Despite not being on the agenda, residents of Biglane Heights were offered the opportunity to address the Magee Board of Aldermen last Monday.
Some of those residents were on hand to discuss access through their neighborhood to the site of a new church planned for the subdivision. However, Mayor Dale Berry told them that their attorney, Wesley Broadhead, had made no official action on their behalf in regard to the issue.
Broadhead later said that he was aware that two of the landowners had filed a petition to have the road closed in objection to the amount of traffic the church would create. He said the next step would be for the city to hold a public meeting to determine whether to close the road.
Berry reminded board members and the community that people who are cutting limbs on property in the city limits are required to remove the debris unless they are residents of the city. Anyone hired to cut limbs must also be registered with the city and be bonded.
Berry informed the board that the man who certifies the mosquito truck will be available this week and spraying should start either by the end of this week or early next week.
The board discussed renaming Magee’s Washington Street Park in honor of the late Marvin Jackson for his diligence in working with the children in the community. Alderman Patrick Brown said he would contact the family to get their approval. Berry suggested that the city erect a sign to honor Jackson for his work with the community youth. He said the park was made possible through the hard work of Alderman Patrick Brown.
The board released the schedule for their budget planning workshops. The first meeting is set for August 4 at 4 p.m. with a subsequent meeting set for August 11 at 4 p.m. These meetings are workshops and are open to the public. A public hearing is set for August 20 at 5:05 p.m. The budget will be adopted on September 15 at 6:30 p.m.
The city is adopting the same orders issued by the state for the other counties with increased COVID-19 numbers. Those orders require everyone to wear masks in public and to practice social distancing as well as other recommended procedures like testing for fever. This will be in place at least through Monday, August 3 at 8 a.m.
The city voted and approved naming the street in Whispering Pines subdivision as Brandy Lane. Whispering Pines is located adjacent to Spring Lake subdivision off Kennedy Drive.
The city is changing the signage ordinance for alcohol and will allow the advertisement of alcohol through signage. They also discussed signage in shopping centers to allow stores other than just the anchor store to have signage. This permit the anchor to have half of signage and other businesses to split the remaining half.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department requested that they be able to use funds that had been designated for referees for this year’s sports events, which were cancelled, for field improvement and drainage issues instead. The board indicated their willingness but asked for bids to be submitted.
The board approved selling of surplus equipment from the fire department. The equipment was 17 breathing apparatus and 29 air bottles. The board allowed the proceeds to go back to the fire department.
The board approved the hiring of Joseph Blair as a parttime officer and John Hosey as a full time officer to replace Billy Seghini as officer. The board also approved hiring Mark Russell as a part-time dog catcher.
The board discussed hiring part time help to clean the debris around the city barn. Aldermen commented that the employees needed to be doing this to eliminate the need to hire additional help. They determined that cleaning up would be the employees’ responsibility and the city would have an inspection on August 1 to ensure that it is being done and will be done in the future. They did not hire the requested help.
The board was offered a service proposal from Scoggins Pump Repair. It would include routine maintenance of all wells, sewer lift stations, sewer lagoon and control panels.
New equipment needed would be upcharged 10 percent over cost. Repairs over $500 would be approved by the city.
A one year contract was offered at the rate of $297,000 or a five year contract at the annual rate of $267,000 a year.
The board went into executive session to discuss “personnel matters,” which was the hiring of a new city prosecutor. The board announced that they hired attorney Wesley Broadhead at the rate of $1,000 per month for prosecuting cases for the city.
