Council voted 5-1 Wednesday to change its meeting day and time from 4:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday of the month to 5:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday. The change was recommended by Kacie Petrie, who was elected to represent District 6 in November.
“I’m asking for the meetings to be held after 5 p.m. for myself and for the other people in Union County who work,” she said. “When I was campaigning people told me repeatedly that they can’t attend council meetings because they’re too early. If they were held after 5 it would be easier for me and easier for other people to attend the meetings.”
The change to Tuesday was made so that the meetings would not interfere with Wednesday night church services.
District 2 council member Dora Martin cast the only dissenting vote.
“I’m opposed to the change because when people want to come to a meeting they’ll make time to come,” she said. “So it’s not the time that’s keeping them from coming to the meetings.”
Mrs. Martin added that she prefers the earlier time because in winter it is dark by six o’clock and she has a long drive home to Cross Keys.
Scarborough Drive
In other business, council heard from residents on Scarborough Drive who asked for help getting their road fixed. They said the road has been in bad condition for several years and continue to deteriorate. Though traveling on it is not easy for anyone who lives there, it is especially hard on disabled residents, they said.
“When you first turn on to the road there are four big potholes,” Melissa Glenn said. “There’s a dip at the beginning of my driveway and the whole road is bumpy.”
Mandy Adams said she lived on Scarborough Drive for 2 1/2 years and while it was bad when she moved there it’s since gotten worse. She said that if a person tries to drive around the potholes they end up in the mud along the side of the road.
Council referred the matter to its Public Works, Roads, Bridges and County Property Committee to see what, if anything, the county can do and still remain in accordance with county ordinance. The ordinance governing roads requires that a road be brought to county standards before it can be accepted into the county system. The cost of that upgrade would have to be borne by the residents.
Mrs. Glenn said that the residents can’t afford to pay for the upgrade to bring the road up to county standards.
During discussion there was a brief but heated exchange involving Mrs. Glenn and Mrs. Martin. Mrs. Glenn said that she and other residents had called Mrs. Martin about the matter and found her to be unsympathetic to their plight.
For her part, Mrs. Martin said that after she was contacted by Mrs. Glenn she began calling to get information on the matter even though Scarborough Drive is in councilman Tommy Ford’s district, not hers. While trying to get that information, Mrs. Martin said, she was bombarded by three calls within 15 minutes from other residents calling her at the direction of Mrs. Glenn and voicing the same complaints. Unable to complete her research because of the constant calls, Mrs. Martin said she finally told them to stop calling her and let her get on with working on the matter.
Committees
New committee assignments were announced Wednesday. They include:
• County Administration and Finance: Mrs. Martin (chairman), Joan Little, Joey English, Randall Hanvey, Tommy Ford and Mrs. Petrie.
• Public Works, Roads, Bridges and County Property Committee: English (chairman), Ford, Mrs. Petrie and Hanvey.
• Personnel, County Offices and Departments: Mrs. Petrie (chairman), Mrs. Martin, English and Hanvey
• Public Health and Social Services: Hanvey (chairman), Ford, Mrs. Little and Mrs. Martin.
• Law Enforcement, Judiciary and Recreation: Mrs. Little (chairman), Mrs. Martin, Ford and English.
• Planning and Develop-ment: Ford (chairman), Mrs. Petrie, Mrs. Little and English.
Mrs. Martin was reappointed as county chaplain.time of meetings.
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