Staff writer
Peabody City Council discussed modifying parking on Vine Street Monday.
Allen Gillen attended the meeting and suggested changing the parking arrangement based on backing out of a driveway on the east side of vine and clipping a vehicle parked on the west side of the street.
Currently, cars can park on the west side of the street on the same side as the Indian Guide Apartment complex; the apartments are designated for residents 55 and older. The east side of the street is designated a no-parking zone.
Even though Vine is a two-way street, the brick road is narrow enough that emergency vehicles could not fit down the road with vehicles parked on both sides.
Mayor Larry Larsen is expecting Indian Guide residents to be resistant to a change. The current setup allows Indian Guide residents to pull up to the side of the road and step right on the sidewalk.
The council decided to have Gillen meet with Peabody Police Chief Bruce Burke. They decided to table any further discussion for later meetings.
Wind farm
Rex Savage spoke with the council as a representative for Windborne Energy Inc.
Savage is clearing the first hurdles in the process of building a wind farm on land in the county near Florence.
Because the project is tax exempt, Savage attended the meeting as a means of public awareness; he talked about Peabody receiving funds to offset fire, ambulance, and police services they will provide during construction.
If the wind farm is built with 100 turbines, Peabody will receive $10,000 and the Peabody fire district will also receive $10,000, according to information provided by Windborne.
Ordinance
The council discussed an ordinance to force all residents to have utilities for their homes: heating, water, sewer, and electricity.
The measure is in addition to the adoption of the international property maintenance code. It is in response to approximately four residents who are living without utilities.
The proposed penalty for not having utilities is a fine of $500 or imprisonment for up to 180 days.
The council tabled the decision for the meeting Oct. 25.
In other business:
- Peabody received $4,920.85 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for damage incurred during the June 13 flash flood. They submitted more than $11,000 in claims.
- Liquid Engineering has been contracted to solve Marion and Hillsboro’s zebra mussel problem. Peabody hired Liquid Engineering to clean and inspect their clear water well. The inspection and clean-up will cost $2,640.