[0:02] Dear Lord, we thank you for this day. Thank you for all of our many blessings.

[0:06] Lord, we ask that you give the mayor and the council wisdom as they consider the

[0:09] business of the city. Lord, we ask that you be bring peace and comfort and

[0:14] healing to Miss Bangberger who's under the weather. Lord, we also ask for peace

[0:18] and comfort to those who've lost loved ones and property in Texas during the

[0:22] terrible flooding. We ask all these things in Christ's name. Amen.

[0:25] Amen. I pledge algiance to the flag of the

[0:30] United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation

[0:36] under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

[0:43] Roll call, please. Mr. King here.

[0:46] Miss Hudson here.

[0:48] Miss Disco here. Miss Dun here. Miss Baconberg.

[0:53] Mr. Dennis here.

[0:55] Okay. I'm going to go out of order a little bit tonight. Um, we do have Angie

[1:00] Angela Laierre here. She is to talk about the Honor Flight. And before I let

[1:05] her talk for a second, I have um actually we have a proclamation for you.

[1:16] We are honoring Angela tonight um for her and I'm going to read this so

[1:21] everybody can understand what's going on. Angie Angela Lapierre has basically

[1:26] served as assistant mission director and mission director over the past four

[1:30] years. In her role as mission director, she coordinates all aspects of every

[1:34] mission, including scheduling the aircraft, arranging transportation, and

[1:37] planning visits to the memorial. Being the mission director entails scheduling

[1:42] the aircraft, the tour bus, and the memorials to be visited. She also spends

[1:46] countless hours contacting veterans and ensures all the needs are met for the

[1:49] day of the flight. She diligently recruits and trains veter volunteers to

[1:53] serve as guardians, ensuring each veteran is accompanied by a caring,

[1:57] qualified companion. Mrs. Angela Lapierre oversees three honor flights

[2:02] per year, honoring and celebrating the service for our nation's heroes. Now

[2:06] therefore, I Pam Oden, mayor of the city of Hine Grove, by virtue of the

[2:10] authority vested in me, do hereby proclaim July 7th, 2025 Angel Angela

[2:14] Lapiierre Day, and encourage all citizens to join me in recognizing and

[2:19] honoring her extraordinary commitment and selfless service to our veterans.

[2:24] Thank you very

[2:32] much, but I'm going to let you talk about it. So,

[2:35] [Music] it's good.

[2:39] [Music] Thank you for everything you do.

[2:45] Oh, we did.

[2:52] Got it. I'm gonna let you talk about it real quick so you can tell everybody.

[2:57] What do you want to tell everybody? Um, what it is? I'm not sure if

[3:00] everybody knows what it is. Yes. Hold it for you. Talk to

[3:05] you. We're going to make you use the

[3:07] microphone. You want to make me use the microphone?

[3:09] Okay, I can do that. That was pretty tricky, but thank you.

[3:13] So, like she said, u my name is Angela Lier. Uh, I um am on the board for Honor

[3:19] Flight. Um it is a an organization that flies veterans to Washington DC um to

[3:26] honor them for the day. We take uh Vietnam, Korea, and World War II

[3:31] veterans on the flight. It is free to them. It is a one-day trip. Um Mary has

[3:37] been a couple years ago she went as a guardian with one of our veterans. And

[3:42] so we are a nonprofit organization. Um, anybody that wants to sign up to

[3:47] volunteer to go, we always need volunteer guardians. The guardians do

[3:50] have to pay. It is $600. Um, but, uh, that is just a small portion of what it

[3:57] costs for us to actually put on the flight. Um, but we go we go, it's a

[4:01] jam-packed day. Get at the airport about 5:00 in the morning and uh, then we get

[4:05] home. Uh, we land back in Louisville about 9:30 at night. Um, and there's

[4:10] always a big welcome home ceremony um at the airport for everybody. Um, our next

[4:16] flight is September 30th. So, if you want, you know, to check it out, um, if

[4:20] you know somebody who is, you know, Vietnam, Korea, or World War II veteran,

[4:25] um, they just have to have served in that era. Um, you can go to honorfl.org,

[4:31] uh, to get more information or, um, I don't have any cards, but I can, um, the

[4:37] mayor has my phone number. you can get it from her and uh if you have any

[4:40] questions or anything, you can give me a call if you'd like to help out.

