The Noel City Council voted on Tuesday night to sell the former recycling center's property.
Mayor Lewis Davis said the information for the sale was placed in the newspaper and Bernice Sanitation made the only bid on the property and building.
Council members voted to sell the property to Bernice Sanitation.
In other business, the council agreed to give Huckleberry Rescue $200 for taking in stray dogs within the city limits. Huckleberry Rescue volunteers said they took in about 10 dogs in Noel. Council members agreed to pay $20 per dog, for a total of $200, to the rescue organization.
Council members also passed, on its first and second reading, an ordinance that changes the meeting time of the city council to 6:30 p.m. on the second Tuesday of each month. The council had been meeting at that time, rather than at 6 p.m., to see if a different time would work for those who attend.
During departmental reports, Fire Chief Brandon Barrett said the department worked nine motor vehicle accidents, eight EMS calls and one fatality. A car went off into the river by Ginger Blue, he said. Responders performed extrication underwater, he said.
Marshal Paul Gardner said his department responded to 239 calls for the month of October, with several nuisance tickets written. Thanks to a grant, two radar units and three portable radios have been ordered, he said.
Next year, Gardner hopes to fix the Marshal's Office roof, which is leaking in places. He also hopes to have the department's Hummer repaired by the time of the Christmas parade, set for 1 p.m. Dec. 8.
During the discussion, Alderwoman Allie Peck questioned how the city currently handles its finances. She said Noel is the only city that has a treasurer. Anderson, Pineville and Southwest City all have city clerks who handle the finances.
Davis said the city's clerk is too busy with various tasks to take on additional work, such as the finances.
Peck said the current treasurer is the only one who basically knows how to do the job. If the treasurer retires or has something unfortunate happen, Peck wants the city to be in a place to rebound quickly.
"I want to come up with a solution so we're not stuck in a hard place," she said.
Davis said the treasurer may have someone come in and train in the next year or so.
The council agreed to table the issue.
Peck also proposed staff members utilizing time clocks. Davis said the idea would not work because times vary too much for the staff members when they report for work. He added that employees are salaried and exempt from having to clock in and out. Alderman William Rose said he believed that the city should not be in a position to track time of exempt employees.
General News on 11/15/2018