Board of Aldermen Meeting: May 5
Ricki Garrett, Alderwoman at Large
In this week’s Board of Aldermen Meeting, there were four Aldermen present in person, two of us participating by telephone, and one absent, so it was a somewhat unusual meeting. However, several important actions were taken.
Director of Main Street, Tara Lytal, presented our Department Head Report, and shared various activities going on with both Main Street and the Depot. We have a very highly regarded Main Street program in Clinton, and the number and variety of events is testament to that. Those events include movies on the brick streets, markets, Art in the Park, concerts, and many more.
After a year of work, the new Personnel Policy and updates to the Drug & Alcohol Policy were finally approved by the Board. Since they had not been updated since 2012, there were a number of important changes, with the Board sometimes struggling over what should be specified in the policies and what should be left up to the discretion of the Department Heads.
With an election coming up on June 1 at Traceway Park to re-approve the 1% hotel tax, the Board approved the necessary election support services and machinery for the election. Hopefully, our citizens will go to the polls and support the continuation of this tax. I am always surprised and disappointed by how few Clinton citizens regularly vote, and I hope everyone will take advantage of this opportunity to express their opinion through the ballot box.
The Board approved several requests from the Clinton Police Department, including the renewal of a Memorandum of Understanding between CPD and the Central Mississippi Children’s Advocacy Center for the purpose of referring investigative services. The Board also approved the replacement of 7 ALPR cameras and 3 new cameras to continue to protect Clinton’s safety through this tag reading technology.
The Board was asked to approve another food truck, Gatorbugs Snow Cone, for a location on Highway 80 East. Although the approval will only be for a short period of time, there is still concern about the number of requests for food trucks that the Board is receiving.
The most controversial issue to come before the Board was a request by Day Spring Community Church for a conditional use to operate a sober living facility, which would serve as a halfway house for former inmates on the church property. Unlike some halfway houses, however, this one would be under the strict supervision of the Church. The Board had received requests from some of the businesses in the Industrial Park not to approve this facility. In a split vote with Aldermen Godfrey, Wilbanks, and Lott voting to approve and Aldermen Oliver, Chapman, and Garrett voting no, Mayor Fisher cast the deciding vote to approve the facility.
