During a meeting that featured little discussion and a steady string of unanimous votes, the Columbus City Council took time to recognize members of the city’s fire department who were recently named Mississippi Firefighters of the Year by the state.
Fire Chief Martin Andrews cited the men — Battalion Chief Carroll Lancaster Jr., Captains Robert “Chip” Kain and Tommy Massey; firefighters Donald “Herbert” Tedford and Darryl Brown and engineers Randall Beatty and Sam Collier — for their efforts in rescuing Sholanda Conner and three of her children from an early-morning blaze at her home in the Jamestown Square townhomes on Oct. 1.
Another child who lived in an adjacent apartment, 11-year-old Oranjula Shanklin, did not survive the fire.
“I think these men are truly heroes,” Andrews told the council. “Their actions led to four lives being saved. They deserve the recognition they received and we wanted to share it with the council.”
Andrews also acknowledged member for the Columbus Police Department and EMTs who responded to the call.
“They are heroes, too, but another hero in this is Ms. Connor,” Andrews said. “She was able to get her kids to the window and that probably saved their lives.”
Andrews said he still thinks about the lone fatality from the fire, too.
“We lost a precious life that day,” he said. “I hold her in my heart.”
Council members and the audience gave the firefighters and Conner, who attended the meeting with her children, with a standing ovation.
As for official business, the council voted unanimously to approve a change in the city’s retail development agreement with the current owners of site where Michael’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods occupies.
Chief Administrative Officer David Armstrong presented the amended contract which was necessitated when Hutton Group informed the city is was selling the property to another company.
“The changes don’t affect any of the terms of the contract,” Armstrong told the council. “What it does is says Hutton Group will require the buyer to comply with the terms of the agreement.”
Armstrong said he did not know if the sale had been completed and did not identify the prospective owner.
The city also scheduled a public hearing on the city’s annexation redistricting and new polling places. The public hearing will be part of the council’s next meeting on March 3.
The city also approved a proposal to sign a one-year contract with The Commercial Dispatch, the low bidder, for publication of legal advertising.
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
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