Special meeting in Ocean Springs

Could a Home Depot be coming to Ocean Springs? It was talked about today. Ocean Springs Mayor Shea Dobson and the board of aldermen called a special meeting.
Economic development for Ocean Springs was the hot topic during the special meeting Thursday called by Mayor Shea Dobson. The board was joined by members from the Mississippi Development Authority. Mayor Shea Dobson said, “We have a lot of new faces on the board. So they were just coming to keep us informed. Kind of a 101 crash course you know so we know exactly what they can offer and what we can expect to get done when we work with them.”
A booming downtown area is one thing that Ocean Springs is not lacking. Now, Mayor Shea Dobson and his new administration are working towards developing the outside areas of the town. “We are very interested in developing the east side of town. You know, bringing some hotels and different restaurants, any business that wants to come in and bring jobs to our residents we are interested in welcoming them with open arms,” said Dobson.
The newly elected officials in Ocean Springs have started to brain storm options for economic growth and officials say that some of those plans could include the addition of a hotel, restaurants and more stores to the east part of town. Ward One Alderman John Gill said, “A lot of our platform during election was economic development and we are trying to raise the sales tax base in Ocean Springs and to do that you need to bring in more retail so you get more sales tax in the budget.”