The Meridian City Council covered an array of topics in its work session on Tuesday as it prepares to take action on a number of items of city business on Dec. 19. Business discussed included the next steps in purchasing a new surveillance camera system for the police department, instituting a pet registration ordinance and how best to divide up funds designated for charitable giving.

Although the council passed a pet registration ordinance in October, Animal Control Supervisor Brian McCary said the action came too late to ensure funds to implement the new registration program made it into the current budget. Council members have already expressed support for the program, and Councilman Joe Norwood Jr., who serves as council president, said Tuesday’s discussion was more of a formality.

The registration, which will cost $5, will include microchipping pets with their owners’ information in the event they are lost or stolen. The idea, McCary said, is to increase the chances of reuniting pets with their owners and keeping them out of the city’s shelter.

Before the registration program can begin, however, there are some upfront costs, McCary said. Purchasing the microchips, chip reader and chip installation device will cost about $5,000, he said.

After the up front costs, the program should pay for itself, McCary said. The cost of supplies for the city will be about $4, he said, which will leave $1 from each registration to be used for additional supplies or other needs at animal control.

Animal control should have enough money it its budget to cover the $5,000, but it will need the council’s help to access it. The shelter is currently working to fill two vacancies, and funds that would be used to pay those positions are sitting unused. Chief Financial Officer Brandye Latimer said moving those funds, however, will require a budget amendment, which is something only the council can do.

Cameras

On Tuesday the council also heard an update on the effort to purchase a new surveillance system for Meridian Police Department.

Assistant Police Chief Patrick Gale said the department is looking to purchase 103 surveillance cameras to go along with the Fusus software system presented by Jackson police officers in November. The Fusus system is a cloud-based video system that will enable the department to send video feeds directly to officers responding to incidents, capture live video from callers’ smartphones, allow business owners and residents to add their cameras to the network and more.

Gale said MPD plans to build a real time crime center similar to the one in Jackson visited by both Police Chief Deborah Naylor Young and Ward 2 Councilman Dwayne Davis. The center will be manned 24 hours per day, seven days a week.

Benny Dubois, a former Meridian police chief and mentor to Young, said MPD will be asking the council to buy the Fusus software through a sole source purchase as it is proprietary software and not available through anyone else. Cities are allowed to make sole source purchases when it is not possible to go through the normal bidding process.

The cost of the software is expected to be $50,000 per year for three years, or a total of $150,000.

Mayor Jimmie Smith said the 103 cameras to be integrated into the Fusus software are where the city’s ability to customize the system really come into play. In discussing camera networks, council members and city officials have discussed technology such as gunshot detection, license plate readers and more. Where and how those technologies get deployed will make Meridian’s camera system unique.

A request for proposals is still being developed for the cameras, Gale said. Once it is complete, it will be brought to the council to be advertised.

Estimated costs are roughly $6,000 per camera, or about $618,000 for all 103 cameras.

MPD currently has roughly 50 cameras it can monitor through a lease agreement with Mississippi Power but is working to get out of that contract. Davis said he has had discussions about potentially buying those cameras, which could cut down on costs.

Smith said his administration has not had the same talks.

As MPD works to get its proposal together, Councilman George Thomas said he wanted to see all of the expected costs up front before voting on anything. The council, he said, should have the cost of installation, renting space on power poles, the cost of monitors and other equipment for the real time crime center and more.

“I want to see all those figures,” he said.

Councilwoman Romande Walker encouraged MPD to do its due diligence in drawing up the camera RFP. The department should look at getting the system that is best for the community, she said, even if it isn’t the cheapest option.

Audit

After several delays, the city of Meridian’s 2021 fiscal year audit is finally complete, Latimer told the council on Tuesday. The completed report was issued Thursday, and representatives from the auditing firm are set to present it to the council at its Jan. 16 meeting, she said.

With the 2021 audit out of the way, attention can turn now to the 2022 fiscal year audit, which is already far behind. Latimer said the city’s financial staff will have some data from the completed 2021 audit to incorporate into the system before supplying the auditor with the necessary data for FY22, but they will move as quickly as possible.

Thomas said the council learned its lesson with the first audit, and the city will need to stay on top of the auditors to make sure they are making progress.

“Assuming and expecting that someone is doing something, we found out that doesn’t work with these folks,” he said.

City Attorney Will Simmons said annual audits provide both the council and city administration with a financial picture going into the budgeting process. More than that, he said, the city is in danger of missing out on grants and other opportunities because of its backlogged audits and needs to be caught up. Having regular meetings with the auditor to hear progress is a good idea, he said.

In other business, the council:

• is working to decide how it will divide up $400,000 earmarked in the 2024 fiscal year budget for charitable contributions. Council members were provided a list of organizations along with amounts they qualify to receive. Norwood, who serves as council president, tasked each council member with dividing up the funds how they see fit. The five lists will then be averaged to decide how much each organization receives, he said;

•is considering changes to ordinances governing parking commercial vehicles in residential areas. Under the current rules, commercial vehicles such as company pick-up trucks must be parked behind the home, and larger vehicles in excess of 1.5 tons are not allowed at all. Thomas said he will support changes to allow company pick-up trucks to have the same parking as other vehicles, and Norwood said he is in favor of allowing residents to park their semi-truck cabs at home.