The Albion City Council met in regular session Monday night. The council under Visitors on Business heard from a concerned resident Kay Jones concerning the permanent closing of the city pool. Jones told the council that she understood that the council did not make the decision to close the pool. However, she was concerned that a small group of individuals made that decision since the whole county participated. When the pool was installed in the seventies, she went on to say that the community has suffered some losses. Pork Day USA, no 4th of July celebration, and was just concerned that the town would turn into a ghost town at some point.
Another Albion resident made a complaint against the animal control officer refusing to pick up animals. When called Mayor Harris thanked those residents for their comments.
The council under other business voted to approve several ordinances, including the annexation of property into the city, the Fair Parade Permit for July 29th at 10:00 AM Fair Week, no parking on Pine Street from Fifth to Seventh Street. The council also approved $850,000 worth of motor fuel tax money for the Elm Street Paving project.
During the Ward reports, the alderman thanked the city workers for their time cleaning up debris from the recent storms that moved through the area. This reminder, if you need to contact city workers after hours, please call the C. The dispatch at 445-2721 and not 911.
The Cherry Street Water tank cleaning and painting was approved in new business before the council. The approved bid for the work from Echo Wash of Olney was $70,000. Some discussion about a stormwater holding area behind the New Dollar General Store has some concerns. The council will ask Dollar General to construct a protective fence around that area. More discussion about the animal control ordinance pertaining to fines for dogs and cats running loose. The current fine is $50 per occurrence. The proposal is to raise a fine to $100 for the first offense, and then $200 and even larger amounts for recurring offenses. The board approved a water tap on request from Mike and Phyllis Metcalfe and voted to purchase a new zero-turn mower for city use, which will replace an older model from no big company at the final cost $9,285. The council also voted to switch to Wabash Internet from Clearwave, which will save the city money overall, going from $433.71 per month to $157.27 per month. The council also agreed to purchase a new phone system from David Burrows for $5,589, which will be internet based and have several features.