[4:43] Thank you. Appreciate it.

[4:50] I think that's kind of an amazing thing that you all do and I appreciate it very

[4:54] much as I know everybody else does. Okay, so we are at the um citizen

[4:59] comments. I want to rem remind everybody you have two minutes. Um, whoever wants

[5:04] to go first, if you want to come up and use the microphone, please state your

[5:07] name, your address, and give us the info that you need need us to hear.

[5:12] Uh, mayor, one of your city council. Sure.

[5:39] Don't mind.

[5:45] [Music] Yeah.

[5:54] Thank you.

[6:02] the last one.

[6:13] Yeah, my name is Howard Brown and uh I've been here many times and discussed

[6:19] my issues and with my neighbors in my uh area where I live at. So I has written

[6:27] from either all of them around my house that nothing is getting done from this

[6:33] Vine Grove City Council or whatever you want to call it. Nothing. and we

[6:38] discussed it with the mayor. I've called her, text her, talked to her, but get

[6:43] blown out the door. Nothing had to get done. I got pictures of what's going on

[6:47] next door. I've show took it to the police department. They came to nothing

[6:50] about it. Code enforcement pictures, trash in the backyard, garbage,

[6:55] mattresses in the back for 6 months. Nothing gets done. And she said, "Well,

[7:00] we got to see it done. We got I got neighbors right there that came with me

[7:04] tonight to prove what's going on." But somebody needs to start doing something

[7:09] for vine growth. We need to do something. I don't know what it is. It's

[7:14] just not my my little neighborhood. We got junk cars and everything else laying

[7:18] around. Nothing gets done. And they say they're looking at we don't even have a

[7:22] code enforcement guy no more. The fire department's doing it. So what are we

[7:26] paying for in the city? Our taxes. Where's it all going to? And you keep

[7:30] saying that wait, you know, we can't afford this here. Talk Aaron needs some

[7:35] help. He's a good man. I'm not saying he's not, but they going these guys do

[7:41] what you tell him to do. He don't He gets off at 4:00, 4:30.

[7:46] They said, "Well, he told me I got on video that he's going to talk to the

[7:49] police department and see what gets it done." But they said they can't do

[7:52] nothing because they're not code enforcement. We got people living next

[7:55] to my house in a abandoned trailer and we talked to her and the mayor and she's

[8:01] been by there and sees it in the trash and nothing gets done and it physically

[8:05] she sees it and watches it. Why don't we get nothing done? Can somebody tell?

[8:13] The only other thing I can say to you, sir, is we've talked several times about

[8:16] it. We do have people that are doing code enforcement.

[8:20] Just because you don't think there's being things done doesn't mean there's

[8:23] not things being done. I don't discuss them with you. It's just like I wouldn't

[8:26] discuss anything that's going on with you with somebody else. There's and

[8:31] that's an RV. That's not a trailer that's in the property. But if you'd

[8:36] like to sit, we've sat down several times and talked about this. I mean,

[8:39] you're welcome to to say whatever you want to say. You've got like 30 seconds

[8:44] left. So, go ahead. So, what do you mean? Uh, there's

[8:49] nothing you can do. I don't understand. I didn't say there's nothing I can do. I

[8:53] said, why is nothing getting done? Well, their

[8:56] grass is that damn tall. Nothing is getting done.

[8:58] How do you know that nothing's getting done?

[9:00] I I sit on my porch. They all know I sit on my porch all day long. I'm retired,

[9:05] so I sit at the porch and watching stuff. Y'all do nothing. They drive by.

[9:09] Nothing. Why? Nothing getting done.

[9:15] I mean, things are getting done. And I'm not going to discuss them with you at

[9:17] the middle. You're not going to discuss it with me,

[9:19] but you had no problem discussing that when we was in a little meeting that you

[9:23] have two police officers you'd like to get rid of and you got one city council

[9:26] person that don't agree with you. You had no problem talking about that

[9:30] or other blank profit. Okay. All right, sir. Thank you very

[9:34] much for coming tonight. We appreciate it. Is anybody else would like to speak

[9:37] tonight? Anybody else would like to speak?

[9:46] No one else. Okay. All right. We are going to move

[9:51] on. So, if I can get someone to make if you

[9:56] have had a chance to look over the minutes.

[9:59] Is there any questions?

