shirleyNANNEY
Editor
The city of McKenzie is getting prepared for the next snow by purchasing a snow plow.
In the Jan. 12 meeting, council members voted to purchase a this piece of equipment from Source Well for $10,266.
The funds will come from the Street Dept. capital outlay funds. It will have a five-year guarantee, according to Mayor Ryan Griffin.
“There are some areas of town that the city’s equipment won’t work on,” said Street Superintendent Johnny Mercer.
Council Member Charles Pruneau questioned if TDOT assists with any snow clearing which Mercer said is mostly on Cedar Street.
“They won’t touch Broadway and University Drive,” said Mercer.
No bid had to be taken because it was purchased through Source Well, which is approved by the state for purchases so governmental bodies don’t have to seek bids. The company is called TriGreen.
The size of school sport championship highway signs drew much discussion among the council members.
The city has agreed to donate $1,053.80 to the McKenzie High School football team, the McKenzie High school girl’s basketball team who won state championships last year and to the McKenzie High School baseball team who won the state runner-up team. However, that is where it will end. A decision on the size of the sign will not be made by the city.
During discussion, Pruneau said he felt that if the city provides funds, it should be left up to the school administration and coaches on the size of the sign.
It appears the football team wants a larger sign than the girl’s basketball team.
The mayor said high school principal Kelly Spivey had been spoken with about the situation and that Spivey felt it was the city’s decision on the size of the signs.
However, it was felt by council members that if larger signs were ordered by any of the championship teams each one would be responsible for the extra costs.
“We’re not in the sign business,” said council member Bobby Young.
The mayor also noted that he thought the city should stay out of the matter.
Council member Josefina Batton said she felt the city’s involvement should end with the donation.
Citizen Veronica Davis of 51 Alabama Street spoke concerning a pet owner who lives next door who has pit bulls and thinks is breeding them.
She said his dog attack her dog. He was fined $1,000 and has only paid $100 of it.
“Not a soul will do anything,” she said as she became very emotional while speaking about it. “Do I have to go to see about suing him?”
City Attorney Laura Keeton said the neighbor is supposed to have the dogs fenced in.
Davis said she wanted the neighbor to have a decent fence and gate which would help give her piece of mind.
In the council member report, Batton had several questions about different situations. One that she brought up was the crosswalk at the middle school where motorists whizz by while children are crossing the street.
The mayor also discussed a sign at the intersection of University Drive and State Route 22 in McKenzie that was an encroachment upon state right-of-way, according to TDOT. The sign was put up prior to Griffin becoming mayor during Mayor Jill Holland’s administration.
A letter from TDOT said it would have to be moved.The letttering has been moved but the brick posts that held it are still there.
The mayor said he had talked with a TDOT official who said he had called city hall before the sign was put up, but no one called him back. A surveyor will have to tell the city where to put it.
