Monticello City Council Appoints New City Clerk

Monticello City Council members voted unanimously Tuesday night, during its regular monthly meeting, to appoint Karen Pennamon as Monticello City Clerk.

Mrs. Pennamon is currently an employee of the Putnam County government and will join the Monticello City government office upon giving notice to her current employer, according to Interim City Manager and City Clerk Peggy Billerman. She also noted that the new appointee was selected following a round of recent interviews with four applicants for the vacated position.

Council members, minus Mayor Bryan Standifer who was absent, made the appointment following a brief executive session for personnel matters.

Council members also voted to approve a rezoning request on behalf of the Jasper County Board of Commissioners in conjunction with the Downtown Development Authority for the .98 acre tract of land located at 985 Hillsboro Street, known as the old Cannery Plant.

The tract was zoned R-20 residential and was seeking to become M-1 for light industrial for the purpose of allowing a assembly cabinet shop to operate at that location.

David Dyer, speaking on behalf of the authority and the county, said that the owner seeks to employ three individuals and that only assembly of the cabinets, not woodworking, would be done at the location.

The rezoning request, approved and recommended by the Monticello Planning and Zoning Commission, did have opposition from resident Stephanie Puckett who noted that the business owner had defaulted on two previous business plans targeted for other locations in the city.

Prior to the vote, Mayor Pro-tem Stone Workman reminded the council that the city’s business is between the Board of Commissioners and the DDA not the business owner. Several questions were posed to Mr. Dyer regarding the business which included what would be the hours of operation, why was the industrial park not considered for the business, and whether the area residents had been polled about the business locating to their neighborhood.

In other business, the council approved the proposed fiscal year 2020 budget which will be discussed in a June 3 work session and is set for final approval during the June 11 regular meeting.