A McComb selectman raised concerns about the progress of the Alpha Center’s renovations Tuesday and voted against paying an invoice to the company doing the work.
The city board voted 5-1 to pay M&P Construction of Richland $60,764. Tommy McKenzie, Terri Waterman-Baylor, Eddie Thompson, Bruce Mullins and Tabitha Felder Isaac voted for the payment, but Selectman Matt Codding, attending by speakerphone, opposed.
Codding asked for an update about the progress of the project and its finances. He asked Mayor Quordiniah Lockley if he knew whether Tuesday’s payment would be the last one on the project.
“This is not the last payment for M&P because they’re still working,” Lockley said.
“I need more financial details,” Codding replied.
Lockley noted that Architect Steve Cox told the board the invoice was coming just last week.
“It’s been approved by Steve Cox, the architect, and he made the recommendation that it be paid, but that’s your call,” Lockley told the board. “He was here before us and gave us an update.
“He was here and Selectman Codding was not here and he did not call in at the work session, so he was not privileged to Mr. Cox giving an update on the projects that he’s overseeing.”
Codding took issue with that statement.
“I don’t think that’s accurate, Mayor,” he replied. “I’m pretty sure I did call in for the 21⁄2-hour meeting.”
He recalled CPA Carolyn DuPre’s update to the board about audits as well as Cox’s presentation.
Thompson, whose ward includes the Alpha Center, also asked about the progress of the renovations.
“Do we have a progress report on what point it’s supposed to be ready, at what point the contract should be completed?” he said.
Lockley did not have a date.
“When bills are submitted to the architect, he goes out, inspects and makes sure the work is done and then, if he feels comfortable with the work that was done, he submits the payment,” he said.
On Thursday morning, crews were busy painting exterior window frames and hanging new ceiling tiles. Some rooms had already been renovated. New wiring was still hanging down in some parts of the building, awaiting new fixtures, and about a half dozen dusty old air conditioning units, replaced with a new HVAC system, were piled in one room.
In other business, the board:
• Approved the final payment to M3A Architecture out of Jackson of $20,840 for work on the new Martin Luther King Center gym.
• Approved a $5,565 payment to the Pike County Sheriff’s Department for the housing of city inmates in November.
Work continues on the interior of the Alpha Center library in Baertown on Thursday.
