Town Council gathered on November 12th, 2019 to discuss B&O taxes, ATV ordinance, ongoing audit, and more!   As the meeting began, the voting was delayed to Renee Moore could make it to the meeting. There was some discussion about some street lights being out. They will have to look into them as some of them were shut off to save money.
   Mayor Josh Shamblin, reported that all accounts came out in the positive last month. That’s always terrific news. Jerry Stover mentioned he hired a young fellow off the street to help him clean the gravel from the side of the road in front of his house. He asked if there was something that could be done to have everyone take care of the area in front of their home. He was assured that he never has to do that, just bring it up to the council. Joey Coleman has been working with the prisoners to get it all cleaned up soon. Josh was very appreciative he brought it up, and to never hesitate to ask what can be done.
 

   Mr. Hypes was in to give updates about the sewer plant upgrades. He was happy to inform everyone that things are on the move, and the emergency work is approved. 3 new pumps are on the way, huge “feed sacks” will be purchased to allow the water to pass through the sludge and be rerouted back to the digester, and cleaning of the old clay pipes will begin soon. The cleaning process will be slow as they are afraid of busting the clay piping. If it were plastic, it would only take a few hours.
    The new water storage tank on Maysel may no longer have to be demolished. They were able to speak to the land owner next to the current tank, and he is willing to grant them permission to just build the new one next to it. As long as they will not be required to tear the old one down, this will save a ton of money during this project. Also reported, the contractors will be repairing Mike Pierson’s yard from where Mike Enyart & Son’s went bankrupt.
   The town are currently having some issues with the sewer plant (lof factory to some). They no longer have a class 1 operator to sign off on the condition of the plant for legal purposes. Jason Adkins, the previous operator, hasn’t showed up for 3 weeks. After he moved out of town, they knew they would need to hire a new person, but they are hard to come by. Shamblin will be speaking with Mr. Hypes on getting someone in temporarily from another area.
   The probational period for three workers they hired over the summer to replace the workers that resigned is officially over. It was time to discuss hiring or canning them. Joey stated he has no reason to say none of them deserve their positions. Any issues they had have already been addressed, and all are willing to work. With that, all three of them are officially hired on full time.
   Get your Rolaids readers!!
   For the past few months, the council have been discussing placing a Construction B&O Tax. With everything going on, they hadn’t had much time to do much research on the matter. This time around, the town recorder, Cindy Mullins, had some rates. There would be $2 per $100 of the profiting income. This rate came from a regular B&O tax as she could not find any for construction alone.
    They all discussed that they only want this to affect larger businesses so our mom and pop shops won’t be affected by the tax. Jack Brown stated they need to get it up soon because there will be a lot of work happening soon that they do not want to miss out on. So this month will be the heavy research period, and will be up for voting next month.
 

   Next item of discussion was the ATV/UTV ordinance in town. Jack voiced his concerns of the aggravation of noise, as well as others having the same concerns as him. Others on the board disagree with him. Shamblin stated he could see an issue if the back streets were already quiet, and it would create a new hassle for the town residence, but with the individuals that already do it, it isn’t going to make a difference. The law abiding people that purchase a permit will have a time limit set for the evening. The ones already running the street with their ATV’s won’t be affected aside from the ability to be fined. Denise Holcomb said they need to give it a shot, and it doesn’t hurt to try.
   The Mel Gibson look alike requested for them to reconsider their mandate for helmets as it is not a state requirement. Everyone on the council was uncomfortable releasing the requirement, so it stays. Then it came to the last voting before it is put in place. Everyone on the council voted for, except one, Jack Brown. Last month, Brown abstained from voting, but this time, he voted a very unhappy nay. Next month they will be setting the rates for the permits.
   Everyone finally met a unanimous decision about the business privilige tax license for the businesses in town. It was a very confusing process, and all businesses will be charged the maximum allowed by State Law, except beauticians and barbers. Many have not been paying their yearly fee, so they will add up. Rates for Wallgreens are now up with $1k for the liquor they sell. Beauticians and barbers will pay the $15 license for town, and each individual contractor will pay $15. The rate was $25, but none of them was comfortable charging that much.
   December 14th will be an all day town event for Christmas. The decision was made due to Parks and Recs holding their annual party with Santa. The party starts at noon, and the parade will be at 6pm. More details will come out later for the other activities provided by Deliciously Vivid.
That concludes the two hour meeting.
   Next meeting will be December 3rd, 2019. Want to hear first hand what goes on in your town, attend a meeting!
JM