City aldermen discuss truck purchases

Clarendon city aldermen approved purchasing two new pickups during their regular meeting last Tuesday, May 13.

The purchase of the Ford pickups for $21,500 was approved on a 4-1 vote, with Alderman Doug Kidd voting against the measure. Kidd later said he would have preferred to wait until the new budget year for any more major purchases.

Alderman Larry Jeffers voted for the measure but said in the future he would prefer to see bid notices put in the local paper for the sake of transparency, whether it is legally required or not. According to state law, cities don’t have to give publish a bid notice if the purchase is less than $50,000.

In other business, Alderman Sandy Skelton asked for changes in the way city meetings are conducted. Skelton requested that the “list of bills” and the “revenue and expense report” not be part of the catch-all “consent agenda,” which also includes the minutes, the library report, and other items and is typically approved in one motion.

Skelton said he felt like the board has a responsibility to spend a little more time on financial matters, and city officials said those items would be broken out in future agendas.

Alderman Skelton also said he would like the mayor to give regular updates on projects as part of the usual agenda.

The board also discussed changing from twice-a-month meetings to a once monthly schedule. Alderman Larry Jeffers was a proponent of the idea and said he came on the board at a time that he wasn’t very busy but that he would be busier in the fall.

“I just may not be able to make every meeting,” Jeffers said.

Skelton said he felt the board had too much to do, especially given that the city is operating without a city administrator.

No action was taken on the meeting schedule.

Similarly, no action was taken on water rates again last week, although City Secretary Machiel Covey did present some ideas to the board and asked them to look them over for a future meeting.

Aldermen approved naming the Underwood Law Firm as the city’s attorney and James Shelton as the assistant city attorney.

The board also heard an annual report from Tammy Christopher from the Local Housing Authority and a quarterly report from on economic development and Hotel Occupancy Tax funds from Chandra Eggemeyer.

Public Works Director John Molder reported on the Fifth Street waterline project and said the line between Bugbee Avenue and Collinson Street had been installed, sanitized, and flushed. As soon as test results were received, connections would be made with residences, Molder said.