Tupelo Council declares local emergencies, approves moratorium on gas-related permit fees and several contracts

The Tupelo City Council on a unanimous voice vote on March 2025 approved resolutions continuing local emergency declarations for a natural-gas outage and a severe-weather outbreak, adopted a temporary moratorium on construction-related permit fees tied to the gas emergency, and ratified several contracts and routine items.

The council passed a resolution to continue the declaration of a local emergency for the gas incident "for the lesser of 30 days, until such declaration is discontinued by order of the governing body," and separately approved a resolution continuing an emergency declaration for a recent severe-weather outbreak. Councilman Brown asked that the minutes note the gas emergency was related to Atmos Energy; Councilman Brown said, "If we could put in the minutes on item 18, it doesn't state actually what that emergency declaration is about. I'm assuming this is Atmos gas, emergency." Staff confirmed the resolution packet includes more detail.

Why it matters: the moratorium and ongoing emergency orders aim to reduce financial and administrative barriers for residents…