[10:04] I'll make a motion to approve the minutes

[10:08] for both dates. Okay. All right. All in favor?

[10:13] I. Any opposed?

[10:17] Okay. All right. So, next the department head

[10:22] reports. Do we have any discussion or questions on that?

[10:32] Are we okay moving on?

[10:36] Okay. Unfinished business. Project updates. If Mr. Bob Lucy can update us,

[10:41] please. Just got a few things I want to go over

[10:46] with you this morning or this afternoon. The same thing.

[10:51] Creek Bell Bridge, as you guys know, uh the North Pier has u started to move and

[11:01] that's why we got a weight ton restriction on right now. So, I've given

[11:05] you a picture of that so you can see it. Uh ultimately we need to replace the

[11:09] structure. I mean it definitely needs to replace it, but for the time being I've

[11:13] solicited quotes from local contractors to do a temporary repair um to keep that

[11:20] from failing completely. Even with that repair, we're still going

[11:25] to keep the weight limit posted on it so that school buses aren't going to be

[11:29] able to go over it. Keeping it through ton garbage trucks shouldn't be going

[11:34] over there. I mean the largest vehicle really pick up.

[11:39] We don't want anything. So, but keep an eye on it. Uh, but with these repairs,

[11:44] we can keep it open for now. We just have to keep the weight on.

[11:48] Uh, so with that said, we are looking at replacement, but we're trying to find

[11:53] grant money to do that. So, Jessica and I've been working

[11:57] looking at all options for trying to find money for that. That's going to be

[12:00] about a half million dollar project. You know, it's a big big job. Sorry, I have

[12:06] a question. How long would

[12:11] you know the the quick fix or the temporary fix, how long would that last?

[12:17] It's fine. Um, if we keep the weight limit restriction on,

[12:21] how do we enforce that? I mean, other I mean, other than posting it, I

[12:26] mean, the worst thing that'll happen once we get these temporary repairs done

[12:29] is the pavement's going to start continue to to fail because you've got a

[12:33] void opened up behind that. We may come back and do some other measures to the

[12:37] pavement once we get a pavement contract going. But for now, what we're talking

[12:42] about doing is is is bracing it with I beams underneath the deck. And I kind of

[12:48] I just gave you some dimensions there, but that red line going horizontal that

[12:51] you see on the picture. Picture that being an I-beam going across. There's

[12:56] three of them spread across. And and I'm basing this based on a structural

[13:00] engineers report. I'm not a structure engineer, but we had a structure

[13:03] engineer come up with this plan. So, um, getting quotes back this week on

[13:10] Wednesday 9th, so Wednesday, I'll get those. I'll

[13:13] send those around so at least we have an idea of budget what that looks like. I'm

[13:18] hopeful it's fairly inexpensive. Just trapping smile beams on there

[13:25] and they may have some left in their yard. You know, we may get lucky one of

[13:27] the contractors some of that material. lucky.

[13:30] Um, but ultimately we do want to replace that with a clear span structure because

[13:36] right now you've got peers that block debris, trees, everything that flows

[13:41] down through a flood gets trapped on that structure and we have to constantly

[13:45] Chris can tell you we have to constantly clean it out, clean it out, clean it

[13:48] out. So it'll improve great if we get back.

[13:53] So, I will add that um we've been looking into state emergency funds for

[13:58] the bridge project and for the actual replacement of the bridge project. The

[14:05] KYTC offers a county city bridge improvement application. Um and I was

[14:10] told directly by the state that cities get preference over counties and they

[14:15] wish cities would apply for it. So, that's promising. My understanding too,

[14:21] Jessica, is that we could possibly get reimbursed for the emergency money as

[14:26] well. Well, I was I was 29.9% we would get

[14:29] reimbured. So, anyway, we're we're doing what we

[14:33] can to get that going, but we're not going to remove the weight restriction.

[14:36] So, just we got to let people know that. Is there a deadline to submit for that?

[14:42] So, we already completed the emergency application. We're just waiting for the

[14:45] quotes to come in to submit it and then the deadline for the actual complete

[14:51] structure uh application I think was October.

[14:54] I think so. It's in the fall. We thought at first it was in

[14:57] but the earlier July and who I think it's in October.

