Alexander Council given reading assignment

With zero business on the agenda for the Alexander City Council’s October 17 meeting, council members instead were sent home with a reading assignment. Planning Commission Chairman Michael Huck asked council members to take home the first draft of the city’s new Master Development Plan placed in their meeting packets and, “Read it for the next meeting.”

“Mark it up if you want,” he said. “Write questions.”

After taking the next month to read the draft plan Huck said they can go through it and answer any questions or council members can suggest changes. Huck also added that changes are already in the works. Now that the 2020 Census information is available any related items in the plan can be updated.

Planning commission members, members of the Citizen’s Advisory Committee and a few residents listened to Metroplan staff member Bernadette Rhodes give a report on the draft plan at the commission’s October 11 meeting. When completed, the plan will be used as a guide for future development within the city. The current Master Development Plan was written in 1982.

Huck said once all the corrections and updates are made that version of the plan will need to be discussed at a public hearing. He estimated that will probably occur in the first half of 2023.

Announcements

During the “Announcements” portion of the agenda Mayor Paul Mitchell told council members the reason for the lack of financial statements this month is due to problems with the computer system.

He also reported the departure of city hall staff member Melissa Anthony, formerly Ratliff. Mitchell said Treasurer JoAn Churchill is taking over some of her duties until a replacement can be found.

Anthony, who was Melissa Ratliff at the time, was a member of the city council when she submitted her letter of resignation at the end of the February 25, 2019 meeting. She was first elected in 2014 and began her first term in January 2015.

Since the summer of 2018 Ratliff/Anthony had been working part-time at city hall mainly to organize the thousands of files. Her resignation allowed her to take on additional duties, which would have conflicted with her duties as a council member.

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Alexander City Council is Monday, November 21 at 6:00 PM in the courtroom at city hall. The public is invited to attend.