January Council Meeting Minutes
TOWN OF CLINCHCO
COUNCIL MEETING
MINUTES OF MEETING ON JANUARY 18, 2018
MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Jarvis Deel, Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland, Stearl Branham, Hurbert “Poly” Branham
MEMBERS ABSENT: Ralph Mock Jr., Virginia White, Trevor Counts
TOWN CLERK: Tina Deel
TOWN ATTORNEY: Susan Wood
Call to Order & Welcome by Mayor
Mayor Jarvis Deel welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order and asked for a moment of silence.
Approval of Minutes
Mayor Jarvis Deel asked if everyone has had time to look at the last minutes and if there is any discussion over the minutes. Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland made a motion to approve the minutes; Stearl Branham seconded the motion; a vote was taken and all members were in favor.
Approval of Treasurers Reports
Mayor Jarvis Deel asked if everyone has had a chance to look at their treasurer’s reports and if there is any discussion on the treasurer’s report; Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland stated he had one discussion over the treasurers report; on the CD where does it show the interest we are receiving on it; Tina stated the interest will not compound until the end of the term which will be July of this year and so far the CD has earned $152.00. Ralph stated he thought it was a monthly term. Tina stated no it was for 12 months. Mayor Deel stated in other words it is still making money even though it is not with BB&T. Tina stated yes, more money. Ralph asked what rate the CD was on. Tina stated the rate is .55%. Mayor Deel asked if there was any more discussion on the treasurer’s report; Mayor Deel stated if there is no more discussion on the treasurers report, I will ask for a motion to pass the treasurers report; Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland made a motion to approve the treasurers report; Poly Branham seconded the motion; a vote was taken and all members were in favor. Mayor Deel stated now I will ask for approval of the police department treasurers report; Poly Branham asked if this was all that we have had since the 17th of November. Tina stated that is correct. Poly stated somebody hasn’t been sharpening their pencils, they aren’t making too much are they; Mayor Deel went over the treasurer’s report and explained that Harland is the check charge to purchase checks and pointed out the last deposit from the Clerk’s office. Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland asked if that was the amount we paid for checks $178.00; Mayor Deel stated yes, it is. Mayor Deel asked if there was any more discussion on it; if not I will ask for a motion to approve the police dept. account as is; Poly Branham made a motion to approve the police dept. treasury report; Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland seconded the motion; a vote was taken and all members were in favor.
Agenda:
Mayor Jarvis Deel asked if anyone had any additions they would like to make to the agenda; If there are no additions to the agenda, I will ask for a motion to approve the agenda as is; Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland made the motion to approve the agenda; Stearl Branham seconded the motion; a vote was taken and all members were in favor.
New Business:
Property above town limits:
Poly Branham stated that he wanted to ask the Mayor if he gave anybody permission to dump anything up here above the ball field. Mayor Deel stated no, he did not. Poly stated ok, I talked to the guy that I lease all that land off of up there, I talked to him last week and I reported it to him. He is supposed to be over here to look at it and stop by here and see you. Did he stop by and see you; Mayor Deel replied no. Poly stated well he probably will maybe this weekend. You know who I am talked about don’t you. Mayor Deel stated his name is Sean or Greg one. Poly stated it won’t be Greg, I talked to Bruce. When I spoke to him I told him, I am not going to be responsible for that. I think I have told him twice, and I brought it up down here at the council meeting one or two times about people dumping stuff up there, I am not going to be responsible for that up there, because that is on the land I lease up there. It is like I told him, I can’t stay up there and watch it just because I lease it and they can do what they want to with it, they can go up there and set it afire if they want to. If I have to go up there and clean it….see, I signed papers that I was responsible if anything was dumped on that property that I had to clean it up. So when I give that lease up, and when they go around and look at it, I am going to be responsible for it and, I am going to make sure when I give that up, that I am not going to be responsible for it. If I am……somebody is going have to clean it up. There is tree cuttings and loads, loads, and loads of….it’s not been over 2 or 3 weeks ago that they have dumped that stuff up there. Have you ever been up there in the last while? Mayor Deel stated, I don’t go up past town limits, because I don’t have any jurisdiction up there. I don’t know what Bruce wants to talk to me about it unless he wants to give it to me up there and if he does I will take it and get it cleaned up. Poly said I don’t know why he wants to see or talk to you about it because it is not on your property. But anyway, whoever cut this pine tree over here dumped every bit of that up there….up beside the road and just above where the property line is. I know who that was, because I watched it. But, I will see if I have to clean that up they will have to pay for that. Mayor Deel stated that he should tell Bruce that……it is your lease, but you are just paying them to hunt on that land. Poly stated yeah, and over the last 10 years I have paid them over $90,000.00. Mayor Deel stated he just needed to tell Bruce that he is going to have to talk to those people and have them clean that up. Mayor Deel stated, I already got that cleaned up once, I even got Eugene involved and that is all I can do is get Eugene involved in it is all I can do. Ralph Sutherland stated it seemed to him that with Poly signing the lease it would be his responsibility over the property. Taking people with a warrant if he had to, because if you are responsible for it, you would have to be the one that would have to do the legal standards of it. Mayor Deel stated he can get ahold of Eugene again. Poly stated that there are couches up there, you name it, it is up there. Mayor Deel stated he would write that down that he was supposed to come talk to him and if he didn’t come he would give him a call. Poly agreed.