[15:02] Yeah, we're new to this. We're trying to work our way through it and Bob, may I

[15:06] ask a question? like after what had with the big

[15:10] rainfall and everything. Do our bridges get inspected regularly

[15:16] or is that just No. Maybe not. Maybe not. Well, we will look

[15:23] for things like this, you know. But the short answer is no. But do they get

[15:27] inspected? We do put our eyes on them, but they're not going through a physical

[15:31] form of inspection. Okay. uh you know if and I'm not sure

[15:34] who reported this Chris if it came up because they started to see a depression

[15:38] in the pavement and then you go under the underside of the bridge

[15:42] well because it's not easy to get down so a community member reported this

[15:46] problem maybe whomever happened to drive up like

[15:49] today uh I think you might have seen this when he was riding down at South

[15:53] Mill today on South Mill a hole opened up in the street it's a simple fix it's

[15:59] just a a small diameter drainage pipe just below the surface that tank had. So

[16:05] we put barrels around we can fix that easy but many times

[16:10] I I didn't know what that and we're looking at several other

[16:13] structures. This happens to be one over creek is another one right at the golf

[16:18] course is the creek drive.

[16:23] Oh the one lane road is posted already. It's

[16:27] already posted but that's on the list that we need to do something with that

[16:30] as well. The one on St. Andrews is also on our list.

[16:34] It's not near critical. It's not failure.

[16:39] We have three on our radar. Anyway, more to come on that. I'm just

[16:46] making you aware that's what we have going on. Road painting. Um I sent out a

[16:51] list so we don't have to decide tonight, but it would be nice if you could use

[16:55] that. I can believe quotes. Um, I came up with the list that included all of

[17:01] the Mountain View Drive area. So, it' been Mountain View, Alpine, Blue Ridge

[17:06] Way, Ozark Court, Blue Ridge Court, and in Durban Way. And then through two

[17:12] others on there that um I tried to group these all together so that we don't have

[17:17] mobilized, they don't have to pop all over the city. But, um, Hill Street,

[17:22] that section between Lincoln Trail and the end of

[17:27] what I'll call Webster is development, but the end of that property, that whole

[17:31] stretch is really starting to turn bad. The rest of it is in good shape. Even

[17:34] though the rest of it has experienced a lot of flooding, it's in really good

[17:38] shape. It doesn't need to be addressed. So, put those two in there. And then,

[17:45] uh, Shirley Boulevard, uh, there's a small piece of that right by the, uh,

[17:50] right off of Highland. That's you, you know, if it's noticeable. It's like

[17:54] whatever happened back when they paved those roads, there's three or four

[17:58] sections. Those sections all deteriorated terribly. I don't know

[18:05] that. So, put those in there. And then, um, a

[18:10] small piece at the end of Otter Creek, put that in there as well. So, if you

[18:14] look at all those now, all of that up, that puts us right at about with my

[18:18] estimates about $200,000 of paving. I'm confident my estimates are high because

[18:23] my quantities are high. That'll come down. Um,

[18:29] we have $200,000 in our budget, but that included some other monies too for salt

[18:35] and some signing, right? All all of our signage and everything

[18:39] comes out. Yeah. What what would we have roughly

[18:42] for um

[18:43] 150ish, right?

[18:46] If not, maybe a little bit 175 possible. Well, I would suggest we leave that.

[18:53] We go ahead and bid those and see what kind of numbers because if we pay them

[18:57] based on actual quantities, not a lump sum bid.

[19:01] You're saying bid the group one bid. No bid the top

[19:05] one, two, and three, which adds up to about 200,000.

[19:08] Okay. And that way because you do it based on

[19:10] actual quantities. You don't pay for paving based on based on the street. You

[19:15] get asphalt tickets that they submit and you pay them based on that tonnage.

[19:20] I think that's the way to go. All the way down to autograph.

[19:23] Yeah, it looks like a lot of these streets are

[19:25] some of our newer streets. Uh well,

[19:32] well, I would say the Shirley Boulevard area is in Tusky and Napa Valley. Those

[19:37] pieces those pieces were in the first uh section.

[19:44] Those are 20 years old. Yeah, they're 20 years old. They were

[19:46] built in. They're not in the new piece.

[19:49] Yeah. They're older than you think. Doesn't seem like it's been that way.

