Council spent a large amount of our time on Thursday discussing a potential residential detoxification facility on Graham Road. This item previously was discussed in Planning Commission, however, Planning Commission did not end up giving a timely recommendation on the application. Without meeting the timeline, the matter is considered as a denial by Planning Commission and the item moves forward to Council for our consideration. Currently, our zoning code does not include a clear definition of where a facility of this type may be permitted. This means that Planning Commission and Council need to do a few things, first we must address this application and make a determination as to where it is allowable. The next would be to determine the long-term changes in our code to address this issue. Both of these items also must take into account other state and federal laws and prior case law related to these types of facilities. Council is reviewing information provided to us by the law department and educating ourselves on the issues prior to deciding on how to handle this application and the nature of future changes to our code.
Recently the Police Department had a resignation which left an opening over our dispatch center. While there have been several interviews for the position, there has not been a candidate for the position chosen. The Police Chief recommended to Council a change in structure which would create a new Lieutenant position whose specific responsibilities would include supervision of the dispatch center and dispatchers. This would also create an opening at the Sergeant level after a promotion, and include the addition of a new police officer and addition to the head count. This was approved by Council and these changes would happen over the next several months.
We also got an update of the 2020 and 2021 road paving programs. Recently the bids were opened and with the costs being lower than projected it allowed for some additional roads to be added to the plan. Initially the 2021 road paving program for Ward 2 included Beckett Ridge, Brighton Lane, Kempel Lane, and Spencer’s Run. The lower costs allowed for the addition of Bayside Lake and Lake Breeze Landing. The 2020 program was completed earlier in 2021 and included several roads and Calls Farm. We are still awaiting a final award of the concrete road repair program for 2021 as several punch list items are still pending from the late 2020 program from the potential contractor. The Contractor needs to finish those prior items before the award can be done. Once this is finalized, we will know what concrete repairs will be planned as well.
Council has a meeting on August 12, 2021 with committees staring at 5:30 PM and Council to follow. Council will then have a recess for the remainder of the August month.