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Magee Board of Alderman met before a packed house Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
Several members from the community were present concerning zoning issues.
Boy Scouts Bennet Brown and Ethan Layton from Troop 8 in Jackson were present for the meeting and led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Restaurants owners came before the board to discuss their displeasure with the possibility of food trucks coming to Magee and how the non brick and motor business do not support the community as the ones with brick and motor. These established restaurants support the community with 1% sales tax for sports and recreation, sponsorships, real estate taxes that others might not. The group was allowed to speak but Alderman Brown advised the meeting was out of order due to policy. The board does not allow public speaking and anyone wanting to speak needs to be on the agenda. The Mayor allowed these individuals to speak. Brown advised he was not against the restaurant owners the board just has to follow policy.
Penny Aguirre, Zoning Director, presented clarification to a 2018 ordinance concerning food trucks. Aguirre advised ordinance needed to be updated allowing food trucks for festivals, school and church activities. The update was not allowing food trucks all the time just for special events. The current ordinance would have allowed trucks at any time.
Merika Kalman, owner of the Vault, came before the board asking permission to have alcohol outside her business in a fenced area for a centennial celebration happening at the Vault May 27, 2023 with a live band and stage. The board agreed to allow the exception as long as the adjacent business owners had no objection. Security will be provided for the event. Members from the Pastors alliance met before the board to voice their concerns about allowing alcohol when there is an ordinance in place for open containers. The group was not against the celebration just the open containers on the street.
Due to holiday falling on Tuesday, July 4th the board moved the July meeting to Monday, July 3, 2023.
Mara Poll and Frances Meadows met before the board and advised the happening at the Library. The summer program is kicking off in the upcoming week. Frances was recognized as the employee of the year for 2022, and Magee Library was the brach of the year for 2020 in the large division. The Magee Library during the fiscal year 2022 had 24,741 patron visits, 28,237 circulation of materials, 1,400 number of referenced questions answered, 5,704 number of programs attendees, 3,162 number of computers users, 1,440 number of computer hours used, and 3,489 number of wifi sessions.
Alderman Lane Steele resigned as Alderman Ward 3. The board approved for a special election on June 20th to fill the vacancy. All candidates must qualify by June 1, 2023 at 5:00 p.m. The board approved electing Alderman Patrick Brown as Mayor Pro Tem.
A wedding will take place Friday, May 19, 2023 in Ural Everett Park. The board approved for the street in front of Ural Everett Park to be blocked off from the hours of 6 – 8 p.m.
Olivia Lowe, concerned citizen, met before the board with issues regarding the time it takes to have debris and other materials removed from the curb side of the street. Previous employees have stated the issue is due to lack of employees. Ms. Lowe was thankful for the city finally picking up the trash but is a solution and work around being addressed for the problem. Mayor Berry advised the reason for the trash not being pickup was because they could only deliver to the solid waste but three days and the weather has been so bad they have not been allowed to enter due to equipment being too heavy. Debis items can be picked up each week due to the fact the city has a rubbish facility to relocate the items.
A video is attached of the meeting.
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