[19:51] Right. Right. And and those particular pieces are

[19:55] getting a lot especially that piece on a lot of everybody going in and out of a

[20:00] dollar dollar and all the way. So that would be my recommendation is to

[20:06] bid all of those and then get real numbers from the contractor and I'll

[20:11] I'll tighten up the quantities as well. And then we we spend what we have in our

[20:16] budget. We don't go past. That would be my suggestion to you. And

[20:22] then and then I went ahead and put the rest in what I feel is in order. This

[20:26] could change in time, but that way we know next year we can go to the next

[20:31] group, the next year. My son's going to hop in here because we're going to have

[20:34] other things happen. There's going to be a road that pops on here that we a pipe

[20:39] failure or a water man or things happen. Um,

[20:46] so that would be my thoughts if you want to.

[20:49] Are you okay with bidding down? Good with that.

[20:52] Okay, I'll I'll send those out. Um,

[20:54] hopefully it's less. Yeah, we'll see. And and again, I I use

[20:58] my my unit prices from my estimate are based on historical numbers. Ball

[21:03] prices, believe it or not, are down right now. So when you pay at the pump,

[21:07] you notice it. We notice it here, too. So that helps. Okay. Um,

[21:14] two more things. So, sorry, try to make these quick. Rose Creek Drains

[21:18] improvements. Uh, Jessica and I have been working um, diligently on getting

[21:23] in a grant application. I mentioned this at your last meeting. The grant

[21:27] applications due on Wednesday. Got everything filled out. Got everything

[21:31] submitted. She was off today though. Dale,

[21:35] that's she was off and not responding. So, I

[21:37] finally got an auto reply. We can receive you submit.

[21:42] electronically, not manual about did you receive it? So, keep your

[21:48] fingers crossed. We asked for a half million dollars.

[21:51] She indicated to Jessica now that's not out of line. It's not an unreasonable

[21:55] request. They would prefer to do larger projects, a few larger projects than

[22:01] many smaller. And so, we got everything from the

[22:05] homeowners. Well, that no longer requires

[22:10] conservation efforts. So if we get this grant, it's just a regular plan that we

[22:15] need for drainage. Everyone until we know we have and we put that in

[22:21] the application. So we were so

[22:31] Yeah, we got we got everything. So Radcliffe wrote a

[22:34] letter in there. Yeah. Sorry. Yes, he did.

[22:40] So, we'll see if we get a grant. That would be great. We will find out by the

[22:44] end of August is what their application say and Dale didn't confirm that, but

[22:51] that's what their application tells us. All right, last one. On Alpine Drive, um

[22:56] 100 Alpine Drive, I met on Thursday afternoon with um

[23:02] the name of the development. So, that's the builder. Alpine drugs,

[23:07] not the state. I know.

[23:09] 100 alkine drugs. I know, but his representative was out

[23:13] there, which was a contractor, correct?

[23:15] And we met, went over the improvements that we felt I felt was needed. Uh, I

[23:20] gave you a real crude schematics. Don't try and

[23:25] the the important things are the red line and the green line. The red line

[23:28] means they're going to have to go in there and reestablish the whole roadside

[23:32] swell. The green is they're going to have to go in there and clean all that

[23:35] out. all that material washed downream system. So, um

[23:42] he indicated to us he'd have that done within two weeks. So, I I just pushed it

[23:48] to the end of that that week. So, July 25th should all be done. We're going to

[23:54] hold them to that. Now, this is developers responsibility.

[23:57] Correct. We're not We're not No. Correct. All I'm doing is is making sure

[24:02] those are supposed to Yeah. That's on them. bad to do that. So Aaron and I met

[24:07] out there with them before they get

[24:13] raintorm, but that didn't affect anything. If it stays dry, they should

[24:17] be able to get back. The only thing I would I told them is that we will likely

[24:21] have to have them come back in the fall to reseed some areas because the grass

[24:25] is not going to take right

[24:32] which will be on them as well. So, I think we'll put all that in a follow-up

[24:35] letter to them once we're satisfied they addressed it. So, that was a lot I threw

[24:41] at you. I've got other things if you want to talk about them, but otherwise

[24:44] I'll stop there. Any questions?

[24:50] Do you have any response from the state on on the sidewalk?

[24:54] Uh, no. And I'm not sure we can't send asking that. Um we have to wait for

[25:01] approval to bid cuz they have to release the money

[25:04] and then they tell us to bid for the sidewalks on Knox, right?

