Alderman Kevin Dale White announces retirement at board meeting (Oct. 7, 2025)

 

At the New Albany Board of Aldermen meeting (Oct. 7, 2025), Ward 3 Alderman Kevin Dale White announced he will be retiring, effective January 27, 2026.  A public hearing on rezoning a lot near Coulter Dr. will take place on Nov. 6.

A copy of the agenda and the 17-minute video of the meeting can be viewed below

 

Seated left to right:

Parks Smith – Ward 1

Drew Horn – Ward 2

Keith Conlee – Alderman at Large

Kevin Dale White – Ward 3

Will Tucker – Ward 4

Jeff Olson – Mayor

Megan Kirk – City Clerk

Regan Russell – City Attorney (absent from this meeting)

 

 

Mayor Olson began saying that City Attorney Regan Russell would join the meeting late as he was returning from Corinth.

New Albany Lights Gas & Water

(Timestamp 1:48) Bill Mattox from New Albany Lights Gas & Water presented a pay request for work on an electric vehicle charging station. He commented that the pay request was for materials that the work should be done in a couple of months. The board approved the payment.

Mattox also asked the board to set aside $484,000 from the NALGW Bond Fund as matching funds to apply for a $1 million grant from the Mississippi Development Authority with funds from the Department of Energy. Mattox said he wants to use the funds for an outage management system and a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system. This will allow NALGW to operate the system remotely from a console or phone. He said the total purchase would be about $1.5 million and this would be what the money would go to if they’re successful in receiving the MDA grant. The board approved the request to encumber the funds.

Mattox also requested funds for a vacuum excavator trailer, used for digging around buried pipes and fiber cables for repairs and service. The city already has two but Mattox wants a third so that the electric, gas and water departments can each have one at their disposal. The low bid from Vermeer was $57,311.13. The board approved the purchase

Lastly, the board approved Mattox’s request for authorization to hire Adam Stubblefield as a dispatcher to work both for NALGW and the Police Department.

Departmental business

(Timestamp 5:27) Community Development and Union County Heritage submitted monthly reports previously.

Assistant Chief Jeff Chism reported for the Police Department. Mayor Olson said NAPD Chief Chris Robertson is out after having surgery. Chism said the Chief is “Still in a lot of pain, but he’s doing good”. He said Chief Robertson should hopefully be back in a few days.

The board approved Chism’s request to hire New Albany native Orlando Gates, 22, for a full time position with NAPD. Gates currently works for the Houston Police Department. Chism also requested a “conditional hire” for Chance Jarvis who is currently on military orders. Jarvis, 23, currently works for NALGW. His hire will be conditional on his completion of police academy. The board also approved this request.

The also approved NAPD’s request to purchase a new 2025 Ford F-150 crew cab for $52,750. There were two bids and the lower bid was accepted from Barnes Crossing Ford.

Keith Conlee asked Chase Jeter from the Parks Department about some work mentioned on his report. Jeter said there are some logistical issues, like wet ground and having to get a concrete truck through the woods. Conlee also asked about a privacy fence mentioned in the report for the maintenance area to secure and conceal equipment. Jeter said he had a quote and would follow up with the board.

The board approved Fire Chief Mark Whiteside’s request to promote Ethan Robins from Firefighter 2 to Engineer/Driver Operator.

Chris Elliot from Street Department reported that a truck that had been having trouble has now been fixed. Mayor Olson also gave an update saying a new street sweeper would be delivered soon.

Zoning

Building inspector Eric Thomas reported several requests approved by the zoning board at their recent meeting. Regarding his agenda item 4, Thomas requested a public hearing for a rezoning request. Herrington Properties wants to rezone a lot at 313 JH Phillips Lane (off Coulter Drive) from SC-Suburban Commercial to INST-Institutional. Herrington also requested to divide 6 acres from the 18.8 acre lot, and a special exception to build a building over 15,000 square feet, which the zoning board approved. The Aldermen approved a public hearing for Thursday November 6, 2025, at 5:30PM.

Thomas also said that at next month’s meeting he would be requesting to set a hearing on building codes so that they will be ready at the start of 2026

Consent and Action agenda

(Timestamp 13:08) Consent agenda items were approved, as was the Municipal Compliance Questionnaire.

Bill Mattox returned to request cancellation of MaxxSouth internet contracts. Mattox said the board may want to consult with the city attorney about this in the executive session.

Mayor Jeff Olson briefly addressed Action Agenda item D., approving removal of long-time City Clerk Frankie Roberts from the city’s BNA account and the addition of Jamie Patterson to the account. Roberts is leaving her position and is said to have requested “no fanfare”.

At the end of the meeting, Ward 3 Alderman Kevin Dale White announced that he would be retiring from city employment, effective January 27th. He said he worked full time for the City of Holly Springs, as well as as serving as a City of New Albany Alderman. According to rules of the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS), he must also retire in New Albany in order to draw his pension. Alderman White said that working with the city and his colleagues side by side had been a pleasure and he would miss everyone.

The board then adjourned the public meeting to enter an executive session.

The issue of the municipal storm shelter was not addressed despite it being on the agenda.