The lot on the corner of Pacific and Commerce Street has been a crucial piece of real estate in downtown Mineola for decades and now the daughters who inherited the property have donated the lot to the city.

Judy Jay Green and Sally Jay attended the regular November Mineola City Council meeting to give a present, even though it wasn’t Christmas yet. Their father, Lester Jay, had died last year but prior to that he had leased the lot to the city for a nominal fee for many years. After the rehabilitation of Commerce Street, and later the opening of a lot by John and Gayle Fuller, the parking place squeeze in downtown isn’t as tight as it had been. But in the years prior and continuing, the grassy lot on the corner of Commerce and Pacific filled a vital role in giving downtown visitors a place to park.

“Daddy always wanted the city to have this,” Green told the council during last Monday’s (Nov. 21) meeting. Afterward, she said their only regret was that the people of Mineola had not gotten to know their father. City Administrator Mercy Rushing thanked them and noted they were also the granddaughters of Mr. Beckham who had had the Beckham Hotel.

The council meeting packet included a handwritten letter from Mr. Jay to former mayor Bo Whitus telling him that after he died, he wanted the city to use the property or parking only – for perpetuity. The council unanimously accepted the gift of the property.

After the presentation the mayor and some of the council members took time to shake the women’s hands and thank them.

Also during the regular November meeting the council members’ input on requests to be put forth to the Meredith Foundation were announced. Rushing had asked each of the councilpeople to score the 11 requests from the city’s different departments and a compilation of their scores and the rankings was presented.

The request receiving the highest rating from the council was from the Police Department to replace all existing body armor for officers at a cost of $29,480. While no discussion about their rankings took place, the compilation showed that Novada Bigham, Polly Jones and Kevin White gave those their highest scores. The second highest request was from the Fire Department for 27 new Motorola portable radios at $62,000. Mitchell Tuck rated that his highest priority.

The third highest was from the Water Department for a sewer jetter machine at $58,548. Sue Jones ranked that the highest among the council members, giving it a 2 (1 was the highest rating). The fourth ranking request was from Community Development for the Historical Railroad Park at $120,942. Jayne Lankford and Sue Jones gave that their highest ratings.

Other requests that were ranked in descending order included fifth, tied - museum operating funds at $33,000 and four additional Motorola handheld radios for the Police Department for $9,100, sixth, again tie for a 2017 Dodge Ram 3500 flatbed for the Street Department of $32,259 and a Main Street beatification project for the gazebo and mural at $6,500, seventh was a backhoe for the Water Department at $111,180, eighth was asphalt paver equipment for $115,389 and ninth was a 2017 Dodge Ram 1500 ½ ton for $31,085.

The council was asked if they had any alterations or comments. Sue Jones said she believed their rankings spoke for themselves. Rushing noted that while the council could prioritize the projects, members of the Meredith Foundation would make their own choices about what they wanted to fund.

Near the end of the meeting Rushing announced a special meeting had been set for Monday (Nov. 28 after Monitor presstime) for an ordinance establishing rules and regulations concerning placement and operation of gaming rooms and amusement redemption machines in the city limits. Rushing noted that in Mineola, as well as other cities, the game rooms have sprung up and the city needed to have some ordinances in place. She intended to invite owners of such properties to the special meeting.

Also in the meeting Community Development Director Holly Herring gave a report, nothing that her department is sponsoring a shop local promotion. Mineola residents who shop can either post a copy of their receipts from local businesses on social media or they can take them to city hall, Mineola Community Bank or the chamber of commerce office. Weekly drawings will be held of the receipts and cash prizes will be given.

Rushing also urged those present in the meeting to shop local during this holiday season. And, she said if a person wants something that cannot be bought in Mineola, for people to shop online because the city would get the sales taxes from that.

Also in the meeting the council:

• agreed to close Broad, Line and Commerce Streets on Dec. 3 for the Christmas Parade that begins at 5:30 p.m. (although if the football team has a Saturday playoff game the parade will be moved to tomorrow, Thursday, Dec. 1);

• approved the appointment of Martha Holmes to the Landmark Commission for a two-year term filling Beverly Tabor’s spot;

• approved the appointment of Ashley Unger to the Tourism Board for a two-year term replacing Dana Smith and

• held a public hearing on a request for a specific use permit for a manufactured home on Stone Street to which no one attended. After the hearing was closed the council approved the permit.

All council members were present for November’s meeting.