The Gilbert Town Council met on Monday, January 8, 2024, for the monthly meeting. Mayor John Reeder and Councilmembers Donnie Cason, Pat Carson, Cory Rish, and Fred Taylor were present.
Guests present were Deputy Joshua Boozer, Mr. Joey Hardee, and Mr. Chad McGinty.
Mayor Reeder welcomed everyone and lead in prayer. The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by all.
SWEARING-IN: COUNCILMEN DONNIE CASON & FRED TAYLOR: Mrs. Derrick swore in Councilmen Donnie Cason and Fred Taylor. Both Councilmen asked to attend the Legislation Action Day and both requested additional training the following day. Council approved and this will be covered. Councilman Taylor also made a motion to appoint Councilman Cason to serve as Mayor Pro-Tem.
Councilman Carson seconded the motion and it carried.
COMMUNITY INPUT – Mayor Reeder recognized Mr. Joey Hardee who stated he was there to discuss the Mobile Vendor Ordinance again. He was very concerned about the Foodies event that was held in the park as it was not legal according to item #5 in the ordinance. He stated if the ordinance was enforced for him, it should be for everyone. Councilman Taylor stated this should be referred to the Planning Commission for review and brought back to Council with their recommendations and Mr. Hardee was encouraged to work with the Planning Commission when they work on this.
Mr. McGinty stated he would first like to congratulate the new Councilmen on their election and commend them on getting further training on the duties/activities of Council. He expressed appreciation for the meeting being opened with prayer as government is ordained by God. He stated government is designed to move slowly and must listen to the people of town and be sure to evaluate a project and know the cost and what it will take to finish the project. He expressed his appreciation for what has been done. He stated he had reached out for additional information about the police department and thanked Councilman Carson for his response indicating this has been tabled. Mayor Reeder thanked Mr. McGinty for what he did while he was on the Planning Commission. Mr. McGinty stated he was discouraged with what he tried to do while he was there. Mr. Hardee stated he feels we need a police department. Mr. McGinty asked about the Facebook page that is called the community page and just whose page that is because he noticed something was put on there and then deleted and that should not be done. Mayor Reeder stated he did that page. Mr. McGinty stated it should be either the community page or John Reeder page. He finished by saying nonpaid people are very important to the process.
A question was raised about the use of an off-duty officer of Lexington County to provide services to the town at a cost of $50 per hour for a minimum of 3 hours. Deputy Boozer was asked if this is still available and he said yes and is to get information to Mayor Reeder about the program. Mrs. Derrick stated she believes we will need to renew this yearly if we do this and Deputy Boozer stated this is correct. There was mention about the boats and Councilman Taylor stated that he thought this was covered in the ordinances Attorney Gill did just before she left.
MINUTES – Councilman Taylor stated the Deputy’s name is incorrect in the minutes and one misspelled word. Councilman Cason made a motion to approve the December minutes as distributed with these two corrections made. Councilman Taylor seconded the motion and it carried.
FINANCIAL REPORT – Mrs. Derrick distributed the financial report and it was received as information.
UPDATES:
ROADS – Councilman Carson stated roads are in terrible shape but I have no real contacts there. Lexington County voted 6 to 3 for no money to maintain roads within the county. He also stated if someone works on a sidewalk the county takes no responsibility on that any longer. The asphalt portion of the sidewalks are really bad. C-funds are coming again.
Mayor Reeder thanked Councilman Carson for all he had done on this for the past two years and asked Councilman Cason to take on this responsibility now. Mayor Reeder asked Councilman Carson to handle Beautification and Landscaping in the future.
UTILITIES – Councilman Rish stated the light is still out near the teacher parking lot at the high school. Mayor Reeder asked Councilman Taylor to take this responsibility in the future.
BEAUTIFICATION/LANDSCAPING – Nothing to report in this area but Mayor Reeder did ask Councilman Carson to handle this in the future.
MAINTENANCE –Mayor Reeder stated he will be handling this assignment and stated Mr. Harold Taylor has been cutting the crepe myrtles back and this is going to be lots of stuff to discard. It will be very costly to take to the landfill and Mayor Reeder got an estimate on renting a chipper for a week and that would be $971.97. Councilman Taylor asked where the debris is now. Currently the debris is being placed on Washington Street until it can be chipped. Councilman Taylor was concerned about this and the amount of chips that would be washing into his pond. It was decided to pile this behind the shop and grind them there.
ZONING & PLANNING – No one was present from Zoning and Planning but Councilman Taylor did state Chairman Miller had called and could not attend but did give him the list from Mrs. Hite of individuals to be considered for membership on the Planning Commission. Councilman Taylor volunteered to contact these individuals to determine their interest in serving and report back to Council.
RESIDENT DEPUTY – Deputy Boozer reminded everyone about the expected bad weather and to remain vigilant in this. He also stated there had been a break-in at Grace Lutheran Church and that has been resolved.
DEPOT – Nothing to report. Mayor Reeder asked Councilman Rish to take over this assignment.
OLD BUSINESS:
POST BANNERS: Mrs. Derrick distributed proposed banners from Pine Press and the specific banners were selected. Mrs. Derrick will contact Mrs. Moroz and get these ordered. The hardware has already been delivered.
TOWN SIGNS – REPAIR & PAINT: Mayor Reeder stated we discussed repainting the welcome to Gilbert signs. Mrs. Derrick was asked to contact Mr. Milford Amick at American Signs and Mr. Edwards’ business (made them originally) and get quotes on repainting these. It was recommended that we get larger posts.
NEW BUSINESS:
LIMBS REMOVAL: Already discussed.
MOVERS FOR OLD POST OFFICE ARTIFACTS: After some discussion, Councilman Rish volunteered to get quotes on moving these items.
OTHER BUSINESS:
CORRESPONDENCE: Nothing.
Mrs. Derrick reminded everyone it is time to do ethics forms. Must be done by March 31st.
There being no further business, Councilman Rish made a motion to adjourn.
Respectfully submitted,
JoAnn Derrick, Clerk/Treasurer
