City to down Big Hill tank

by STEVE SHOOTS
 J-E Reporter
Citing reports of a water tower collapse in Shelby County last August, Mayor Eddie Gooch recommended the Council proceed with the demolition of the Big Hill Water Tower byaccepting the lowest bid for the project.  Although the August incident did not result in any injuries, several structures, including a church in the town of Waddy, KY were seriously damaged when the tower fell, releasing 100,000 gallons of water into a neighborhood there.
Mayor Gooch insisted that such a scenario in Providence would likely have a vastly different outcome, and with the spring weather bringing high winds, he asked the Council to proceed. 


The Council approved the motion and the contractor who provided the lowest bid will be notified.  Demolition will begin with 30 days of that notice.  In other business, the Council approved a motion to purchase a new police cruiser to replace one that was totaled during a call earlier this year.  

City Attorney Richard Peyton reported that changes to the City’s Code Enforcement policies have become necessary due to complaints regarding repeat offenders who may have in the past received a warning notice, cleaned their property within the required time but then fall back into the poor habits that resulted in the warning to begin with.   This results in another notice by the code officer and the cycle repeats. As the code is presently written, this pattern could continue indefinitely with no incentive for a property owner to remain in compliance.  Peyton suggested the Council consider amending the code to include penalties after a second warning. 

In the event that a repeat offender receives a third notice, fines up to $50.00 per day until the resident or landlord becomes compliant, were discussed.  Such an amendment would require two readings in order to be passed.

In public appeals, one resident in attendance complained that there is a house on Williams Street that has been in a state of being torn down for “several years”.  She asked the Council what was going on with it, and if anything could be done to remove it.  Mayor Gooch told her that they would look into it and see what could be done.  Another resident made an appeal to ask about the status of improving the street lighting near her home in the Hudson Meadows area.  She made an earlier appeal to the Council in February and wanted to know what plans were in place.  Mayor Gooch offered his apologies that it had not yet been addressed, but was hopeful that the project would be complete within a month.  On another topic, she asked about the city’s hiring policy, specifically of minorities.  She was concerned because she was aware that some employers require a fair composition of minorities in the makeup of their workforce, but by her observation, such a practice was not evident in Providence.  Mayor Gooch told her that when a job becomes available, it is posted in the local paper for two weeks.  Then, the department managers are responsible to review the applications, interview the most qualified candidates, and make the decision to hire from those results.  Gooch noted that the city has always welcomed diversity in its workforce and would continue to do so, but that the city is not bound by any requirements to fill a quota.  He did suggest that in some cases, when past jobs were posted, they simply had no applicants at all from certain classifications of candidates.

There was no other business and the meeting was adjourned.  The next scheduled meeting will take place at 7:00 P.M. on May 4th.