New Florence mayor takes oath of office
John Lehman was sworn in as mayor of Florence by outgoing mayor Jeanie Meirowsky Monday afternoon at the Florence City Council meeting.
As her last official act before turning over the job to Lehman, Meirowsky asked the council to send a card of thanks to the third grade students in the district, who were in Florence last week to tie yellow ribbons on the downtown light poles.
Lehman welcomed a group of about 20 visitors and thanked Meirowsky for her years of service to Florence, including two as the first woman mayor of the city.
Mayor Lehman mentioned several of the things he hoped to accomplish.
"As I said at the (candidates') forum, I want to encourage an atmosphere of listening and I would urge unity and cooperation among the people of Florence," he said. "I hope that when citizens have questions they will come to the council meeting and ask."
Lehman also said he hoped the new council would consider changing the meeting time to an evening meeting. He noted he would like to hold some town meetings to set long-term goals for the community.
Rick Turner, newly elected to the council, was unable to be at the meeting, so most of the business of the new council was tabled until the next session.
Dan Ludwig, who retained his position, was sworn in by Lehman before the end of the meeting.
Randy Dallke spoke to the council about the franchise fee available through Atmos Energy. Dallke emphasized that none of the money from the franchise fee goes to the gas company. It all goes back into the community.
"Most communities charge five percent," said Dallke. "But you could charge as little as two percent or anything in between those amounts. The money is yours to spend as you see fit."
Dallke also noted that Tampa and Lincolnville do not charge a franchise fee, but that the rest of the communities in Marion County served by Atmos Energy do charge the fee.
Mayor Lehman asked if the decision to enact a franchise fee had to be done immediately, or if it could be postponed until May. He said he would like to hold a town meeting on the subject and get some input from the people of Florence.
Dallke said the decision could wait until May.
Councilman Tim Parmley asked for discussion of methods to let community members know that scheduled tasks might not be completed by city employees due to equipment failure.
The transmission on the city's trash truck went out last week and many people in the community did not know why their trash was not picked up on schedule.
No solution was reached to address a problem of this nature, should one arise in the future.
The council also:
— authorized Stuart Funk to work with Steve Hett on a solution to filling the sink holes on Hett's property to prevent water runoff into the city spring.
— granted permission to friends of Troy Malmgren to hold the annual T-Roy Rod Run at Grandview Park on July 12 in Malmgren's memory.
— agreed there was no reason to enact a separate ordinance in regard to four-wheelers as the police already have the authority under state statutes to write tickets.
— approved a proposal from Lori Kirkpatrick, swimming pool manager, to hire assistants and life guards and pay them $5.25 to $5.75 per hour, depending on experience and qualifications.
— instructed City Superintendent Funk to purchase patching material for the city's streets and begin filling holes as soon as the weather warms up sufficiently.
