~courtesy of The Scranton Journal
Trista Murphy has accepted the position as Scranton city clerk. She was offered the job at the Sept. 10 meeting of the council. She will replace Melinda Hinners who resigned in July of 2018 but has been assisting the city until a replacement could be hired. Murphy will be paid $15.50 per hour.
She began work in mid-September and will be staffing the city office daily.
In what turned out to be a somewhat controversial matter, the council voted unanimously to allow Donald “Chop” Gibson to remove the east and south trees along the fence line and farm field at Scranton School Memorial Park. The request was made due to tree roots causing problems in the drainage tile. He will also clean up the area and handle the mulberry trees.
At a special meeting in August, the council split a vote on the issue and because only four council members were present, no decision was made.
A change in the ordinance concerning the Scranton Community Center board will go into effect following publication in The Scranton Journal this week. The board will now consist of seven members who are bona fide citizens and residents of the city or neighboring townships and are interested in serving in matters pertaining to the Community Center. The mayor or a member of the council will serve as one of the seven members. The remaining six members will be appointed by the mayor, subject to approval by the council.
Terms of the board members were not changed by this ordinance.
A public hearing was scheduled for Oct. 8 at the regular meeting to allow the city to enter into a sewer revenue loan and disbursement agreement and to borrow money in a principal amount not to exceed $1.5 million.
Reports were given on parks, library and community center. Items discussed included tree removal, park maintenance, library programming, grant funding, Community Center activities and air conditioner repair.
Non-action / discussion topics were Housing 360, library mowing, real estate agreements with Baxley Holdings, allowing ATVs on streets, fall cleanup, CD investment, an alcohol policy for the fire department and an ordinance amendment increasing the scheduled sewer rate increase from 10 to 15 percent.
The next regular meeting of the council is set for Tuesday, Oct. 8, in the council chambers.
