GARFIELD -- City officials are still discussing ways to dedicate all streets in the city limits as city streets. At the regular City Council meeting, city officials heard the second reading of an ordinance that would make all streets public and therefore available for city maintenance in their current condition. The third reading of the amended ordinance will be heard at the Sept. 8 City Council meeting.
City attorney Nicholas Corcoran was not in attendance Tuesday.
City Council member Katherine Shook questioned the statement that the ordinance would "rank roads and streets" and said the street assessment "created by the last administration was solely for assessment," not designed to determine whether the roads were public or private.
"Their job was ranking dollars and cents," Shook said, adding that to determine public or private a source document is needed.
"Upon passage of this ordinance, every street listed in this document, except the streets in Ashmore, become a city street in Garfield. We're accepting them in the condition they're in," Mayor Gary Blackburn said. "We're not saying we're going to upgrade them."
Blackburn said the city paid $5,000 for the street assessment and he would like to use it.
City Council member Malania Carter questioned the ordinance stating that streets in Ashmore were dedicated. "I can't find any evidence that it was," she said, making a motion to delete the sentence stating that. "We have covenants that say it's private... there is a difference in a public and private road."
The mayor said the third reading will be the final reading. He said he would post the amended ordinance publicly.
General News on 08/19/2015