Longtime Osyka Town Clerk Hilda Wall is leaving the job after more than two decades, she announced at Thursday night’s board meeting.
“I appreciate the love and respect that I was given. I loved my job and always tried to do it with pride,” Wall said in a letter to the board. “I feel it is time for me to take a leave and try to enjoy my retirement.”
The board playfully toyed with not accepting the letter of resignation, with Mayor Allen Applewhite skipping the item in the agenda, and Alderman Tommy Keizer jokingly saying he would vote against it.
The board promoted deputy clerk Denice Bonvillian to Wall’s position unanimously and hired Pam Simmons to take Bonvillian’s original position, both effective Dec. 1, while Wall’s retirement will be effective Jan. 1 to give them time to work out the transition.
n n n
A disgruntled landlord spoke with the board before the meeting concluded over the fact that she was not aware of the town’s mobile home ordonnance and the $500 fee to obtain a permit for the homes.
“If y’all had mailed everyone who owns property in Osyka this (ordinances), I would understand,” landlord Vesti Hathaway said. “I did not know any of this. I didn’t know that it had to. I think it was very, very ugly of the town to do this. I have been singled out.”
Applewhite told Hathaway that she was not being singled out by the ordinance and that everyone who moves mobile homes in and out of the city must pay for the permit and follow the town’s ordinance.
Hathaway disagreed, producing a clipping from the Enterprise-Journal from Sept. 5, when the board decided to waive the permit fee for a resident who upgraded his mobile home by moving an older model out for a newer one.
Applewhite said the exception was made because he was a resident of the town, he was unaware of the fine and he was upgrading his own home. Hathaway argued that she had no idea that the ordinance existed, and still believed she was being singled out.
“Since you apparently read the paper, you should have seen the legal notice that was in it,” Applewhite said. “We don’t do anything illegal. Get your permit together.”
Wall agreed with Applewhite that Hathaway was not being singled out, noting that she just had a resident pay the moving permit a few weeks ago, totaling $1,000 to move a mobile home out and a new one in. Hathaway said that was “terrible” of the town.
Applewhite said the board does not play favorites, noting that he did not allow a family member to move a mobile home that didn’t meet the requirements earlier in the year.
Hathaway asked what would happen if she did not pay the cost of the permit, and Wall said the mobile home would not get water or sewer connected to the mobile home.
The back and forth continued for some time, with Hathaway airing more grievances about the state of the town, but Applewhite remained adamant that Hathaway needed to bring a completed permit request to the next board meeting on Dec. 3.
In other news, the board:
• Hired CPA Angela Hertoz for the town’s 2020 audit, noting that their usual auditor Verbalee Watts retired due to health reasons.
• Approved travel for police officer Felder Smith to the firing range in Brookhaven this month to requalify for his firearm permit.
• Donated $500 to the Osyka Veterans Park.
• Accepted an $1,877 bid from James Tate of Pearl for two police cars and a Ford F-150 pickup.
