Monticello Council Hears from Residents

Monticello City Council members kept business relatively brief Tuesday evening in their first meeting of the new year as much of the time was spent hearing commentary from local residents.

During the government entity’s regular business meeting, attended by all council members, six residents publicly put forth their input on a range of issues including the city’s infrastructure, utilities, Get Ahead House and Mine Lake.

Gerri Yoder of Eatonton Street provided council members with pictures of some of the sidewalks throughout the city while asking the council to consider repairing some of the current neglected areas of the city before spending money elsewhere.

Though not mentioned by name, the implication was to stop spending taxpayers’ funds on the Mine Lake project, which was purchased for some $3 million by the city about three years ago with plans of utilizing it as a water supply. Most recently, council budgeted $150,000 in preparation for a walking, biking recreational trail facility on the property.

“If your house is falling in you don’t put in a new pool,” noted Mrs. Yoder as she urged council members to “maintain what we have.”

Doug Currie of Hillsboro Street also noted that many things in the city needed repairs including the sidewalks and that perhaps in the future if the council planned on spending $3 million of taxpayers’ money that maybe it should be put to a vote of the citizens.

Roberta Anderson of Frobel Street asked council members to reconsider some of the verbiage in the recent memorandum of understanding drafted by the entity with regards to the Get Ahead House (GAH). As the MOU stands now, she said that the youth initiative would have to close and requested a meeting with the city manager to discuss the document. She also asked the city to look into improving the Funderburg Park recreational area located behind the GAH.

Rev. Jimmy Horton of Springfield Baptist Church thanked council for their service while noting that there were several areas for improvement in the city such as fixing some infrastructure, supporting the GAH, lowering utility bills, and recruiting new businesses to the area. The minister encouraged unity and using taxpayers’ money wisely.

David Thompson of Forsyth Street also spoke to the issue of infrastructure repairs, funding Mine Lake, and installing some traffic signs in city in an effort to control some of the big truck speeding.

Charles Forsythe of Eatonton Street reiterated infrastructure repairs, utility bills, and Mine Lake development in addition to mentioning the city’s code for yard refuse.

One of three votes taken by the council Tuesday was the first read of an amendment to the city code regarding construction and yard refuse. City Attorney Joseph Reitman explained that the only change to the code states that refuse cannot be greater than five feet in length and 50 pounds in weight. The amendment was approved unanimously.

Approved unanimously were the reappointments of Angela Redding, who was absent Tuesday, as city manager; Karen Pennamon as city clerk; Mr. Reitman as city attorney; and Robert Jordan as city engineer.

Also approved were the qualifying fees for the 2021 general election for the post of Mayor, District 1, Post 1, and District 2, Post 1. The mayor qualifying fee is $270 and the district post fees is $162.

The Mine Lake project, not originally slated for discussion, was added to the agenda with Councilman Cynthia Miller taking up the topic. She provided some background on the property by explaining that the council purchased the property in hopes of being able to use it as a water source.

When that option was deemed not viable, she explained that selling the property was discussed by the council. At some point there was a possible buyer but the that the sale price was under what was paid for it. She was against the sell of the property because it has already been paid for so why not utilize it for the good of the community.

Mrs. Miller tried to address the issues brought up during citizen’s commentary. She noted that the $150,000 to complete the engineering study had already been set aside from Blockstream funds and would not require seeking any extra monies at this point. The city engineer would be in charge of the current phase of the project. The councilman made a motion for the engineering phase to begin but it failed for a lack of a second.

Councilman Jenny Murphy questioned who would be the project manager while Mayor Pro Tem Gail Harrell asked about putting the project out for bids. Councilman David Wease sought a public hearing on the matter with citizen output to which Mayor Bryan Standifer said was not prudent during current Covid times.

Councilman Miller asked members to speak frankly about the project and to “don’t keep tossing the ball” on the matter since the city was already “spending $16,000 a month on it.”

The council also took up the issue of the roads in Oak Ridge Subdivision. The property’s owner has requested that the city take over the roads in the area which are badly in need of repair. Attorney Reitman noted that the city’s concern should be with the expense of repairing and maintaining the roads which is currently the property owner’s responsibility. The council instructed the city attorney to address the matter with the owner as they were opposed to taking the roads over now.

The council received updates from Director Michele Celani of the Downtown Development Authority, Visitor’s Center Manager Brandi McMichael, and Chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission David Thompson.