WOODVILLE &045;&045; A new multi-purpose municipal center will be located in Woodville’s central business district, aldermen decided at their regular meeting Tuesday.

In a 30-minute executive session, board members voted 4-0 to buy the lot where Ace Hardware was formerly located on the Royal Oak Street extension for $40,000.

The board also voted 3-0 with Alderman David Smith abstaining to pay $50,000 for an adjoining property on the corner of Water Street and First West Street, known as the Habig house.

Smith works for Dorian M. Bennett Realtors, a New Orleans-based real estate firm the Habig property was listed with. On Wednesday, Smith said he did not negotiate the sale or take part in the board’s discussion of the Habig property.

&uot;My name is not on the listing agreement, and I am not getting a commission from the sale,&uot; Smith said.

The board intends to eventually sell the Habig house to a buyer who would move the wood-frame structure off the lot.

The two connected lots will give the town a total of 1.7 acres to locate its multi-purpose center, which will be funded primarily by a $131,750 grant from the Delta Regional Authority.

Tentative plans for the center include space for the town’s police department, municipal court and a public meeting room.

In other business, board members voted unanimously to authorize the town’s street department to begin impounding stray dogs.

Both Smith and fellow Alderman Gene Loftin said they have received several complaints from constituents about stray dogs.

An ordinance allows the town to impound dogs without collars or name tags.

If the animals are not claimed within 10 days they will be destroyed, aldermen said.

The board also voted to:

4Accept the lone bid of $12,000 from Cleveland Spencer for repairs on the Town Hall building.

4Leave the town’s ad valorem tax rate unchanged at 18 mills for the 2004 fiscal year.

4Appoint Donald Ray Carter as the town’s wastewater sanitation and street department superintendent.