The McCleary City Council met for the first time Wednesday evening since the resignation of member Jenna Amsbury from the Position 1 seat two weeks ago to take up the city’s clerk-treasurer position.
Filling that seat, as well as several other issues, came up during the well-attended meeting.
Discussion went back and forth over a sign ordinance as citizens and council members put forth their thoughts and positions over topics including content, dilapidated signs, requirements for maximum banner sizes, and an entreaty to residents not to nail signs to power poles. At least one member of the public voiced an opinion that nothing should be passed until a full city council was seated once again.
The city has already issued a notice advertising the vacant position — candidates must be a registered voter, who has resided within the city limits for at least a year, and files before Sept. 29. The fill-in candidate will serve from their selection until the end of December, when the Position 1 seat, which was up for election anyway, will be filled by the winner of the regular election.
“There aren’t any real rules to talk about — we have to do this, we have to do that,” said City Attorney Chris Coker, speaking about the announcement. “It could go out on the website, it could go out to the newspaper, it could go on a sign,” Coker said to general amusement from the crowd.
Council members and city staff also discussed the IT issue. The city recently suffered a major IT failure, The Daily World previously reported, and recovering from that as well as the path forward has been an ongoing discussion.
“What we’ve learned from our little IT disaster is having an IT person on staff is invaluable,” said Public Works Director Chad Bedlington during the meeting.
Site clean up
Another point of lasting contention was the clean-up of a site used as a dumping ground for construction waste. Public works personnel have been excavating construction waste, including metal and concrete, as time allows over the summer, said Mayor Chris Miller in an interview at the site last Friday.
“Whether it’s an environmental hazard or not, a lot of people were concerned about it, and it had to come out,” said Miller while looking over the site, located north of downtown.
The material will be loaded and taken to a landfill, Bedlington said. The work has been done over the summer as time is available to avoid the rainy season, where the high water table would impede excavation with the rented bulldozer.
“Our objective is to clear this site up so we can use it as a park or city property,” Bedlington said.
The area is about 2.5 acres, Bedlington said, and estimated it would cost about $13,000 for equipment rental and to haul away the approximately 60 tons of material. Work to haul away the material will begin on approximately Sept. 6 when the transport containers arrive, Bedlington said in an email.
Several residents spoke up during the meeting with concerns about water safety, but Miller said the hydrography meant there was no risk to city wells, and that there had been no sign of leaching from the asphalt or other materials.
“I’m not a scientist,” Miller said. “I just want to take care of this.”
Contact Senior Reporter Michael S. Lockett at 757-621-1197 or mlockett@thedailyworld.com.
Michael S. Lockett / The Daily World McCleary Public Works Director Chad Bedlington, left, and Mayor Chris Miller regard a pile of construction debris excavated from a dump site on Aug. 18.
