By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Monday’s regular meeting of the Glasgow Common Council was kicked off with a presentation by Maureen Carpenter, president and CEO of Barren Inc., which has been reported separately, and the swearing in of new city police officer, Hunter Seiler. Those items were followed by the second reading of a budget-amendment ordinance and two municipal orders.
Action items included one item of old business – second reading of an ordinance amending the budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30 – and, under new business, two municipal orders.
The council unanimously approved the first reading of the budget-amendment ordinance Aug. 12. The amendment to the budget for the fiscal year that ended June 30 transfers a total of $685,000 from the unappropriated General Fund as follows: $330,000 to the Pool Contractual Improvements Account for the American Legion aquatic center project, $40,000 to the Parks and Recreation Contractual Improvements Account for the American Legion aquatic center project, and $315,000 to the Administrative Contractual Improvements Account for the farmers market project.
It also transfers $241,500 from the unappropriated Sanitation/Landfill Fund to the Landfill Construction Equipment Account for acquisition of a dump truck.
These items were in the prior fiscal year’s budget, but some of the bills hadn’t come in until after July 1, when the current fiscal year began, so the expenditures needed to be accurately reflected from that budget.
The first of the municipal orders formally appointed Victoria Simmons as the new city treasurer, although she started the job Aug. 11. Mayor Henry Royse and she offered highlights of her resume as she was introduced to the council’s finance committee last week. Monday, immediately after the unanimous vote of approval for the order, Royse administered the oath of office to Simmons, as her husband and two children stood at her side.
The other municipal order approved the use of opioid settlement monies to fund the salary of a social worker/victim advocate for the police department. In advance of the July 14 council meeting, the mayor provided notice to the council members that he had signed an executive order establishing the position title. At a meeting just prior to the full council gathering, the topic was discussed by the council’s public safety committee, which agreed unanimously to recommend approval to the full council, all members of which approved it.
Per a resolution the council approved in 2016 that requires the mayor to provide at least two weeks notice before presenting appointments to local boards, commissions, committees, etc., Royse provided the name of one potential appointee, Patrick Slater. Slater would be finishing the unexpired term of Sam Chambers on the board of directors for the Glasgow Municipal Airport.
Before the mayor moved into announcements about current and future events, he yielded the floor to Glasgow Police Department Chief Guy Howie. The chief said multiple people had asked him about a post on a certain local social media account that accuses one of his officers of doing something, and Howie, without naming the officer or specifying the accusation so as not to perpetuate it, said it was a blatant lie and he would not tolerate it. He said he was supporting his staff member and the members of the council should as well.
The other announcements included the following:
– The Groove & Glow hot-air balloon event is Sept. 13 at the Glasgow Municipal Airport;
– The Old Timers Reunion annual fundraiser featuring Tyrone Dunn & Kin-Folk is at 7 p.m. Friday at the Plaza Theatre;
– The Glasgow Parks and Recreation Department is taking registrations for its adult (at least 16 years old) fall volleyball league, its fall soccer league and its girls’ youth (fourth through eighth grades) volleyball league;
– City government offices will be closed Sept. 1 in observance of Labor Day; and
– Because both the mayor and city attorney will be out of state attending a conference on the date of the next regular scheduled meeting, Sept. 8, that meeting is cancelled and a special meeting is scheduled for the same time Sept. 15.
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