Council plans special meeting to discuss water rates

With a call to order Mayor Mike Mortimore began the Town council meeting Tuesday night with the Pledge of Allegiance and the meeting was soon under way.

A review of Mac's Bar request for a catering permit for their Customer Appreciation Bash to be held on September 12 had a few concerns about noise levels but the council was assured they would be kept at decent levels for the evening. A motion was passed in favor for the permit.

Heath Overfield, the town engineer, had several updates to report. There was a concern for a sewer line on 1st Street between Canyon Concrete and the sewer plant that had a crack in the line and river water was seeping in. Progress is being made for the Cedar Ridge water tank to be painted.

Chief of Police Steve Shay had little to report at the meeting. There has some mischievous behavior by a few town residents with fireworks, other than that it has been pretty quiet.

Ernie Slagle reported that some much needed new equipment had arrived and was ready to be used. Then shifting towards a local concern was the removal of the rose bushes from Bicentennial Park. Many of the removed bushes have been relocated to the Town Shop for the public to come and gather for their own gardens and yards.

The rest of the meeting there was discussion about the new water rate increase. After some discussion a motion was passed to defeat the new rate increase. The mayor felt there are still too many outstanding issues left unresolved for it to be implemented. A new work session was planned for Tuesday, Sept. 8 at 5 p.m. at Town Hall. The meeting is open to the public.

Lastly, Tony Larson brought up a notice that the Joint Powers Board for the Armory would like to disband. The board consists of the town, county, school, and recreation boards. The reasoning is the recreation board is unable to gain grants for building upkeep and improvements due to the so many entities in the Joint Powers Board. The town was in favor for the disband after the town attorney reviews the paperwork.