[25:08] Yes. Yeah. So on Knox Avenue, we're finished

[25:11] with everything we're supposed to do except we still need to get the people

[25:15] to come in and sign the amusement documents. Um we we'll get there

[25:21] close to but that's not what's

[25:26] that's not homeless yet. It may, but we we're still making mistakes,

[25:31] but we can't do it until they say what's on.

[25:39] All right. Thank you. Appreciate it.

[25:43] Okay. Next is new business possible first reading of the budget budget

[25:48] amendment ordinance for fiscal year 2024 2025. This is a requirement. If we could

[25:54] get a sponsor, please. I'll sponsor it. Thank you. Thank you.

[25:58] This is the city of Ninrove Kentucky budget ordinance for fiscal year 2024

[26:02] 2025. An ordinance of the city of Ninrove Kentucky amending the annual

[26:06] budget for the fiscal year July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025 by estimating

[26:11] revenues and resources and appropriating funds for the operation of the city

[26:14] government. Whereas an annual budget proposal message has been prepared and

[26:17] delivered to the city council. Whereas the city council has reviewed such

[26:20] budget proposal made necessary modifications now therefore be ordained

[26:24] by the city of Vinero. Section one. The annual budget for the fiscal year

[26:28] beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2025 is amended as follows. Under

[26:35] estimated revenues, American Rescue Plan Act funds are added at $823,395.

[26:43] City reserve account is added at $486,39.

[26:48] Sewer reserve account is added at $38,858.

[26:52] Storm water 2022C construction account is added at $44,740.

[26:58] Total estimated revenues are amended to read $8,243,92.

[27:04] Under estimated appropriations, general government is amended to read $2,58,221.

[27:11] Water department is amended to read1,541,610.

[27:16] Sewer department is amended to read1,544,928.

[27:22] Police department is amended to read $1,753,179.

[27:27] Fire department is amended to read $1,22,764.

[27:31] And total estimated appropriations are amended to read $8,243,92

[27:37] at his first reading. Mayor. Okay.

[27:40] Thank you very much. All right. Next is the city of Andro ethics ordinance. I'm

[27:45] going let Mike Pike present that, please.

[27:47] Thank you, mayor. So, council, you've received a draft of an ordinance.

[27:53] As you guys know, the county and all the cities in the county have an ethics

[28:00] ordinance. the county and city of Elizabeth Town wanted to revise the

[28:06] ordinances somewhat and all of our ordinances basically read

[28:10] the same. So the thought process was let's get together the legal council

[28:16] and what preceded that was KLC met with representatives from the various cities

[28:21] and recommended uh that the ethics ordinance be looked at and revamped and

[28:26] so that's what's happened. So, I met with Harden County Attorney Jenny Olden,

[28:30] City of Etown attorney Ken Howard, who's former county attorney himself, also

[28:34] former circuit judge. We met multiple times to go over the ordinance and make

[28:39] sure that we agreed on the changes because the the consensus is we all need

[28:44] to be operating under the same basic ordinance, right? You don't have a code

[28:49] of ethics in Vine Grove that's different from Rackcliffe, the county, Etown, etc.

[28:54] So, what I've done here, we put together this ordinance. This ordinance is

[28:59] basically other than formatting and a couple of name changes, it is the same

[29:03] ordinance for the county and all the cities. What I want you to do, I want

[29:08] you to look at it. I want you to read it. You're not going to vote on it

[29:12] anytime soon. I don't want you to even consider voting on it until August.

[29:16] Okay? We're not going to not going to vote on anything tonight. The first

[29:20] opportunity is August. And if you are comfortable to vote on it, then fine. In

[29:26] the meantime, when you're reading it, if you have questions, write down your

[29:30] questions and contact me so we can discuss those questions. That being

[29:34] said, a lot of this is pretty straightforward, right? As a rule of

[29:39] thumb, if you're asking, is it ethical for me to do such and such? If you're

[29:43] asking, the answer may very well be probably no. Right? But if you do ever

[29:51] have questions on ethical issues, right, you know who to contact.

