Aldermen Hear About Commerce Coffee Shop

Charla Brewer, executive director of the McDonald County Chamber of Commerce, reported to the Pineville Board of Aldermen on Tuesday night about plans to remodel the kitchen of the chamber of commerce building.

She said the chamber is holding a Commerce Coffee Shop in the kitchen, where it is inviting chamber members to come in and showcase their businesses on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. She said she wants to reface some of the cabinets and paint the door.

Mayor Gregg Sweeten said, "We want that room to be used, and any time we can bring people in is awesome."

He said, if the chamber decides to make any structural changes to the kitchen, Brewer should come back before the council.

Aldermen appointed Angela Cawood to fill a vacancy on the housing board as well as one on the tree board and also appointed Dawayne Lasiter to the tree board.

Kenton Johnson requested that the city bring sewer to his two lots on the north side of Pleasant Ridge Road. Sweeten said he would have public works superintendent Chris Tinsley figure up a cost for the job and present it at the next meeting.

The board updated its tree ordinance by passing a new ordinance that "cleaned up" some unclear language in the original ordinance.

Sweeten reported he is looking into putting an additional beam under the bridge on Eighth Street. He said big trucks hauling loads are too heavy for the bridge, so it needs to be reinforced.

Marshal Chris Owens reported the department's body cameras are not working. He said he is looking for the least expensive way to replace them, and he has found some for $300 each. He said he really needs to replace three of them for his full-time officers. He noted the department has had the cameras for quite a while and they have definitely been worth the money.

Owens also said both of the 2015 Ford Explorers have more than 100,000 miles on them and are starting to have maintenance issues. He said he would like to replace at least one of them. He said soon they will not be worth anything as a trade-in. He also said he would like to get something other than an SUV because they do not get good fuel economy.

General News on 09/13/2018