The Clinton City Council met in open session March 21 at City Hall. Absent were Council Persons Debbie Smith, Cameron Jackson and Becky Raysik. Following roll call and the saying of the Pledge of Allegiance, the motion to accept the previous council minutes was approved.
Clintonians Patty Harmon and Dedee Woods spoke to the council during the Personal Appearance portion. Both have spoken to the council before about matters on Lincoln Street where they live. “We are here again,” said Woods. “Now there is a generator problem plus the old problems.” Both Woods and Harmon expressed that since their previous complaints to the council, activity at the alleged abandoned home on Lincoln Street had increased to now include the running of a loud generator at all hours of the night and also loud trucks. Both reported there was an increase in traffic to and from an out-building on the property as well. It was reported the police were called multiple times – and that tickets have been issued, but the women are, at this point, frustrated. “Police were called ten times and ten tickets were issued,” said Patty Harmon.
“Ma’am, you are doing everything possible,” said Mayor Carla Moberly. It is now up to the courts,” Moberly said she had sat in on the last court appearance involving the person in question. Harmon and Woods both said they had called Clinton PD when they thought a resolution was not forthcoming as fast as they hoped: “I talked to Officer Nepple,” said Harmon. “He was understanding and nice,” said Harmon. He, too, told her the matter would need to play out in court at this point.
The Clinton Main Street report was given by new director Amanda Johnson. Johnson said she had attended two workshops – one on downtown housing and the other on marketing for downtown areas. She reported she will be going to a Main Street conference in Boston soon, too.
Her end-of-year report included the information that eight businesses had started or re-located to downtown last year which had created eleven new jobs. She reported that there had been 1,436 volunteer hours as well. The vacancy rate for downtown is down to 3%.
Director Johnson said she is working with the Henry County Museum and help raise awareness for the “Save the Dorman House” campaign. The Dorman Home, Clinton’s first two-story home (and now over 160 years old) is suffering from structural issues.
Johnson concluded her report by saying she was trying to get accustomed to, and breath new life into, many of the Main Street committees. “The goal is to educate people on what we [Main Street] is doing and recruit more young people.” She emphasized the need to re-build the organizational committee – especially since the passing of Cheryl Craig, who headed that particular committee.
The Clinton City Council approved the second reading of Bill No. 2023-06 (Fire Protection Grant).
The Public Works Committee report was given by Councilman Roger House in lieu of Councilman Jackson’s absence. The first item on that agenda was the dates for City-Wide Clean Up. At the recommendation of the Public Works committee, the motion to hold the Transfer Station City Wide Clean-up dates to be April 24 – 29 was approved.
It was reported the metal roof for the Artesian Pool House is to be delivered this week and the concrete portion has been poured. CJW flew a drone over the lot/area and collected elevation and size data for later use. In short, progress on the Artesian outdoor pool is progressing: “It no longer looks like a Pizza Hut,” said Councilman House.
Currently, bid specs are being put together for an Aquatic Center boiler building (recall equipment damage is occurring because of excessive moisture) and the only delay for work starting at Hurt Park (by Westport Construction) is some good weather.
There have been a number of inquiries about painting/striping the tennis courts at Artesian to accommodate pickleball as well. It was also reported that the registration for the Youth Sports Program will change to accept individuals only. Apparently, the process is not equal when outside/out-of-town travel teams register and Parks and Rec would like it to be uniform for those teams in town as well as not.
At the waste water plant, a date is being sought to by-pass the pumping so that an update/repair can be made. And, from here on out, there will be no reports from the Sewershed Surveillance project (concerning viral materials in the sewer system) unless there is a significant change.
A work order has been placed to install monitoring devices for several of the pump stations and parts for the upper-level pump at the plant are to be shipped by April 11. The permit renewal for the plant is currently being put together; also, Alliance Water Resource is working to find some solutions for the staffing issues at the plant because of the recent loss of Dan Shearer.
The first readings of Bills Nos. 2023-07 and 08 were held – both concern conditional use permits for properties at 114 and 116 South Main (on the square). Councilman House concluded his report by noting that there were concerns from an individual about trash, speeding, vehicles on properties, and the walking lane along Second Street. The problems reported were referred to the appropriate departments and/or committees to take a look at.
The Public Safety report was given by Councilman Gene Henry. After clarifying discussion about the availability and potential costs of future police car purchases, the council approved a motion to order the purchase of two new vehicles. The move should save money and also take advantage of the soon to be limited availability of the specific model of vehicle Clinton PD uses.
The first and second readings of Bills No. 2023-09 and 2023-10, both pertaining to Clinton Fire Department grant awards, were held. The rules were suspended as the deadline for approval for both is April 8.
The council regretfully accepted the resignation of Clinton Police Officer Chad Nepple (who has been with the department for 18 years), who took a position elsewhere.
The Finance Committee report was given by Councilman Daniel Wilson. The council accepted the high bid of $3,001 for the purchase of the surplus mower Parks and Rec had. He reported the new financial software system the city will be using is still in the early stages of implementation – and warned that it will take some time to implement all the changes. He also reported that the City Clerk, Wendee Seaton, was presented an award during the Finance Officer Annual Training Conference. Councilman Wilson said she had done a wonderful job furthering her training in her work for the city.
Mayor Carla Moberly commented that many things were going well for the city: grant awards for both the fire department and police department were positive signs and she expressed her appreciation of City Clerk Wendee Seaton for adding so much professional development above and beyond her normal working hours.
City Administrator Christy Maggi reported that roof repairs at City Hall will begin in April and also repairs at the community center will start soon, too.
Before adjourning, Councilman Gene Henry added that the Clinton Police department does have one officer in training and a cadet candidate (pending approval) who is slated to start the police academy in July.
The Clinton City Council adjourned at 6:41 PM.
