The Clarendon City Council met with Fire Chief Jeremy Powell about fire safety in the historic downtown area during the regular city meeting last Thursday, April 14.
The meeting comes after a February fire that destroyed several historic buildings on the square in Memphis. Powell and city officials discussed what could be done to prevent such a disaster from happening here.
While no action was taken last week, the discussion centered on the possibility of encouraging downtown property owners to allow the Clarendon Volunteer Fire Department to conduct a safety evaluation of their structures. The purpose of the evaluation would not be to find code violations or issue citations but rather to point out any potential fire hazards and also allow the department to become familiar with the layout of buildings should they ever need to access them in an emergency.
Powell noted that the former fire chief, the late Delbert Robertson, was familiar with the buildings downtown and knew, for example, which buildings have basements that could present a hazard to firemen. Firemen could not go in one building in Memphis, Powell said, because of a cistern under the building.
More discussions are expected on this issue in the future.
In other city business, proclamations were issued for the Clarendon Broncos’ Repeat Class 2A State Basketball Championship, for the community service efforts of Clarendon College in cleaning up the community, and for Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in April.
The council appointed Bunny Owens as the election judge and Annette Osburn as the alternate judge for the upcoming city election on May 7.
Hours for the Clarendon Aquatics Center were set for this season. The center will be open Sundays and Tuesday through Thursday from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The council also set ten years old as the minimum age that children can swim at the center without an adult but said children will have to pass a swim test administered by the center.
City Administrator David Dockery, as part of his monthly report, gave the council notice that he plans to retire on or about April 5, 2023, in order to give officials time to find a suitable replacement.
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