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Nola Sizemore

Staff Writer

Continuing to look for ways to save the city money, Mayor Eddie Manning said he and the city clerk have been going through bills with “a fine tooth comb,” trying to eliminate items no longer needed.

“Today we found pagers and radios we’ve been paying for for years that we didn’t need,” said Manning. “We re-did that agreement and that will save us $89 per month or close to $1,200 a year. From here on out we’ll have serial numbers for these things. That way we can keep up better with the bills and cut them off when we need to. We’re questioning everything. We don’t want to be difficult, but we have to go through these bills a lot tougher.

“We’ve changed some of the businesses we have been dealing with for years, but we’re saving half of what we were paying by calling around and getting quotes. We had to have our garbage truck serviced and we saved $100 by going somewhere else. Do that twice a year you save $200. We saved 50 percent on tires recently because we called and got prices somewhere else. We got a backhoe tire out of town and saved $150. All of this adds up in a year’s time. It’s just what we have to do now to save the city money. This is what we all do at our homes and it’s what we have to do for the city.”

Fire Chief Cledo Powers said the Evarts Fire Department will be distributing toys and treats to the needy beginning at 9 a.m. Dec. 24 until they run out.

“We appreciate all the businesses, individuals and churches who helped with this project,” said Powers.

City Clerk Kristi Lamb noted their new city privilege license ordinance is still be worked out and a special called meeting will be held to put the ordinance in place as soon as it is completed.

Councilwoman Shelly Shackleford inquired if the city is leasing a piece of property from CSX on the corner of Scoville and South Main streets directly across the road from her home. She questioned if someone falls on this fenced in area who will be responsible.

Lamb said “supposedly” the city does have a lease on this property but she is not sure for how many years. She said she has been unable to find a copy of the lease and her letters to CSX have gone unanswered.

“It may take someone falling for CSX to respond back to our letters,” said Lamb. “We did find out during the course of this problem that CSX has been billing our general fund for 20 plus years for easements and we weren’t ever aware they were doing it. We are getting rid of that — that’s $265 a year we can save.”

City attorney Otis Doan said if something does happen on this property CSX can be made part of the legal action.

Councilwoman Carrie Lipfird noted spring water is running across the road on the corner of School and Persian streets. Manning said he and Doan will look at the area and determine who is responsible for repairs.

Magistrate Bill Moore spoke to the mayor and council members commending them on the job they are doing for the city. He said he has a “good working relationship” with the city and will “help the city” in any way he can. He noted there were complaints about dogs running loose in the city and he assured them the animal control officer will assist the city in picking up the animals.

Reach Nola Sizemore at 606-573-4510 or at nsizemore@heartlandpublications.com