LOUISA COUNCIL CREATES NEW THREE PERSON CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD TO CLEAN UP CITY

CITY COUNCIL PASSES NEW ORDINANCE ON SECOND READING, CREATING CODE ENFORCEMENT BOARD DURING QUICK TWENTY-FOUR MINUTE MEETING.

MAYOR BEGAN MEETING ON A SOMBER NOTING WHEN REPORTING CITY CLERK ABSENT DUE TO TRAGIC PASSING OF CLOSE RELATIVE.

OCTOBER 14, 2021 – written by WADE QUEEN

Louisa City Council

Regular Meeting

October 12, 2021–7:00pm

Call to order.
Mayor comments.
Old Business

Approve minutes for September 14, 2021.
Second Reading of Ordinance 2021-06, “An Ordinance of The City of Louisa, Kentucky Establishing a Code Enforcement Board”.
New Business

Council comments.
Audience comments.
Executive session.
Adjourn.

Ten minute meeting. Twelve minute closed door executive session. One minute conclusion and ending.

That is what the October 12 Louisa city council meeting consisted of in what was one of the shortest Louisa city council sessions, that ended after 23 minutes or so with only a couple items need to be taken care of on what was already a short agenda.

After the opening with the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer to start the meeting, mayor Harold Slone informed the council that Louisa city clerk Kathy Compton was missing a city council meeting for the first time in a long time due to the fact of the passing of a close relative, her nephew, Jonathan Moore, 36 years old, who passed away on Saturday and the funeral was only held a few hours before the city Council meeting, that the mayor attended the funeral.

Mayor Slone said he considered postponing the meeting but decided to go on with it as final action on the the main vote was needed. Mayor Slone asked for the council and everyone else to keep Ms. Compton and her family and their thoughts and prayers, as she considered her nephew “like a son”.

Mayor Slone also stated that city council member Gary Robertson was absent do to illness (council member Matt Brown was also absent). The mayor stated once again that for the past few months the state kept telling him that they were just a couple weeks away from finishing the black topping of Lock Avenue. The state has been telling the mayor that since the summer and Mayor Slone was starting to get a little bit jittery about it since there’s only 5 to 6 weeks left in the funding phase and the state is not using state road crews to do the job but it’s done by private contractors, who themselves told the mayor they would be there in a few days by saying ‘they were in Greenup County and on the coming in the direction that way’. A few minutes later in the meeting council member Tom Parsons asked the mayor if he reminded State Highway officials that you need to get the black topping down soon due to the fact the colder weather was coming next week. (Two days after the city Council meeting, state highway officials released a statement announcing they were to beginning the black topping Lock Avenue on Monday, October 18, and that the project would last most of the week, weather permitting).

In other action in the short meeting:

• The city has filed a joint application with the county to turn into FIVCO to apply for Homeland security funds to buy brand new radios for all emergency officials in the city and county. FIVCO stated that Lawrence County in Louisa did not get the funding approved and said he knew that it was a longshot but  thought it was worth a try anyway and they will do the best as for things are for now.
• The much delayed but ballyhooed plans for the river walkway is slowly moving forward. Mayor Slone stated that the progress of been delayed a combination of environmental studies in the Covid pandemic he stated the survey was going to be done ‘pretty soon’. It’s gonna be designated as the walkway and that soon afterwards they will begin contacting property owners in connection with the river walkway.
• The city council voted unanimously to approve the minutes for the September 14, 2021 city council meeting.
• The city council approved unanimously the second and final reading of the ordinance for establishing the creation of a code enforcement board for the city of Louisa. The approval vote Tuesday night will be placed in the area media to let the public know that it has passed. Mayor Slone said the Code enforcement board should be up and running by the next city council meeting in November. Mayor Slone also asked city council members if they knew anybody who might want to be considered for recommendation for joining code enforcement board which will have three person members, and that he would have the council members turn in a list of people that he would interview to potentially join the code board. Mayor Slone also said there is now an open seat on the utility commission board after the resignation of Heath Preston and that he would also like any recommendations by council members of anyone who might be interested in filling the vacant seat on the utility board.
• There was supposed to be a discussion of the new business involving an ordinance on the new impending Louisa city Police cruisers to be purchased but Mayor Slone decided to put that on the back burner for next month’s meeting especially since he found out that the cruisers are not ready yet. After asking for any counsel or audience comments which beside the earlier statement questions by counsel member Parsons on the state highway black topping of Lock Avenue, the mayor brought up that the city would also be doing blacktopping of Lady Washington Street and surrounding roads on Thursday and Friday;
• The mayor asked for the council to vote to go into closed door executive session which lasted for around 12 minutes, afterwards the mayor and council members came out and voted to go back in session in Louisa City Attorney Eldred “Bud” Adams stated that they discussed a situation involving a city personnel matter which the mayor had the discretion to do on his own, but the mayor wanted to keep the city council up to date on the issue.

After the explanation by Mr. Adams, the post executive session part of the meeting lasted one minute, with the mayor asking the council for the vote to adjourn the meeting, ending at 7:24 P.M.,(which brought a round of laughter from everybody present about the very short city council meeting session.