[29:56] So, I want you to read it and I want you and I didn't summarize it because I want

[30:01] you to read it. You need to read it. It covers you. It covers me. It covers

[30:07] everybody here. It covers all the employees as well, both in our city and

[30:11] in the other cities and county as well. And some things are just common sense,

[30:16] right? But other things uh go into great

[30:20] detail, financial disclosures, etc. Right? Okay. So, with that being said,

[30:25] uh I've given this to you. It's only 22 pages, give or take. So, I'm giving you

[30:32] some homework, but you need to read it. You need to be familiar with it. And a

[30:37] lot of this stuff, I think, will make sense. If it doesn't and you have

[30:41] questions or concerns, let me know. One change in here that is new is a

[30:50] mandatory attendance uh for meetings. So if you are a member

[30:55] of the council or a board or commission, if you miss so many meetings, you're

[31:00] subject to being brought up on ethics charges. Okay? That doesn't mean it's an

[31:05] automatic thing. But we've had some absenteeism. Not really in our city

[31:11] or any city in the north end, but in the south there, we've had some issues. So,

[31:16] I won't say any more than that, but um it's an issue, right? If you're an

[31:23] elected official, you need to come to the meetings. You need to be informed.

[31:26] You need to be participating. And if you're not, then there's a

[31:30] problem. Also, there will be uh mandatory

[31:36] uh training basically given by the ethics board and their attorney

[31:41] uh each year. And so, we're still going to work through that and see what that

[31:47] looks like. But, uh it's a good idea, right? Especially in this day and age,

[31:54] we've got one of the largest budgets we've ever had, maybe the largest

[31:57] budget, right? So, you guys are in charge of a lot of money.

[32:00] and the mayor as well and the admin staff. So, it's a good idea to have

[32:05] these things as refreshers. Again, I want you to look over it. If

[32:10] you have any questions or concerns, write them down, call me. Right? You

[32:14] guys got my numbers, you got my email, be happy to talk about it.

[32:21] I'm not expecting any questions right now, but does anybody have any

[32:24] questions? Radcliffe just got theirs tonight. Okay.

[32:28] the county did their first reading toward the end of June and just the way

[32:33] the calendar fell here we are in July. So we're all trying to do it right

[32:37] around the same time. So this version basically like I said is

[32:42] going to look like what fiscal court will be looking at and what city of

[32:46] Etown and what city reckless will look like and then West Point whatever those

[32:50] folks in West Point are doing and not really sure what all they're

[32:55] doing but they're supposed to be substituted as well. Any questions?

[33:02] Again, feel free to reach out. Okay. Thank you.

[33:07] All right. Thank you very much. Okay. Next is the um possible approval of fire

[33:13] department surplus request. I'm going to let Chief Haddle explain to you what he

[33:17] has on that list.

[33:30] Good evening. Um, since we got the 2025 lighter truck in, our 1992 lighter truck

[33:39] is now surplus. The bad thing is, and we were talking about this today, when we

[33:44] backed the 1992 in, its transmission dropped as soon as we kept it off.

[33:50] So, yeah, it's lucky. very very lucky. I

[33:54] mean, we we bandated and mandated for so long. It's a 1992 fire truck. It lasted

[34:00] longer than I thought it would, let's be honest with you. So, I would like to

[34:04] surplus that so we can get rid of it. Also, we have a 2000 enclosed trailer,

[34:10] year 2000 closed trailer that we don't use. Um, we're trying to find a title on

[34:14] it. We don't we're not for sure. We just started on it today, but I would like to

[34:19] surplus those two things.

[34:31] All right. Can I get a motion to go in surplus?

[34:36] I'll make a motion to surplus the fire truck and the trailer

[34:41] and I'll second. Okay. All in favor?

[34:45] Opposed?

[34:56] Okay, we are at the mayor council comments. I'm going to start to my left

[35:01] with Francisco.

[35:04] Okay, Mr. Rick. Okay, Mr. Dennis. Okay, this is done. No,

[35:12] I just want to say congratulations to North Middle School Beta Club that came

[35:17] to visit us. Um, they placed fifth in the nation when they went down there and

[35:24] for the first time two Harton County schools placed in the top five in the

[35:28] nation and with East Harton Middle being number one, the number one school in the

[35:33] nation. So, we're very proud of ours. Anything

[35:41] else? Okay. All right. I have plenty. All right. So,

[35:46] this Friday is our first first Friday this year. Our June one was cancelled.

[35:52] So, uh July 11th will be our first Friday. It also be our um fireworks. So,

[35:57] we will start at 5:00 and probably end around 10:30. Soon as it gets start, I

[36:02] think they aim for 10. The fireworks will go off. So, we will have um

[36:08] uh we're having a DJ Friday night. We'll have um uh vendors. We have food trucks.

