The new Vevay Town Council held its first meeting of the year on Monday night, and much of the meeting involved the reorganization of the board.
Tye Sullivan, the leading vote getter in the November general election, was nominated by Jamie Hayes to be the town council president, with Kirk Works seconding the motion.
The new town council also announced that it will change its meeting dates. The council meetings will now be held on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month, and will be held at the town’s utilities office at 600 West Seminary Street – the old company house at the shoe factory. The meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m.
It was also announced that the second Wednesday of the month will be a working meeting; with the meeting on the fourth Wednesday being set aside to approve claims and make motions. The fourth Wednesday will also deal with any incoming claims with due dates before meeting time can be paid in advance.
Kirk Works also made a motion to advertise for a part-time assistant to the town council. Jamie Hayes said that he felt that the council should think about such a position before moving forward on hiring someone that the town may not have a need for; but after further discussion, Tye Sullivan seconded Kirk Works’ motion; and the two voted in favor of advertising for the position, with Jamie Hayes voting against the motion.
In personnel matters, Jamie Hayes moved to hire all of the full-time employees for 2008, and that was approved unanimously. Ron Hocker was hired as the town’s attorney, replacing Greg Coy.
The appraisals that the previous town council had received on the NAPA auto parts building on East Main Street were discussed. There had been some discussion about the town buying it and turning it into a town police headquarters, but Kirk Works said at Monday’s meeting that the town would not be pursuing that purchase.
Kirk Works also mentioned his ideas of things that he wants to get done during his tenure on the town council. Those included hiring a company to update job descriptions and the personnel plan; hiring a company to do a financial review of the town; looking into a new phone system for the town; and looking into cost savings on gasoline.
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In other business conducted by the Vevay Town Council:
– Kirk Works met with representatives of Strand Engineering to discuss the progress on the Firth Addition project. There will be an informational meeting for the residents to hear about the progress on Wednesday, February 6th, at 6:30 p.m. at the utilities headquarters at 600 West Seminary Street.
– The town purchased new weed eaters for the cemetery. The quote from Ackerman was accepted because it is local.
– The council discussed that any organization that is asking the town for money should fill out a request form. The town council will get guidelines together for this form.
– The town police turned in a quote for new computer software, but no decision was made. The police department will also be getting quotes on new radios.
– Kay O’Neal asked about closing the alley behind her house. The information was given to the town attorney to look into.
– John Crawford informed the town council that the new generator is up and ready to use.