Parking Fines
An ordinance was placed before the board to amend a previous ordinance in 1993 that established the amount of parking fines. The new ordinance will increase the amount for various parking fines.
For example, the fee for parking over two hours was originally $5; however, now it will be $10. This new ordinance was reviewed by the city attorney, police chief and municipal judge. It will take 30 days, as per law, for this new ordinance to take effect. It will soon be posted on the city’s Web site: http://www.cityofstarkville.org.
City Drug Policy
The city is looking at establishing a city-wide drug policy that will affect all city employees. The task of drafting this policy was given to fire chief William Grantham.
A proposal was placed before the board; however, the policy was taken under advisement and will be delayed until a future meeting to give individual board members more time to thoroughly review and evaluate the policy.
Garbage Trucks Sharon Boyd, department head of the sanitation department, requested permission to have the new garbage disposal vehicles that the city is ordering to be painted with a white cab and a maroon dumpster body. Boyd said that the manufacturer was willing to provide the vehicles at whatever color was requested without any additional charge to the city.
An additional part of the request was to include the slogan “You’re in Bulldog Country.” Since there was no estimate on the potential cost of the added lettering, as well as the concern that the slogan on a dump truck could be used as a joke against Bulldog fans, the added lettering was not approved. However, the board did approve the colors.
311
When there is an emergency, a quick dialing of 911 will put you in touch with the local law enforcement agency. Many cities have either considered or implemented a separate number, 311, which people can dial to place them in touch with their local city halls.
This makes it easier for citizens to reach City Hall without having to memorize or look up the full number. Dialing 311 would be the same as dialing the main number to City Hall.
The issue came before the board but was postponed due to the fact that the board is still working out a new phone system and looking into hiring a receptionist to answer the main phone line. Once these two issues are settled, then the board plans to re-evaluate whether to implement a 311 system.
Comprehensive Plan
Once again the issue of the comprehensive plan was on most people’s minds for the upcoming meeting of the board. However, city planner George Rummel needed a little more time to finalize some aspects of the plan before the board votes on the issue. Therefore, he requested that the final vote on the plan be tabled until a further date, most likely in November.
Receptionist
As mentioned previously, the city had sent out advertisements for hiring a city receptionist. One of the committees within the board is reviewing the applications and will make its recommendations before the full board at an upcoming meeting.
The job of the receptionist will be to greet and to assist people when they come into City Hall along with answering the phone and sorting out mail. It is the intention for the city to provide a friendly face when people come into City Hall and to better help direct people in the directions they need to go.