Recently-retired ERPD Lt. Lynn Ford, center, receives a plaque from Mayor Brent Lambert as Chief J.R. Reed looks on during Thursday night’s City Council meeting.
It’s going to be up to the new City Council to fine-tune the details of the city’s ordinance that deals with extended stay motels.
In Thursday’s regularly scheduled East Ridge City Council Meeting, the board continued to discuss the sticky issue of limiting guest stays in the city’s hotels/motels and the possibility of hiring a new staff member for the Codes Enforcement Department to implement the rules. In the end, the council thought it best to leave the proposed ordinance “tabled” and allow new members of the council _ Esther Helton and Brian Williams _ to ultimately help decide on the measure.
“I’d like to have this buttoned up by the end of January,” Mayor Brent Lambert said.
City Manager Scott Miller made mention that deferring action on the ordinance until the new members were able to settle in for at least one meeting would be advised. He said it probably wouldn’t be a good idea “to barrage them” with the extended stay issue during their first meeting.
City Attorney Hal North reiterated that the ordinance lacked input from the very people it would conceivably effect – the privately-owned small motels that cater to clientele that use these facilities as long-term housing.
“I don’t know what it will take to get them to the table,” North said. “If not, they run the risk of having something crammed down their throats.”
The council honored recently-retired ERPD Lt. Lynn Ford with a plaque. Ford, a 25-year veteran of the department, said “(East Ridge) is a great city and that I enjoyed the opportunity to serve.”
Councilman Larry Sewell, always quick with a joke, said that Ford may have hung up his badge prematurely.
“They’re putting a Dunkin Donuts down there, Lynn. You may have retired too early,” he said.
The Council passed on final reading and ordinance that would levy a five percent fine on businesses that are delinquent with its payments to the city on liquor drinks. It also authorized a resolution that will provide advance payment to police officers and firefighters of their state supplemental pay.
The Council authorized the City Manager to enter into an agreement with an engineering company for the design and engineering specifications for a 10-foot wide sidewalk and landscaping for Camp Jordan Parkway. The amount of the contract is not to exceed $14,000.
It also approved the spending of $14,600 for the police department to purchase 10 licenses for mobile software for the Tritech Mobile CAD system for in-car computers.
The Council also took steps to establish The Needy Child Fund as a non-profit entity.
In a memo to the council, City Manager Miller wrote that in the past the city has funded the organization in its budget. Since the Needy Child Fund “is not associated with providing a municipal service to the general public it is the Finance Director’s and my recommendation that this fund be removed as an account within the General Fund and be incorporated as a 501C3 non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors.”
It was agreed that City Attorney North would be the “incorporator” of the organization and that Miller would be on the board. Miller will step aside and a new board will assume control after the Needy Child Fund receives the 501C3 statues.
_ The East Ridge Christmas Parade is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 19 at 6:30 p.m.. Germantown Road will be closed to through traffic at 4 p.m., officials said. Rinngold Road will be closed beginning at 6 p.m.
_ A groundbreaking ceremony for the new fire hall on St. Thomas Street has tentatively been set for 12:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 18.
