Noise, water and budgets discussed at Roachdale Town Council

Thursday, October 16, 2014

By Kyle hollinger

Staff Writer

ROACHDALE -- The town council convened for its monthly meeting Tuesday night in Roachdale, addressing water and sewage utility rates, presenting a final reading of the annual budget and new noise ordinance regulations.

A representative from Callahan CPA Group provided a utility analysis report for Roachdale, showing that the town of Roachdale actively loses money on its sewer and water utilities.

How to rectify that loss without significantly raising utility costs was a major point of the discussion.

While the board was presented with preliminary information from Callahan CPA Group, no decision was made during the Tuesday meeting.

Board members have already begun reviewing and adjusting recommendations and are expected to be presented and voted upon at next month's meeting.

The board presented a final reading and approved the $610,000 budget for the town for 2015.

After discussion at prior meetings, the board presented documentation to apply a noise ordinance to the town of Roachdale that sets quiet hours from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. Friday and Saturday.

Exceptions can be made to this ordinance through submission and approval of the town council for an event or project that may need to operate outside of the appointed hours.

The board discussed its approach toward property clean-ups with board member Zach Bowers expressing concern for the enforcement of the letters that are sent out in regard to properties in need of maintenance and repair.

"We've got to quit dragging our feet. We have got to follow through with it," Bowers told the board regarding the breakdown of communication between the board deciding that a property needs to be given a warning, and the physical delivery of that warning.

The issue of removing eyesores and dangers through enforcing property clean-up is an ongoing battle that the board continually works toward resolving, giving owners notices and fines before ultimately being forced to bid out the projects, at a cost to the town, in order to complete the clean-up, destruction or repairs to bring a property into an acceptable state.

Often, the biggest problem is mainly junk or refuse on properties that need to be cleaned up.

In other business:

* Halloween hours have been set as 6-8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31.

* Town Marshal Mike Mahoy was granted permission to replace officer Brian Lathrop, who will be leaving Roachdale, with Levi McCloud as an unpaid reserve officer.

Town council meetings are held at the Roachdale Town Hall on the second Tuesday of every month at 6 p.m.

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