Can you hear me now?

That’s not a question officers with the Greenville Police Department will need to ask thanks in large part to a $28,710 State Homeland Security Grant.

The funds will be used to purchase 17 NexEdge radios for officers and 20 NexEdge mobile radios for patrol vehicles, Greenville Police Chief Lonzo Ingram told members of the city council at their meeting Monday night.

“This grant, which we were able to get through EMA Director Shirley Sandy, will allow us to replace all of our communication equipment in our cars, and we’ll also get new radios as well,” said Ingram. “We’ll be going digital, which is a good thing. It will improve the quality of the sound over the radios and also the distance. For example, if someone makes a call at Walmart on a portable radio, we should be able to hear him much better than we do now. It’s a good thing from a safety standpoint. We’re moving our technology forward.”

In other business:

• The council amended its contract with Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood for engineering services for Magnolia Cemetery, Hwy. 10 and South Street drainage improvements.

The original contract was for $38,500, but the cost for the project increased by $9,000 due to the scope of the work, which included preliminary and final design, as well as engineering services.

Once the drainage problem is corrected, Mayor Dexter McLendon estimates an additional 300 plots will be available in Magnolia Cemetery.

It’s been more than a decade since plots have been available due to drainage issues, which regularly lead to flooding in portions of the cemetery.

McLendon said he hopes to have the project completed by October of 2016. At that point the burial plots will go on sale.

“The estimated cost will be $1,800. That’s not set in stone, but that’s what we’re thinking it will be,” he said. “I think the people that really want to be in Magnolia Cemetery will pay that, and it will help us offset the costs of these repairs.”

 

• The council authorized the issuance of an ABC license to Greenville Package Store on Halso Mill Road.

 

1. The council approved the following expenditures:

 

$3,014 to AB Sportswear, Inc., for 128 uniform shirts and shift shirts for the Greenville Fire Department

 

$3,200 to AB Sportswear, Inc., for 80 all-star basketball uniforms for the Greenville Parks and Recreation Department

 

$5,885.98 to A.D. Starr for baseball and softball equipment

 

$7,810 to Pigeon Creek Cabinets for custom cabinets and countertops at the Senior Nutrition Center

$3,200 to Crews Windows & Insulation Co. for vinyl windows at the Senior Nutrition Center

 

$4,090 to Craig’s Firearm Supply, Inc., for 10 pistols for the Greenville Police Department

 

$1,992.50 to Gulf States Distributors for less than lethal munitions for the Greenville Police Department

 

$2,567 to TCA Electrical Contractors, Inc., for oscillator and lighting repair for the Mac Crenshaw Memorial Airport

 

The city council will hold its next meeting March 14 at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.