Westport Town Council met on Monday. The council signed the funeral deeds, payroll vouchers, adjustments, and monthly bills.
There was a public hearing for the USDA application. Currently the town has a separate sanitary sewage system that struggles with the infiltration of rain and ground water. This can cause backups and sewage to come out of the grates which is illegal, since IDEM says no overflows whatsoever. This caused the town to enter into an early warning sewer ban with IDEM that they are currently trying to improve their way out of. The USDA application would help pay to improve the system so no overflows happen.
There was an update on the Westport Water Projects. A contractor has been in town replacing water meters. O’Mara Contractors found some lines in town that weren’t in great shape and gave a proposal on where they should place lines. Pay application #4 to Thieneman Construction was approved.
Resolution 2021-1, the Westport Employee Covid 19 policy update, was approved. Ordinance 2021-1, regulation of mobile homes, was approved. There was an ordinance update on 1999-1, condemnation guidelines. The only update was the title of “town coordinator” changing to “public utilities superintendent”. This was approved.
There was a discussion on ADA compliance planning. This is just a matter of setting a timeline and someone who can take care of any issues. A discussion was had on water bill penalties. They recently found a written out billing procedure from year prior. This included what happened for delinquent penalties. This will be brought back to the next meeting.
There was a request for an alley closure at Elizabeth Street. Neighbors thought that it had been closed years before however recently found out it hadn’t been. One neighbor wants to use it for their personal driveway while the other 3 of the 4 say no. An ordinance will be written for the next meeting. Damon would like to close an alley on his property. All sides are owned by him. An ordinance will be written for the next meeting.
The board is exploring annexation. This would expand the town in the long run.
Main Street Inc. requested permission to place new signage on each end of town to promote local businesses. They have already talked to the Decatur County Community Foundation. They now need the town permission and proper permits. This was approved. Kiwanis requested to to do a Cruise In show on May 15. Their BBQ was cancelled last year due to Covid, so they need to do something to make
Money. This was approved. Mary McCarty requested permission to write and submit a grant to request Covid Funds. This was approved.
The Spring Dumpster date is April 22.
Morgan Schofield
WTRE News
All Rights Reserved