ELLISVILLE - The Ellisville Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday night to approve some water bill adjustments and confirmed an appointment to a community board.
With little discussion, the board of aldermen adopted a resolution confirming the reappointment of Donnie Scoggins to the Board of Directors of the Economic Development Authority of Jones County.
Officials said the current term of Scoggins will expire on June 30, 2020. His new term will begin on July 1, 2020, and expire on June 30, 2023.
In a separate matter, the board voted to approve two of the three water bill adjustments requests made to the city. The adjustments were handled based on the city’s policy, which has been in effect for about a year. In June 2019, the board approved a water leak adjustment policy for the city.
Mayor Buckhaults said the policy allows the city to handle these matters uniformly.
“Some rural water associations don’t adjust and some do,” the mayor said. “State law dictates we can’t give away water.”
Based on the formula in the policy, the property owner is given some relief, but city officials said the city cannot take on the full amount because the city has already incurred some cost involving water production and treatment.
The board approved adjustments for Fannie Clark at 609 Herrington Street in the amount of $86.94; and Sandra Wright of 424 Washington Street in the amount of $234.51.
A request had been made for Sonic Drive-In located at 208 Highway 11 in the amount of $2,371.87. However, no representative from the business was present at Tuesday’s meeting to make the formal request to the board. The mayor said the policy requires someone to be present at the meeting to make the request and to ensure that the water customer is clear on the guidelines for the policy. Since no one was present, that matter was tabled. The water adjustment policy allows for an adjustment to be made on an individual water bill once in a five-year period.
In a separate matter, the board of aldermen met with the city engineer and discussed several infrastructure items. Also, the board talked about property matters and upkeep of properties in the city.
For the past several months, the Ellisville Board of Aldermen has operated with limited agendas as officials worked to handle essential items during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mayor Buckhaults and the Board of Aldermen continue to encourage residents to use caution and abide by the Center for Disease Control‘s (CDC’s) guidelines.
“This thing is serious,” the mayor said. “It’s going to take people working to defeat it.”
The mayor said the city is working to follow the CDC guidelines.
Ellisville City Hall opened back up to the public on June 8. However, only two persons at a time are allowed in the lobby of city hall to transact business at the front counter.
“It’s going okay,” Mayor Buckhaults said. “We are in unchartered times. So, we are just trying to cope.”
During this crisis time, the mayor said, he has told city employees and department heads that they are not required to attend the meetings if they do not have items that need to be addressed.
In other business, the board agreed to approve pro tunc the purchase of a Yamaha 6 HP 15th Shaft outboard motor for the south lagoon at a cost of $1,500. The council members also approved an annual ad for the South Jones Touchdown Club for $250.