Tupelo Police Start Move

TUPELO, Miss. — Tupelo Police Department operations will begin moving immediately to the old Mississippi National Guard aviation facility on West Jackson Street at the Tupelo Regional Airport.

The move comes after an inspection of the roof for repair by ServPro of Tupelo, which revealed the possibility of mold in the Records Division on Court Street.

The roof inspection came on the heels of the Police Department Detectives’ Division moving to the former Tupelo Water and Light Collections building on Court Street because of the possibility of mold.

After ServPro’s inspection, city officials called in Mold Inc. of Memphis to study the mold situation. Since roof repairs were also needed at the Front Street Police Central building, the possible presence of mold there was studied as well.

Today, Mold Inc. responded with a verbal report that prompted Mayor Jason Shelton to order the move – out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of city employees who work in those buildings.

Since roof repairs, water damage repairs and possible mold remediation would require both operations to be temporarily relocated, the decision was made to move operations to an alternate facility that could be used until the completion of the new police building in late 2016. In anticipation of major roof repairs, the city had explored several rental options.

Of those options, the former Mississippi National Guard facility is the most viable.

“While done out of an overabundance of caution, the move is a win for all involved, with a safer and more efficient working environment for our police department, income for the Tupelo Airport Authority and new opportunities for economic development in historic downtown Tupelo,” said Mayor Jason Shelton.

Universal Asset Management rents a portion of the building for their operations. The Tupelo Airport Authority owns the building.

From the rental of this building and other operations, the Airport Authority reimburses the City of Tupelo for airport-related city debt service. By the city leasing the building for police operations for about $2,400 a month until the new construction is completed, the city also helps the Airport Authority to bring down its annual obligation to the city.

The cost of the move is expected to be minimal, said Chief Operations Officer Don Lewis, because city personnel will be used.