: But I think for this, th there are several there are several layers to this, and I think the first is that this establishes an extra what is meant to be an extra protection for the historical assets in the town that go beyond the regular code enforcement.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_03: Because you you know, you can't you're not supposed to allow your any of your property to uh deteriorate.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_03: You're not supposed to violate code in any way.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_03: And if the city has to tag you for it, they'll put a lien on your property taxes for the amount that it takes the city to intervene to fix it, whether it's letting your grass m go too high, whether it's letting the exterior of your building um deteriorate or violate code, broken windows, whatever.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_03: Um there are already rules on the books to do that.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_03: This puts an extra set of penalties onto you for you as the owner of a historical asset or a property in the historic district in the city, you now also have to deal with this extra layer of penalties.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: Let me ask you this.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_02: I do not own a historic home.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: When you purchase a historic home, do you have to sign a document or an agreement?
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: Like it it is it a homeowners association or does it just count?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_03: To that point, I'm not sure about what you have to do.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but I do know that the there is a historic preservation commission.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_03: I do know that there are special rules for living in the historic in the downtown historic district that uh I mean govern everything from how you you know what color your mailbox can be.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_03: And when you're moving into that place, I d I think that it I mean you know before you go, if if you're buying in that district or you want to own a historic property, it's your responsibility to know the rules.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_03: It's your responsibility to know where you're living, it's your responsibility to know that there's extra standards for that.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_03: Just like if you moved into a neighborhood with an HOA, you you you would have to abide by those extra rules, just like you have to abide by those extra rules here, and it's your responsibility to know what those are.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_03: So the city from the responsibility to keep up your property.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, if you move into the city of Columbus anywhere within the city limits, you're moving into a quasi-homeowners association, even if it doesn't have the the sharp teeth in the matter that you have to have your mailbox made out of rot, iron, etc., etc.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean you have to follow the codes and the ordinances of of the city.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_03: Like just like if you lived out in the county, you might not have to follow uh different rules that you would have to follow in the city.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_03: It's your responsibility to know what those things are.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_03: And it's your responsibility to follow the rules.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_03: And if you're and if the rules are enforced on you because you didn't follow them, and you say, Well, I uh you know, uh I didn't know I couldn't do that.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_03: Well, okay, well now I guess you gotta do it.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_03: I understand that.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: To me, it it it kind of goes back to the old fella that that um had the RV in his yard.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_02: Gee, I think yeah.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and and like he had it there for the longest and he got annexed into the city and then it got tabled for 20 years, and finally um I guess they said enough is enough.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_02: You can't have that in your front yard.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that was a little bit different because he was communicating with the city a long along.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_03: So he wa he was trying to be uh uh an active participant in the solution there.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_03: But um but the so the so there's the the another layer to this is uh and and it's a complaint that I've heard about this ordinance uh or about this ordinance amendment and the fine structure in particular.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_03: So you own a historic asset landmark or you own something in the historic district, period.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_03: You allow it to deteriorate to the point to where it's needs to be demolished.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_03: Um you get fined, I think the schedule is 300 for the first offense, 600 for the second offense, and a thousand for the third offense.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_03: And each day that it's in the condition can be viewed, can be viewed, and we'll get to that in a second, can be viewed as a separate offense.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: Um I do think that there is a legitimate argument that uh the victim there is going to be people who are already struggling to afford those fixes.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_03: So if you're trying to if you're looking at your situation, you're like, okay, so I've got this house, it's in rough shape, I need to get this thing fixed, I'm working on it.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_03: But here comes Jeff Turnage and Nathan Catona slapping a thousand dollars a day on my ass, and I can't and now I can't afford to do the thing that I was already trying to do.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you you use the word slap, which indicates some degree of speed, right?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um if I go back to Jeff Turnage's words, uh it's there's a due process there.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just a slap, like you you you get to have your say before the city council or before somebody.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_03: Just like just like you would for anything else.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_03: But uh here's something that Jeff Turnage said Tuesday that concerns me.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_03: He said we're going to use common sense enforcement of these fines.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I take issue with that a little bit because common sense enforcement of an ordinance sounds a whole lot like selective enforcement.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_02: Nathan Cotona was saying uh in in the article that y'all put out that the$1,000 per day uh essentially were were for those who wanted to be difficult.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, well, and get who gets to determine that?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_03: A bureaucrat.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_03: I I I live in a town that doesn't protect its historical assets worth a damn, but uh does engage uh copiously in selective enforcement.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_03: And it's aggravating to look at.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_03: It's aggravating to look at when you drive down a street with uh that has to follow parking enforcement rules, and there's eight cars violating uh the rules at the same time, and only four of them have tickets.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_03: It's aggravating when you're not supposed to put your trash can out before five o'clock the day before collection, and the Airbnb across the street from you leaves it out there with trash cans out there all the time and nothing ever happens.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_03: But if you do it or your neighbor does it, then it may be a different story.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_03: Um how do you define common sense enforcement, Jeff?