Chief of Police requests to address the council:
Coojo stated to council members; the reason I came down, I was going to try and make the December meeting, but I guess the snow kept everybody out and not able to have the meeting for December, but the reason that I am really here tonight, I guess not too many people working down here with the PD and to address that…… I don’t know for the rest of the guys because I really can’t speak for them, but the reason I haven’t been down here is because you all deciding at that one meeting to come and get the white car from the house then I didn’t have a vehicle to get down here and all of that, and that’s the reason I haven’t worked since that day. I have worked up until that day, but you know also this is my part time job; my full time job keeps me kind of busy with the county, sheriff’s office, this and that. So I can’t come down here and work all the time obviously. Some point of time I am busy with the county and don’t get down here and sometimes I work more and sometimes I can’t. But through different breaks I could have come down here and worked, but instead of coming down here and working, I went and done some extra stuff for the county. That is the reason I haven’t been down here is because of the car issue, I was just coming down to see if you all could explain to me why the car…..why you all felt the car needed to be brought down here, because me and Jarvis are pretty good on the same page if that car ever leave anywhere other than going from my house to Clinchco, he is the first one I tell about it and he knows about it. Even if I go to Clintwood for something or if I go to court I usually tell him, hey I got court this morning and then he knows. Or is I have to go to Wise and pick up something from A&A for something, he already knows about it. That car never leaves anywhere that he doesn’t know. There are always mileage sheets that is in it at all times and if he ever needs it….it is there. There is no abnormal mileage; no fuel being charged that isn’t related to the town at all. So I was wanting you all to explain to me why that took place and why it was; Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland stated, I don’t have a clue myself, but I mean there may be times that we need it down here and it be setting up there. But I didn’t know nothing, well I know they said they went and got it, but I didn’t know the circumstances or anything, but I mean there could be times that we need it here when you would be working for the county. That would be the only reason I would know. Coojo stated, if that ever comes up….actually it benefits one of the other officers that work down here he lives pretty close to me and he will just drive and leave his vehicle at my house because it is a lot closer and pick up that car and bring it down here instead of using his own vehicle to come down here. Richie works down here and he works here quite a bit and….not lately but before he worked quite a bit. He has hurt his back and not being able to come down here as much. He don’t even like driving that car, he tells me when he comes he goes and gets in the mustang, because he can’t write any tickets in that charger, because everybody spots it out too quick and if that was ever the case and let’s say the mustang broke down and they needed that vehicle, Jarvis has an extra key to that car all the time. Stearl stated to Jarvis, wouldn’t that about the time the blazer was down and fixing it and the mustang was gone at that time and we didn’t have a vehicle down here then. Mayor Deel stated, no mustang was still here and the Durango got totaled out sitting up there at the truck shop and a tree fell on it. Stearl stated I think it was at that time and I think Virginia was the one that brought that up and made a motion, if I am not mistaken. Mayor Deel stated I would have to go back through the minutes. I think what she said was because they wasn’t working that much. Coojo stated, Jarvis even asked me one day; why hasn’t anyone been working, I can just tell him, and I told him to let you all know that….tell them straight up this is the reason I haven’t been coming down there and working. I wanted a chance to speak to you all first and see what the deal was with it. I felt that it wasn’t hurting anything; I tried to keep the battery charged up and keep it clean while it was at my house. I’m not saying something like that doesn’t happen here, but Jarvis stays busy. There have been many times he has had to boost vehicles off and he just hasn’t had time. Jarvis stated he just did that the other day. Poly asked how are we going to do this then….how are we going to do it. They have already voted to bring it back; Ralph Sutherland stated yes. Mayor Deel stated yeah, they voted for that last time. Poly asked well, what’s wrong with it then….Coojo stated it’s been sitting down here for probably three months. Mayor Deel stated he believed it came back in November. Coojo stated this isn’t my car; it is the town’s car, and if someone needs it by all means come and get it. I am just saying if it’s there it makes it easier for me to come down here. That is another thing some of the thugs in town don’t know when I am working, I