Blevins City Council meets

BLEVINS – The Blevins City Council was called to order by the Mayor on November 4th at 7:00 pm. All board members were present with the exception of Councilman Cassidy. An opening prayer was offered by Barbara Patterson. The previous meeting minutes were read by John Moore and accepted. The financial report was presented and the council approved the report. There were several water adjustments that were discussed and accepted.

Shelby Mavis was not able to continue the meter reading due to recent family matters that required her attention. The council expressed their thanks for her service. Her resignation was accepted by the council. Jim Jordan was interested in the meter reading position and the council voted to put him on as meter reader.

Due to the recent vacancy of the Recorder/Treasurer position, any resident of Blevins who is interested and has accounting or bookkeeping experience, may leave their contact information at blevinstreasurer@gmail.com. Please note, the position requires that this person must reside within the city limits of Blevins. The council expressed its thanks for Vickie Gray’s years of diligent service. She will be missed. In the interim, the council approved on using an “outside service” and help from Cindy Clark. There was a discussion on appointing an acting clerk to record the meeting minutes. The council approved Kimberly Torres as acting clerk.

Another vacancy by the recent resignation of councilman John Myrick will leave a huge void. His more than 30 years of service to the City of Blevins will be greatly missed. He was instrumental in getting the city sales tax established and for bringing in Dollar General. This brings in streams of revenue which helps to keep the city running. The council expressed its gratitude for the decades of his service.

There were two interested parties to fill this vacancy and after some discussion and comments by the council and the candidates, Lisa Arbor decided to withdraw from the consideration to avoid an impasse but, expressed some interest in the recorder/ treasurer position. The council approved Eric Smith to serve on the council.

An ordinance was passed for the tax millage rate of 3.1. This is the current rate so, no rate change was made. The passing of this ordinance is required by law.

There was discussion on utilizing some concrete chunks from a recent slab demolition in town. The council approved the use of this material for sewer right-of-way erosion control for a fixed labor cost to transport and place the material where needed.

A load of hot asphalt was approved to further control erosion at the sewer right-of-way bridge. The water system will be undergoing a sanitary survey on November 12th. This is part of a normal and required inspection routine. The council also looked at a few items that will need to be addressed before the survey. Kenny Hill has expressed his intention to retire as the city’s water operator in the near
future. Anyone interested in this position may leave their contact information at
blevinstreasurer@gmail.com. City residency is not a requirement but, being a licensed water operator is.

The council discussed a CD that will be maturing in a few days which will occur between council meetings. The council approved to roll this over to a higher yield CD.

The water operators’ truck has some mechanical or electrical issues and the council has approved repairs not to exceed a fixed cost. Repairs TBD.
A vote of confidence in the mayor was had by the council for navigating some recent challenges by the city. The mayor was deeply moved and humbled by this and expressed his gratitude.

The meeting was adjourned. The next meeting will be December 2nd at 7:00 pm, at Blevins City Hall.