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_03: Because that sounds select like uh that sounds like a substitute word for selective.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_03: And uh if you've ever listened to me on this podcast talk about anything ordinance related, it's it's a shall.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_03: That can, no.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_03: If you live in the historic district, and now whether you whether this is a fair rule, whether it is a uh whether it is overly punitive, I think that there's arguments to be had there, but if you own property that qualifies for this penalty, it's your job to know that, and it's your job to keep up with it.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_03: And if you if you are not in the game for doing that, you probably shouldn't own it to begin with.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_03: But if we're gonna have the rules, the rules should apply the same way to everyone, and it should be black and white.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_03: So and that's the way I feel about just about every ordinance on the books.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_03: That's the way I feel about zoning, that's the way I feel about special exceptions to zoning.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_03: If if the rule is on the books, there shouldn't be a situation where you go up and you know somebody or I know they're good for it, or they're a little elderly, or whatever.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_03: Does it do what does it say in the book?
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_03: Apply the book.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_03: And if and if you have to if you have to apply common sense enforcement to this amendment, then the amendment should have reflected that, not the discretion of the people enforcing.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I read a lot of comments about this, and I was surprised to see that um the most vocal people out there were overwhelmingly in favor of uh essentially doing whatever it takes to to protect some of these homes.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_03: And yeah, I mean part of the identity of Columbus is its historical assets, and I think that matters.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_02: And and so a lot uh and I mean there were some folks that that had some very poignant things to say.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_02: They were telling, you know, a thousand bucks is not enough.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um but but all that aside, I'm I'm looking at the the the two groups of people who um I would say are potentially in violation here.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's either going to be the business owners who are renting it out, or the people who actually live there, perhaps generationally, and that is their domicile, that is their homestead.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: I I get the the impression that there's not a distinction in this ordinance, and neither of those two very separate groups are targeted.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you could be a a renter, an owner, um it wouldn't matter it if it if you were essentially that was your place and you live there, right?
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_03: I mean the the owners are the ones that are uh the owners are the ones who are accountable to the ordinance.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I guess if if there's any type of lease agreement on the property, it doesn't affect the ordinance.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um I guess the reason I bring it up is a lot of the the commenters about this, their complaint was, well, you've got people from way out of town that own these places and they don't care a whole lot about it, especially the looks of it.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_03: I bet you they start caring when they start getting those thousand dollar fines in the mail.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well they they want that check, no question about it.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: But but again, back to the selective enforcement.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, if this if or the common sense enforcement, if this is uh if this isn't done across the board the same way, then who's to stop them from sitting outside of Keith Gaskin's house waiting for a shingle to fall off of his roof?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh now I think part of the um what's spawned the the discussion of this were a couple of particular historic homes.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: There are certain ones that that just really tug at people's art strings.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_03: There's one that's been torn down, and then there's another one that is uh slated for demolition, but it's on a 120-day stay by rule uh to see if the uh owners can get their act together.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_03: And those are the those are the ones that were cited at the meeting the other night.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: All right.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: Well, uh I'll stand behind this mic and hopefully say words to keep the friendly city friendly, but I don't know if I can help keep it beautiful.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_02: I guess that'll be up to Nathan and whoever's enforcing.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, it's not just beautiful, that's it's historic.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: Like keeping the city beautiful is different than keeping it original.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_03: Well, or or preserving the historic assets of the city so the generations that come behind can understand where they came from.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: I think that's important.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Zach, speaking of enforcement, if I shift gears and talk about the Columbus Police Department, I am told that Great news for them.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: For the first time in, I guess, forever, the Columbus Police Department has a full roster, uh, about 55, 54.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_03: 54, 54 officers.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: Officers uh compared to the mid-40s, which they've been running for quite low 40s, mid-40s, sometimes high 30s.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_03: Like it's it's been rough over there at times.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_03: Um and so there's some interesting things here.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_03: So they have struggled.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_03: The Columbus Police Department, just like police departments all over, they've struggled with getting and keeping a full staff.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_03: Very high turnover.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_03: They were constantly hiring officers, but they weren't hiring them fast enough to replace the ones that were leaving.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: And that was the the line on that during previous chief administrations was well, it's like this everywhere.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_03: That's just the nature of being a police officer right now.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_03: Nobody wants to be a police officer.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_03: Police officers aren't looking at like looking at this like a career anymore.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_03: And some of those things are probably true to a certain extent.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_03: But I will submit to you this um Garland Ward has been the police chief for what, a couple months, few months.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: And a problem that existed for a decade or longer is now not an issue.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_03: We've got a full staff here or a full roster of officers here for the first time in forever.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um speaks well of Chief Ward.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_03: Another thing that I think is interesting in relationship to the change in chiefs is that half a dozen or so, I don't have the exact number, but it it's six or eight, six to eight of these officers that are now filling the roster are rehires.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_03: Officers who, for what r what whatever reason or another left Columbus Police Department and now they're coming back.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_03: And they classify those differently on the agenda.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_03: So they say, okay, so we're hiring four new officers.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_03: For example, on uh Tuesday, uh the last six officers to take them from 48 to 54, it was hiring four officers and rehiring two.
