Cloverdale board gears up for retirement of attorney Yackey

Thursday, July 13, 2017

CLOVERDALE -- President Coweta Patton announced during the Cloverdale Town Council’s regular meeting that town attorney Allan Yackey will be retiring after nine years of service.

“We’re sad to say that Mr. Yackey is going to retire,” President Patton said. “I think it’s a sad day. He has brought Cloverdale up to a level that we never thought, I never thought that we would ever achieve. He has shown us and taught us things that we had no idea, but by having a good lawyer who knows how to tell us how to do things, tell us when we’re right and tell us when we’re wrong, tell us when we can do something, how we can do it and how we can do it efficiently. He has helped the Town of Cloverdale immensely, and I just want you to know we’re going to miss you very, very much.”

The council will hold an executive session July 20 to look into the process of finding a new lawyer.

“Thank you,”Attorney Yackey responded. “I’m proud to have been here. Of course at this point I reflect backwards on how long I’ve been here, what the situation was when I arrived, where it is now. I think Cloverdale is doing very, very well, moving forward very rapidly. Law enforcement, clerk-treasurer’s office, council activity, utilities; when I came here, the utilities were essentially on a construction ban, even though a brand new wastewater plant had been built at an extremely high cost, and yet it wasn’t working. And with everything that’s here, having a town manager is something that a town this size really needs, and you see the benefits of having a town manager. It’s nice to see what’s going on.”

In other developments:

-- Absences: Don Sublett was absent.

-- Claims: The board approved claims at a total of $240,813.15, a decrease from last month of $65,317.80 and of $149,478.98 from the year’s average.

This is the second consecutive month that claims have dropped, having fallen by $241,758.34 last month. Claims so far this year have totaled $2.3 million, and the highest claim was $547,889.29 in April. The average claim is $390,292.13.

-- Downtown Revitalization Project: The council was set to consider setting up an endowment for the Downtown Revitalization Project with the Putnam County Community Foundation, but the item was tabled to another meeting for further information in a 3-1 vote. Gary Bennington gave the dissenting vote after his motion to remove consideration of setting a minimum fee on vacant homes was not seconded.

-- Noise ordinance: Clerk-Treasurer Cheryl Galloway reported that the town would have to measure the noise on U.S. 231 through the downtown before being able to consider a noise ordinance. The main purpose would be to reduce noise from semi-truck jake brakes, but the town cannot be so selective since the road belongs to the state. More information is expected at a future meeting.

-- Stardust Road Project: The council approved the Redevelopment Authority’s (Coweta Patton, Larry Fidler and James Coy) signing a commitment letter from First National Bank for a $1.2 million bond with 3.35 percent fixed interest rate. The bond will fund the construction costs of the Stardust Road Project.

-- Personnel policies and procedures: Clerk-Treasurer Galloway reported that the town’s personnel policies and procedures had been updated. The council is set to consider approval at its next regular meeting.

-- Utility savings: Town Manager Wayne Galloway reported that the new effluent system is working and had lowered the electric cost by about $3,500. He also reported that he is looking for a more efficient blower for the Cloverdale Sewage Plant that could save the town $30,000 per year in electricity costs.

The Cloverdale Town Council’s next regular meeting will be Aug. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Cloverdale

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  • Of course Yackey can retire. Look at the thousands of dollars he has sucked out of Cloverdale alone. I hope the town officials don't make the same mistake twice but for some reason I think they will. When will the residents of the town open their eyes and stand up and fight?

    -- Posted by putnamcountyproud on Fri, Jul 14, 2017, at 9:16 AM
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