Bainbridge approves council titles for new year

BAINBRIDGE -- At its monthly meeting Wednesday night, the Bainbridge Town Council voted to appoint the president and vice president for the new year, although not all board members were on board with the nominations.

Board member Bonnie Osborne opposed the nomination of Chuck McElwee by vice president Joel Thompson, but only after Thompson's nomination received no second by either McElwee or Osborne.

After a brief silence it was found that a nominee can second a motion that nominates him for a board appointment and so, McElwee made a motion to second Thompson's nomination while Osborne voted against it.

Following McElwee's appointment as president, he made a nomination for Thompson as vice president which went through the same process as the previous vote, with Osborne not placing a vote but only because she was not granted the time to do so.

Osborne said that she was opposed to that appointment as well.

All members of the board hold the same voting powers, regardless of what changes are brought with the annual appointments.

This will be the final year of four-year terms held by McElwee, Thompson and Osborne, though all will have the chance to run for the elected positions again during the election in November.

Beyond the new council appointments, community member Thursa Evens of the Bainbridge Improvement Society (BIS) informed the board that a group is interested in holding "tumbling" classes several days per month at the Bainbridge Town Hall.

Evens highlighting the classes as "all the more reason to get the stage built," referencing the BIS's plan to install a permanent stage to be used for community events and rental.

The board briefly spoke about a solar park project that would see a plot of land rented to a solar company in exchange for a portion of the energy produced to help offset utility costs, although approval for the project isn't slated to take place until January 2016 and if approved, construction wouldn't begin until the spring of 2016.