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_03: And they make that distinction on the agenda.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_03: And there have been several agendas where there have been a collection of officers that have been rehired, one, two, three at a time.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_03: And so there's a good many of these guys who used to work at CPD for whatever reason or another left CPD and now they're back.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_03: So I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Tips at cdispatch.com.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_03: But but yeah, I think that that it it shows a lot of confidence in the chief, and I've heard a lot of good things about Chief Ward, not only from city officials, but uh from the community.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think that it it shows a lot of confidence in that officers have that he can do this job.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_03: The challenge is going to be now.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_03: You've now identified.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: Announce that you've got fifty-four officers, you've got a full roster.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_03: Now, obviously that's not going to stay true 100% of the time.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_03: But if you're six months from now telling us you're at 42 and 44, then you have only temporarily solved the long-term problem.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_03: So then I think the question becomes what happened?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: But right now we're at 54.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_02: So does this mean that Columbus is now safer?
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: I mean ostensibly, yeah.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_02: It means that David Chisholm's gonna be driving slower, I promise you that much.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_03: You gotta stop at that.
• 22:42
  SPEAKER_03: You already learned you had to stop at that stop sign in Caledonia, didn't you?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_02: That stop sign, dude.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I tell you what, after the break, we'll talk about some road signs on College Street.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: How about that?
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_02: That'll work.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: Hot outside, cold inside, that's exactly how we like it for three generations.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: Family-owned BRISLIN Incorporated has been keeping our neighbors comfortable no matter what our Mississippi weather throws our way.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_02: Brisling Incorporated comfort runs in the family.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_02: So, Zach, I did spend five fine years at MUW and I know all about College Street, though I never lived on College Street.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: I don't think of College Street as a thoroughfare, particularly for large trucks that carry heavy cargo.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: What say you?
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_03: Well, you and George Hazard could have a really fun conversation about that, probably.
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_03: And I honestly, I mean, I uh definitely agree with that.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_03: Um so there so how this all came to be is um they were doing some work on 15th Street South that rerouted trucks temporarily down College Street for a piece um uh while that construction was going on.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that construction's been finished for some weeks.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_03: Um concerned citizen George Hazard goes to the city council Tuesday and says, Hey, the trucks are still coming down, and they know better than to.
• 24:14
  SPEAKER_03: But they're and they're not only that, but they're passing three city signs that say go to Main Street.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: As they go all the way down, sometimes to 5th, 3rd Street to Town.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: Oh goodness.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: So just just to visualize this, 15th Street is coming kind of from APAC.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_02: It goes behind the culinary building and uh takes a left right before, I guess, Tampico Bay at that three-way.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_02: And then they're supposed to kick on over to the right and get on Main Street at 14th, yeah.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: But they're not doing it.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_03: But they're not doing it because there's fewer red lights, they can get down there faster.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_02: I guess they're going all the way down College Street underneath that um bridge that that takes you to Sunday school at First Methodist Church, they're going under that thing.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_03: But that you know, that but uh George is making that claim, and I've seen some of it myself.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: So and so he's asking them, gussy up the signs.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_03: We need some new signs that everybody can read, move them to a place where it's a little further uh a little farther east to where you can catch these truckers faster, uh letting them know, hey, you you've got to get off of College Street.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_03: And uh one of the other things that he suggested or asked for was enforcement.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_03: Now to the to the first two things, Casey Bush says we've already ordered the signs.
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_03: They're they're they're they're they're delayed on delivery, but uh we're gonna get them and we'll put them in the places where similar to where you're suggesting.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_03: We'll we'll move them to different places farther east because we agree with that too.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_03: Um they're even talking about meeting with APAC to make sure that APAC understands that drivers need to be really doing uh the suggested truck route, but then that suggested part comes up.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: Whoops, but they don't have it, the city does not have an ordinance.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_03: So the the making this establishing that is the truck route, they're just it they're basically saying, hey guys, please don't drive down College Street.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_03: Mayor's like it's advice, these signs are advice.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_03: So we can't since we don't have an ordinance, well we can't ticket these.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: So minor detail, what color are those signs?
