Accomplishments

Community Development

Economic Development Division: 

  • Worked on more than 351 Economic Development projects over 4 years.

Code Enforcement Division: 

  • Resolved 5,977 violations.
  • Conducted 33 Hearings for Cleaning of Private Property.
  • Issued 265 Field Release Citations.

Permits and Inspections Division: 

  • 1,236 Building Permits were issued representing $234,906,471 in Construction Value over 4 years.
  • 177 Projects were reviewed by ARB over 4 years.

Planning and Zoning Division: 

  • Adopted a 2014 Future Land Use Plan.
  • Adopted a 2014 Zoning Ordinance and 4 Amendments.
  • Northpark Overlay District compliance with 3 new projects and 10 renovations.
  • Annexed 1.7 Square Miles over 4 years.
  • Approved 14 New Final Plats (Subdivisions) over 4 years.
  • Conducted 44 Zoning-related Public Hearings.

 

FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION

  • The City has maintained an Aa2 bond rating.
  • Debit/Credit card payments are now received in the Utility Department and Court Services with a flat 3% convenience fee. The use of debit/credit cards was a service highly desired by citizens/customer.
  • All Board Minutes are scanned from 1999 forward, which provides a back-up in the event of a disaster.
  • Received the Excellence award for CAFR from the GFOA all four years.
  • One position was eliminated in the Finance & Administration Department which reduced the budget approximately $51,000.00.
  • Requested the Department of Revenue to conduct a sales tax audit and received $I.3M from sales tax due to the City that had not been paid.
  • Established a consistent due date for utility bills and replaced printing cut-off notices with text messages and voice mail.
  • Implemented the Incode Court Software in Municipal Court which integrates into the City's financial software and enables better and more accurate reporting of financials. The implementation of the new software increased accountability.
  • Eliminated the printing of payroll pay stubs by emailing them to employees, which allowed the termination of a lease and maintenance for the folding machines.
  • Improved the collection of privilege license tax, which has increased revenue. The City and County are also working together, which is increasing revenue for both agencies.
  • The City's website has been updated and is now mobile friendly.
  • The back-up system for the computer system has been enhanced to capture information every 15 minutes and can be restored virtually, which is huge in the event of a disaster or complete loss of information.
  • We are storing documents electronically and eliminating paper copies, which is reducing the amount of paper used and the cost of storage.

 

RIDGELAND POLICE DEPARTMENT

  • Implemented an organizational re-alignment which led to 8 promotions within the police department to supervisory level positions and a more efficient placement of command personnel.
  • The City of Ridgeland Police Department had the first Human Trafficking case that resulted in a conviction in the State of Mississippi.  The offender was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
  • Increased command staff leadership and development training acquiring a combined total of 476 hours of FBI-LEEDA (Law Enforcement Executive Development Association) Command Leadership and Supervisor Leadership Training.
  • Doubled the size of the Traffic Unit from a 2 motor unit to a 4 personnel division by assigning a Sergeant and Corporal to the Traffic Unit which will allow us to be more efficient satisfying traffic needs of our city.
  • Received an increase in community participation in Ridgeland Neighbor’s Night Out Program with the highest number of participants noted in 2016; a 33% increase from 2015.
  • Created Adopt-A-Cop Program to develop a bond between law enforcement and students from both Highland and Ann Smith Elementary Schools.  Each classroom is able to adopt a cop who will make monthly visits to discuss various safety topics, duties of a police officer and how to handle certain situations.
  • Participated in Cycle Kids and Healthy Heroes Initiative Programs through Blue Cross & Blue Shield to educate and promote healthy lifestyle choices by introducing kids to physical fitness such as bicycling and nutrition.
  • Increased the focus on street crimes such as controlled substance violations involving trafficking, manufacturing, possession, use or sale of illegal substances; human trafficking and prostitution; and high profile fugitive arrests by partnering with the following task forces:
    • U.S. Marshal Service Gulf Coast Regional Fugitive Task Force
    • MS Bureau of Narcotics High Intensity Drug Trafficking Task Force
    • FBI Jackson Safe Streets Task Force
    • DEA Jackson District Task Force

 

Ridgeland Recreation & Parks

  • Participation in Natchez Trace Century Ride more than doubled, from 330 in 2013 to 701 in 2016.
  • Increased attendance at KidFest! Ridgeland each year over the 4-year period.
  • Participation in passive recreation (playgrounds, trail use, fitness equipment) up an estimated 15% over the 4-year period.
  • All was accomplished with an operating budget that is currently 0.7% LESS than the 2013 operating budget for Recreation & Parks.
  • Increased tournament hosting each year, with the exception of 2015, drawing more visitors to Ridgeland each year.  2015 participation was down due to excessive rain during the spring season (tournament cancellations).

Ridgeland Fire Department

Fire Protection Class

  • The City of Ridgeland is in a Protection Class 5. Our fire service protection system is graded by the Mississippi State Rating Bureau. The dedication to providing fire stations, personnel, equipment and training has lowered the deficiency points considerably since our last grading period. Property owners of Ridgeland have approximately half the insurance rate as communities without fire protection.

Emergency Services Delivery

  • Emergency Runs – 11,149

Fire Suppression

  • RFD implemented Mississippi Fire Bridge, a state offered data collection program for reporting and record storage. This implementation is at no cost to the city and saves approximately $20,000 for the program and several thousand dollars in annual licensing.

Emergency Medical

  • The Paramedic Program, which upgrades our level of response from Basic Life Support to Advanced Life Support, has 5 of the 6 slots filled, with two members about to complete their certification. This will give Ridgeland 2 medics on each shift.

Water/Dive Rescue

  • RFD acquired a dive boat, at no cost to the city, from MDEQ in 2015. The craft is a 41 foot tri-toon that offers a working platform for water operations. The craft is being retro-fitted by department members to include air supply storage, command control service, and other operational deployment equipment.
  • The Ridgeland Fire Department Dive Team has met Dive Rescue II standards with specialty training in Current Diving, Surface Supplied Air and Dry Suit Diving, Polluted Water or Haz Mat Diving, and Rescue Boat Operations.

Training

  • The department training program includes participation in state and national certification programs and career path training according to adopted guidelines. Our department personnel being among the leaders in the state for acquiring fire service certification.

Fire Prevention / Code Enforcement / Fire Investigation

  • Over the past four years the City of Ridgeland has adopted the 2015 International Fire Code. Along with the codes the City has maintained ordinances that provide further protection of its citizens and infrastructure.
  • In 2015 all inspection files were converted into an electronic data base. (Mississippi Fire Bridge) Fire inspections for 2016 were up 100% from previous years.

Public Works Accomplishments

  • Milled, Repaired and resurfaced over four million dollars in local neighborhood streets in the past four years.
  • Received first place in Local Government from Keep Mississippi Beautiful
  • Enabled Ridgeland to receive the Environmental Hero Award from the Mississippi (2103) Recycling Coalition by implementing a new city wide recycling program, solar powered recycling compactors and asphalt recycling program.
  • Received a perfect 5.0 score from the Mississippi Department of Health for Water System Operation and Management making it one of best-managed water systems in the state for the past 15 years.
  • Named a Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists
  • We maintained a class 6 flood insurance rating that gives all flood insurance policy holders in the City of Ridgeland a 20% discount on their renewals.