The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen has issued an ultimatum to the owners of The Mulberry Vicksburg and Jacques’ nightclub to develop an acceptable public safety and security plan or end up in court.

In a unanimous vote, the board authorized the city’s legal department and Police Chief Penny Jones to give the owners of the Mulberry and Jacques’ 10 days to discover, or to come up with some memorandum of understanding explaining how the businesses plan to move forward and protect the public.

“So they’ve got 10 days to discuss it with the police chief and the legal department,” Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said. “And if they can’t come up with an agreement within 10 days, then we will review it and we’re going to give, through to this motion, the legal department the authority to file the necessary action with the necessary court.”

The court process would involve filing a petition in Warren County Chancery Court to seek a temporary injunction preventing the bar from operating until a hearing on a permanent injunction declaring the bar a public nuisance.

The Mulberry leases space to Jacques’, which is attached to its building. Jones said Monday afternoon that a potential injunction would apply solely to Jacques’ and would not prohibit the Mulberry from doing business.

The decision comes in the wake of a July 5 incident in which 117 shots were fired in the parking lot shared by the Mulberry and Jacques’.

The shots damaged nearby cars and windows, including a window at the Vicksburg Convention Center, as well as the nearby floodwall.

The board’s decision came after an executive session involving Flaggs, Aldermen Michael Mayfield and Alex Monsour, Jones, Deputy Chief Charlie Hill and Assistant City Attorney Monica Allen.

During the discussion, Flaggs said Jones “identified longstanding issues on the property.”

He said the board was prompted to address the issue “because we did have a public building hit by a stray bullet and we have an obligation and a responsibility to protect the public first, and that’s what we intend to do.”

Jones said the shooting occurred in the Mulberry parking lot. She said two people have been identified in the July 5 shooting and a warrant has been issued for one person. She said officers will be examining video footage to find others. All the people involved are from Warren County.

She said the July 5 shooting was the result of an ongoing issue and that gang members are involved.

The shooting is the second incident in the area around the Mulberry and Jacques’.

Four security guards were wounded in a May 5 shooting in the Jacques’ parking lot. Warrants have been issued in that case.

The Mulberry’s general manager, John Bullard, did not respond to a request for comment on the issue.