The City of Copperhill rescinded their previous vote to surrender properties along West Tennessee Avenue Monday, October 12.
After meeting for two workshops to discuss the surrendering, the city voted during a regular meeting September 21 to grant property to McCaysville Properties (Mike Galinski) and Wayne Daniels.
Once the city talked to their attorney Eric Brooks, they learned that they actually do not have to surrender the properties that and the parties can file for quick claim deeds on their own.
However, the alleyways and ditch do belong to the city as they were once streets, so they have the authority to do as they please with those.
The city plans to keep those alleyways, but grant the ditch to Daniels as long as he moves forward with the previous agreement to implement a culvert system and a 20-foot walkway for the city to access.
No vote was taken on that matter, however, as Mayor Kathy Stewart advised they couldn’t rescind the prior decision and vote on it again during the same meeting.
A meeting scheduled for Monday, October 26, will bring forth a vote on the alleyways and ditch.
City Clerk Amber Brooks was appointed as the new city recorder and received a raise to $17.50 an hour.
Alderman Scott Brooks passed on the vote to raise Amber’s pay as she is his daughter.
Amber will also keep the title and responsibilities of the city clerk while acting as the recorder.
Stewart told that many downtown businesses were teaming up to buy Christmas decorations to display across the city.
The theme this Christmas, and here on out, will be “Ole Time Christmas,” she added.
The city was advised that their Budget Ordinance needed to include the “property tax rate of 1.1449 per $100 of assessed value on real and personal property.”
The second hearing of the budget will be heard at the October 26 meeting.
Concluding the meeting, Stewart boasted about some of the current administration’s accomplishments.
“Some of y’all know, in those six years when I took office, the foundation of the city was crumbled,” Stewart said. “It was in very, very, very bad shape.”
Since then, the administration has obtained over $2.4 million in grants to improve the city’s infrastructure.
“You have to have infrastructure strong enough to hold your city,” Stewart said. “With our finances and with our infrastructure, we should be able to go to the next step in improvements to things like beautification.”
Improvements to the wastewater lines behind Tallent’s Drug are to begin early next year.
The city was able to spend $272,594 out of pocket for improvements at the wastewater plant during their tenure.
“We’ve been blessed,” Alderman Tara Akins said.