[36:15] We have the kid area, the splash pad, the playground will be open. Um we just

[36:20] have a lot of fun going on. Bring your chair out. Join us for our first Friday

[36:24] this Friday. Um and then right after that, we have the Mimosa Festival, which

[36:28] is July 26th. Um, you can go on to eventbrite.com

[36:33] and put in mine mimosa and it'll pop up because that's what I did and it'll pop

[36:38] up so you can buy your tickets. They're $20 a piece. That's from 4 to 8 on that

[36:43] Saturday, July 26. So, I hope we've had a lot of people already buy tickets. Um,

[36:47] hopefully we can get everybody there. Um, and then,

[36:52] um, August 1st is our makeup first Friday for the June 1st Friday that got

[36:57] rained out. So, we'll have Casey and Romy at that one, the band, and then

[37:01] we'll have all the normal stuff that we have at our first Fridays, the um kids

[37:06] area. Um we'll have u vendors and food trucks and all that good stuff. So, and

[37:13] that one's 5 to 8 because we will not have fireworks after that one. August

[37:16] August 1st on that one. So, okay. Um, the next thing I want to talk

[37:24] to the council real quick about is the pink firet truck. You all remember that?

[37:29] The breast cancer fire truck that we've had in the city.

[37:32] It's not in good shape. Um, it's not drivable. Is that correct, Chief?

[37:36] Yes, ma'am. Okay. Chief came to me and talked to me

[37:39] about it. My thoughts were we could put it in Jenny Park downtown, but it's too

[37:43] big. It won't fit. So, I was thinking maybe we could put it in Optimus Park. I

[37:49] was want to hear some suggestions. If you all want to think about it, it's

[37:52] fine. Just get back with me and let me know. It's pretty big. How many feet is

[37:55] it, Chief? Where would we park it? It's going to

[37:59] stay for a while. 38.

[38:01] I think 38 ft. I think that's right. 38 ft.

[38:03] Yes, ma'am. I was thinking somewhere in Optimus

[38:05] Park. Um I'd love to have it just as like a showcase for people to go up

[38:11] because it's signed by the bunch of different breast cancer survivors. Um

[38:15] some have passed away since they did this because it's been there. It's been

[38:19] years. How old is this truck? It's a 1969 truck.

[38:22] Yeah, it's an old truck. So, I'd like to keep it in the city because it is

[38:26] nostalgic and it is kind of a cool piece. I just don't know what to do. So,

[38:31] if you want to think about it, get back to me. Kind of tell me your thoughts. If

[38:34] you can get some input from other people, that would be great.

[38:38] I think Optimus Park is kind of crowded right now.

[38:40] It is. It's got a lot. I don't know where to put it. We could

[38:43] go to Shabbo, but there's not a whole lot. I don't want to put it in a spot

[38:47] where you can get bands. Um, that's not the purpose right now.

[38:52] It's in the old salt bin building. Um, I don't really want to. That's why I was

[38:57] thinking somewhere that's really visible like downtown, but I don't know where

[39:01] we're going to put it. Mayor.

[39:05] Yes, sir. Put it out in front of city hall. And

[39:07] I'm just worried about vandalism at the city park. We got cameras, but

[39:11] once it's done, it's done. Put it at city hall. I mean,

[39:17] I'm just that's just a thought, but yeah, I mean, it would be cool somewhere

[39:20] down here, but I don't know where we have spot.

[39:24] I need to kind of not throw it up. Just kind of make it nice, but I don't know

[39:28] where

[39:32] Well, that would

[39:38] not be the same problem we have now, right?

[39:42] It's going to block the piece the evo. So think about it. It doesn't have to be

[39:49] done right now, but once we move it, it's going to sit there because it's not

[39:54] it's not durable. So I don't really see it being useful in the salt bin property

[40:00] right now. Um

[40:11] um okay hopefully I see everybody Friday at the first Friday event and we do not

[40:17] get rain. Would be wonderful if we did not get rain Friday. So if I could get a

[40:22] motion to adjourn. Okay.

[40:25] All in favor? I opposed.

[40:28] All right. You guys have a good night.

City Council Meeting 07/07/2025

Transcript