The Town of Westport Town Council met on October 14, 2024, at 6:30 pm.
The meeting began with the approval of the prior meeting’s minutes and payroll vouchers, cemetery deeds, and bills.
Rachel provided a Commonwealth update. She said that they are currently working through submittals on the sewer project. They have a construction meeting scheduled for November 17th, with construction scheduled to begin mid-November. She ended her update by stating that they submitted their quarterly update to IDEM.
The council opened the Public Hearing for Budget 2025. No comments or questions were received, and the hearing was closed. The Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2024-6 2025 Budget.
A representative from GS Courtyard came to the meeting to ask questions and request that the council assist with costs associated with installing individual meters. The council discussed that each meter cost is usually $275 and normally each time someone taps into the town water system they incur a $1600 tap in fee. With further discussion the council explained their process and that they want to be fair to everyone and currently are not interested in “opening a can of worms”. They asked the representative to go back and discuss what they are going to do next and if they have questions to please come back to the Town Council.
Jeffrey Moore came to the meeting in reference to his real estate company Four Seasons Realty. He had placed an offer on the lot that had previously been up for bids that no bids were received. The bids were to be a minimum of $22,500 which is what the appraisal came in as. He placed a bid for $18,000 and asked for an update. The Town Council took this under advisement, and they will discuss this at the next meeting after their attorney reviews the bid and other information. Jeffrey also came to the meeting to request to purchase a corner part of a property that he is purchasing in town. This small area would be needed to allow for adequate parking. It was discussed that there may need to conduct a survey. The council voted to look further into this and discuss it at the next meeting.
Jeffrey Moore also stated that he was born and raised in Westport and returned here and he wants to see the town prosper. He spoke about the lack of growth since 1980 stating that the town has only seen a growth of 30 people compared to the average of 50% that other areas have seen. He stated that he invests in single family, duplex, and triplex living opportunities. He said that Westport needs housing development because it helps with the tax base and helps allow growth. He stated that he would love to see 200+ people move into Westport over the next 10 years. Dolores Honeycutt, Town Council Member said, “I’m not sure I’m up for the rentals. At one time we got overrun with rentals.” Jeffrey said that rentals are not the problem that it is bad landlords that become the concern.
Gary, a citizen, came forward with plans to construct a 30x40x12ft garage on his property which will include a bathroom. He came to the council and requested a letter to the Decatur County Area Plan with a favorable vote to allow his project. They all voted to provide a letter to the Decatur County Area Plan supporting this. Gary also stated that there is a major water problem on Wiley Street. He states that at 206 Wiley Street there is not a culvert and believes that is part of the problem. Bryan Gatewood, Council President said that this will be something on their list to complete in 2025.
Mike Gasper came to the Town Council to discuss the Pickleball Court Bid. He stated that Westport Kiwanis wrote and received a grant for $10,000 from the Decatur County Community Foundation for the original plan of refurbishing and resurfacing the current tennis court. This would allow for the use of the Tennis Court and two Pickleball Courts. The quote that he received for this plan is approximately $31,000. Mike said that he is in talks with a couple of different options for additional funding but needs to know what the town is willing to put towards the project. He said that he has spoken with Decatur County Parks & Recreation about getting some funding towards the project. The Town Council agreed that they would be willing to put $10,000 towards the project. Bryan Gatewood pointed out that this is not part of a binding vote but that they agreed that they could probably do this. Further discussion was held between Council’s Attorney and the Town Treasurer concerning statutory requirements.
Damon Land, Superintendent of Public Works, provided an update on the sidewalk project. He spoke about communication concerns with the contractors of the project but hopes that it will be cleared up at the meeting that he has with the contractors.
Luke Lozier, Westport Police Department Deputy Marshall came to the meeting requesting approval to purchase tasers for both he and Marshall Joe Talkington. He received a bid of $9,748.80 which can be paid up front or over a period of 5 years. He stated that their current tasers are 2 models behind current models. He received information from the company that handles these purchases that they estimate sometime in 2026 they will stop making the model of tasers that they currently use. Luke pointed out that Decatur County Sheriff Department will be upgrading their tasers and due to this will no longer have the certification to train Westport PD on their outdated taser models. So, this will require either he or Joe to get training. The question that the council had was were to pull the funding for this request from. Due to not knowing how much was in Public Safety Budgets they decided to allow Luke to gather additional information on maintenance and then they will figure out where the funding is coming from, and they will bring this back up during the November meeting.
Luke also voiced that he has been asked by various citizens asking about the reasons for the different speed limits on Main Street and asked about making it one continuous speed limit. The Council said they would like those citizens to come to the Town Council meeting with these concerns. They did tell Luke that if he is coming to them from a Safety perspective, they ask that he submits this by writing to the Town Council to review.
A concerned citizen stood and voiced her concerns about the sidewalk work that was completed at the Post Office and her friend falling. She was questioning who would be at fault for her fall. She stated that the major concern was that the Post Office employees were rude and instead of helping her when she went in with a bloody face and shirt she was immediately told. “We aren’t at fault.” The Council suggested that she file a complaint with the post office about the customer service concerns. Damon Land did come forward and stated that he had spoken with her concerning the sidewalk and offered to be of assistance when she needed to get her mail at the post office.
Another concerned citizen asked if someone fell on her sidewalk in front of her house, is she going to be sued or will it be the city. After discussion there was not a true answer provided.
The meeting was adjourned.