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_02: Well, if they're white, that's regulatory.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: So the uh uniform traffic states that the city can't put up a white sign unless it's binding by law, but if it's like yellow, then you're correct.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: Right.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean these are sugg these signs are suggestions according to the city because they don't have an ordinance.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_03: Well and Councilman Spears suggested that they look into doing an ordinance, and I agree with that because I think the way that you stop bad behavior, because these are professional people who are behaving badly because they can, and the city is sitting there asking them to not do that.
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_03: Well, this is a city street that the taxpayers of Columbus pay for to keep it up.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think that you um you pass an ordinance establishing the truck route, making it illegal for trucks of a certain size to be driving down College Street unless they're making a delivery, and then you put one of these fifty-four officers at the end of 14th, and anybody who passes them on fourteenth in a truck that doesn't qualify to be there, pop them, pop them, pop them, pop them.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_03: And then you make it to where the cost is higher than the convenience for these truck drivers.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and and let me add this it's pedestrians, therefore there's danger.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 28:10
  SPEAKER_02: But um not only that, these heavy trucks they chew up the asphalt.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: They do.
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_02: They mash it down.
• 28:17
  SPEAKER_02: In fact, I remember a couple years ago, there was a company that had to pay a big time bond to the county.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was somewhere over on Artesia Road.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: They were tearing that road to bits and pieces.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's that's where one of the main issues comes in.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_03: You've got to have something on the books that says we will protect our own street, and we will fine you if you don't.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_03: If you if you obstruct that our ability to do that, I think that's the only way to get it.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and and there may be some Lounge County listeners whose eyes are glazing over right now.
• 28:54
  SPEAKER_02: This concept matters elsewhere.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_02: I know Highway 50 has a weight limit of 57,650 pounds, but I see trucks all the time going from Columbus to Millport, not really supposed to take that route.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_03: Can you eyeball 57,600 pounds, David?
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_03: Because I don't think I can.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I tell you this, these trucks are not riding very high.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, speaking of that military road, oh my gosh, the people that live on military road get awakened like two or three times a month by the sound of a truck scratching the bottom of that train bridge right there.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_02: You can put up all the signs in the world, but there's people don't read signs.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like even the professionals, they just I said they needed to put a taco bell dinger out there, you know, to make a sound as you pass under it, but I don't even know if that would work, to be honest with you.
• 29:55
  SPEAKER_02: Fine 'em.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_02: I'm with George.
• 29:57
  SPEAKER_02: Well, Zach, anything else on that topic?
• 30:00
  SPEAKER_02: I think we're good.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_02: All right, what are the three things, Zach?
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_03: Number one, an Aberdeen man and a woman from Jonesboro, Arkansas were arrested Monday on prostitution and sex trafficking charges.
• 30:12
  SPEAKER_03: Police were investigating reports of a guest at my home, Columbus, on Highway 45, missing a large sum of money.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_03: When they arrived, they discovered the two suspects had allegedly engaged in prostitution.
• 30:24
  SPEAKER_03: They also discovered a 17-year-old at the hotel, which one of the suspects allegedly brought there for prostitution.
• 30:33
  SPEAKER_03: Number two.
• 30:34
  SPEAKER_03: It's a little out of the area, uh, but Major Jules McDonnell of Louisville died this week at age 110.
• 30:42
  SPEAKER_03: At the time of his death, he was recognized as the oldest man in the U.S.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh he was a community fixture, well beloved, and one of the things he did, he hosted an annual fish fry the Saturday before Labor Day.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_03: I'll say.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_03: So number three, this weekend would be a good time to batten down whatever hatches you have and get ready to don your galoshes.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_03: Hurricane, and look, man, I'm I I've been trying to learn how to pronounce this since this morning.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_03: Okay.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_02: If you're southern, it's Isaiah.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_02: If you're being politically astute, it's Isaiah.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_03: Isaiah.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_02: Isaias.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_03: All right.
• 31:22
  SPEAKER_03: Well, that hurricane is expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast early Saturday morning with Columbus in its direct inland path.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_03: Expect the storm to dump three to four inches of rain on the friendly city.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_03: Special prayers to Tampico Bay.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_03: Uh of course, the path could change between now and then, so follow MSLiveWeather at MS.live for updates.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_02: So if you want to get sloshed, head to Tampico Bay.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_02: Is that what I heard?
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_03: Swim your way out.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: We should make them a sponsor.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_02: That'll do it from Catfish Alley.
• 31:55
  SPEAKER_01: I'm just a simple old country boy, but uh I think that makes sense.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: I've stepped out and I've said what I had to say.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: You've been listening to Between the Headlines with Zach and David.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_02: That's what old people do.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: That is.