Florence council meets in new building
Florence City Council held its regularly scheduled meeting Monday afternoon with one notable change. The council met for the first time in the new city building. City employees made the move last week to the new facility.
Mayor Jeanie Meirowsky asked the council members to consider holding an open house sometime after the first of the year. "This has been a long time coming," said Meirowsky. "It would be nice to have a reception and let people see it all now that it is finished."
A date for an open house will be determined at a future meeting.
Ted Ferrier was present to meet with the council and give members an update on the bottled water project he has been working on with the city. Due to changes in the supply and demand of bottled water, Ferrier said he was no longer confident the project would be profitable for his company.
He noted there were no contracts binding the city to his company. He said he had not given up completely on a future plant in Florence, but since he could not make any guarantees, the city was free to consider other offers if they should come along.
On the recommendation of Police Chief Creighton Smith, the council hired Lori Sprowls to serve with the Florence Police Department in the capacity of part-time officer and matron.
The council approved a request from Florence Fire Chief Reilly Reid to purchase two new Kenwood radios and a triple charger for his department. The total expenditure will be $1,300.
Max Williams requested permission to apply for a special burn permit for some trees he had removed at the edge of his property. The council unanimously approved his request if an advance inspection by Reid is approved.
Rates for the rental of city owned dumpsters was finalized. The charge to both residential and commercial customers will be eight dollars a month.
In a related topic, Meirowsky announced that the city of Cedar Point elected to continue having the Florence city crews pick up trash. Meirowsky said Cedar Point officials also commended Rick Burcky for his service to that community when picking up their refuse.
A cereal malt beverage and amusement license was approved for Charla Ramsey.
The council scheduled a final year-end meeting for 4 p.m. Dec 30 to address any issues or bills that might need attention before the end of the year.