come down here park the county truck and they all know I am down here. Coojo stated I know before they were having gas receipts turned in….the thing of it was it was being took different places that wasn’t benefiting the town. Mayor Deel stated that he had seen gas receipts from Kentucky. Coojo stated that’s never happened with me….period. Jarvis knows every time it goes out anywhere other than this town Clinchco, most time he knows when I am coming down here, but if it goes even to Clintwood, he knows about it. Sometimes we have training in Bristol, and I have done that in the past. I go for the county and I go for the town, so I have done that in the past, but I tell him, what do you think about me taking the car over there because I have training in Bristol, and we discuss that. Mayor Deel stated and I figure if they are going to pay for his training for us then it would be alright for us to let him use the car to let him go over there. Poly asked what do we have to do; do we have to go behind closed doors and take a vote for him to take it; Mayor Deel stated no, you don’t have to go behind closed doors. Stearl stated if he is going to be down here more often then that would be an advantage to us. Poly stated and if you (Jarvis) have the keys to it then we can go get it if we need it. If it is going to help him out and he can get more time being down here and take care of stuff going on down through here, I think that, for me and I am just speaking for myself, I would have him rather have it up there taking care of it and be able to come down here rather for him not to have it and have no one down here. We need somebody do here as much as we possibly can, especially though the winter. Coojo stated there are lots of times I do things you don’t see that I have to do for the police dept. We have military equipment down here and I have to keep up with that and the DCJS all the roster, I have to talk with them people. I have to do a lot of that stuff and a lot of the time the town doesn’t have to pay a dime for stuff like that, I do that myself. Just like Richie, we bought Richie a shirt to work in, he had to have his name and all that stuff put on it. I paid for all of that, the town didn’t pay anything for it; I just paid out of my own pocket. Most of the time I don’t even charge the town for going to court. It’s just stuff like that, I can’t think of a time honestly since I have been down here that Jarvis and I haven’t been on the same page. Between me, him and Tina we can figure out the way things need to be, and get it done. Poly asked well, what are we going to do; Mayor Deel stated well, I need someone to make a motion for the car to go back to Coojo and then we can vote on it. Ralph Sutherland asked Mayor Deel if he could do that since they just voted to keep it down here; can you turn around……..Poly asked why can’t we. Susan stated well, yeah…..Poly Branham made a motion to let Coojo have the white police car back….hey like I said you (Jarvis) have a set of keys, if we need it we can go get it. Mayor Deel stated I ain’t driving that thing. Poly stated I will drive it. Mayor Deel stated you don’t want me to drive it, I drove it once to have something done to it……it will run. Stearl Branham seconded the motion; Stearl Branham voted yes, Poly Branham voted yes, Mayor Jarvis Deel voted yes, Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland voted no.
Old Business:
SEWER HOOK UP ORDINANCE:
Mayor Deel stated on our old business we discussed the sewer hookup and from what I have found out today is that since we are on PSA, the PSA ordinance will take over precedence over any ordinance that the town would have in place. I need to get up with Ron and find out the ordinance is and what kind of ordinance that they have for getting sewers hooked up. Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland asked what kind of ordinance was that. Mayor Deel stated for the sewer hookup; like if a house isn’t hooked to the sewer. Ralph asked are they changing…….Mayor Deel stated no, this is just; we have our ordinance and that was when we had our old sewer line. Now I just need to check with the PSA to see what the ordinance is for the sewer running down through here is; who has to be hooked up; when they have to be hooked up….stuff like that. Ralph Sutherland stated he didn’t know why the ordinance would change from what it was giving them so many days to hook up on the sewer and all of that that is an ordinance that was with the town. Mayor Deel stated these aren’t the town’s they belong to the PSA. Ralph Sutherland stated that was after we turned them over to them. Mayor Deel stated well I am just going to recheck the ordinance and see what is what. Ralph Sutherland agreed. Mayor Deel stated on the agenda; instead of it saying discussion over last meeting; it should have been PSA ordinance, so not to confuse anyone with it.
Council Comments:
Mayor Deel asked for council comments; no comments were made.
Public Comments:
Mayor Deel asked if anyone had any public comments; no comments were made.
Adjournment
Vice Mayor Ralph Sutherland made a motion to adjourn; Stearl Branham seconded the motion; a vote was taken and all members were in favor.