By MELINDA J. OVERSTREET
for Glasgow News 1
Although not all of its votes Monday were unanimous, the one adopting a municipal order appointing the city’s next fire chief got all ayes.
With the impending retirement of current Chief William Rock II at the end of this month, Lucas Tinsley, who has been serving as battalion chief, is now poised to step into the role. Mayor Henry Royse said after the vote that he will formally administer the oath of office at the council’s next regular meeting, Oct. 14. Before moving on to the next topic, the mayor also recognized Rock for his 23 years of service to the department.
That item was added to the agenda at the beginning of the meeting, which got underway in earnest with the reading and presentation of a proclamation honoring Jerry D. Green, who died in April. The document establishes Sept. 17, Green’s date of birth, as Jerry David Green Day in Glasgow.
Jerry Green
“Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes in the lives of many people and the communities in which they live and serve …,” the proclamation states. “Volunteerism is one of the most selfless acts that we can become involved in. More volunteers are needed to carry out their mission and make the biggest difference possible in this world.”
It goes on to say that Green was one of those volunteers, one who put his heart and soul into serving our community.
He retired from the Glasgow State Nursing Facility and was president of the Barren County-Glasgow Soup Kitchen for 13 years. He was also active with the Salvation Army and the Liberty District Ralph Bunche Community Center and was “a devoted member of Glasgow Faith Church,” the document states.
Nearly 20 people — members of Green’s family, including his daughter, Katie Eatmon, who subsequently spoke emotionally about her father and his servant’s heart, and individuals associated with the Liberty District and the Salvation Army — lined the front of Council Chambers as the mayor read the proclamation, and a standing ovation followed.
Eatmon said that when she was designing her father’s tombstone, the first thing she told the monument company was that it had to have a lighthouse on it, “because that’s what my daddy was. He was the light in so many ways. … He was a barrel of love, a barrel of laughs.”
Also early in the meeting, Glasgow Police Chief Guy Howie introduced new officer Jeffrey Walker, and the first person to be in a newly created position, city park ranger officer, Lisa Lassiter.
From there, the second readings of two ordinances were approved, but neither unanimously.
The first of those established the tax rate for “real property,” generally referred to as real estate, which is staying the same at 0.169 (or 16.9 cents) per $100 of assessed value, and the rate for tangible property, also known as personal property, which is decreasing from 0.176 (17.6 cents) per $100 of assessed value to a rate of 0.169 (16.9 cents).
For example, on either kind of property valued at $100,000, the tax bill would be $169.
While the tax rate on real estate isn’t changing, a property owner’s actual amount billed could be higher or lower than last year if the property’s value has changed.
Council members Marna Kirkpatrick and Max Marion voted against the rates; Kirkpatrick had also voted against the first reading of the ordinance setting the rates.
The other ordinance for which a second reading was needed was one making changes to the city’s zoning ordinance. Primarily, the changes establish where various types of medical marijuana businesses may operate.
For example, cultivator facilities would only be allowed in agricultural and industrial zones, but producing/processing facilities would only be allowed in the industrial zones. Safety compliance facilities and medical cannabis dispensaries would only. In central business districts (B-1), all of those activities would be prohibited; in a general business district (B-2), safety compliance facilities and dispensaries would be allowed, but cultivating, producing and processing facilities would be prohibited.
Councilman Marlin Witcher cast the only vote against this second reading; he voted in favor of the first reading.
The council also unanimously approved a municipal order reappointing Vickie Bartley as a member of the Plaza Theatre Advisory Board and the first reading of an ordinance rezoning the roughly 6.93 acres at 716 Grandview Ave. from light industrial (I-1) to highway service business (B-3). Approval of a second reading of the ordinance is required to implement it.
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