STARKVILLE — Aldermen on Tuesday granted a permit request from the Mississippi State University Student Association to throw Bulldog Bash with city participation and in-kind services on Oct. 21.
Approval of the permit was delayed after issues arose regarding liability insurance for the special event. According to Mayor Lynn Spruill, those issues have since been resolved and Bulldog Bash will move forward as it has in years past.
“We had the same agreement that we had last year,” she said. “There was no change. They had suggested a change but we were not in agreement with that so now we’re doing exactly what we did last year.”
Mississippi State University submitted a special events request in early June but it was withdrawn after it became clear that city officials and the university were not seeing eye to eye on the liability insurance for the city. MSU took the position that they could no longer list the city as an additional insured, citing IHL policy.
Despite this, the Bulldog Bash will proceed just as it did the year before, with the city as an additional insured. That means MSU pays the insurance premium, and the city provides services such as sanitation and police/fire protection.
Bulldog Bash, held annually in the fall, is the state’s largest free outdoor concert, drawing past headliners such as T-Pain, DNCE and Eric Church. For the past several years, the bash has been held downtown.
Burnett hired as new city engineer
Cody Burnett is Starkville’s new city engineer after the board of aldermen decided in executive session to promote him.
Edward Kemp, who served as Starkville’s city engineer for 14 years, stepped down from the position in March to become general manager for Starkville Utilities Department. Burnett had been the assistant city engineer for eight years.
“I’ve been with the city for eight years and I’ve loved every minute of it,” Burnett said. “I’m really excited to take on this new leadership role and have more responsibilities. And to really use the skills that I’ve learned and school that I’ve had to further my career in the department and serve the city, especially.”
Burnett interviewed alongside one other candidate on June 17 in a special-call meeting of the mayor and board of aldermen. In his interview, he detailed his experience and education as well as his familiarity with the city’s engineering department, having worked closely with Kemp.
“I’m excited for him. He brings a nice history of being with the city as assistant city engineer and I think he will serve us well,” Spruill said. “He has a lot of knowledge and I think he’ll be able to impart that and carry on as though nothing happened.”
Burnett’s starting salary in the position will be $100,000 and the city will now begin to advertise for the position of associate engineer/project manager.
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