In wake of snow emergency, town looks at parking

The Bainbridge Town Council investigated the possibility of creating a type of snow emergency ordinance for the town during Wednesday's meeting.

Council president Mike Smith suggested the idea due to the fact that the utility department had a difficult time clearing the snow away because of vehicles parked on the street.

The ordinance would be mainly to remove vehicles from the streets to allow for easier snow removal.

The council was not quite sure if this ordinance would be a snow emergency similar to the county's or would it be a law that prohibits vehicles to parked on the streets when it snows.

Council member Richard Cope suggested asking town attorney Laurie Hardwick to research the ordinance by looking to see if towns about the same size to Bainbridge have a similar ordinance.

In other business, the council:

-- Learned that the town's park board is trying to get letters of support for the new park.

-- Asked Fenwick about the vehicles parked at the apartments that sit there continuously without being moved. According to Smith, there is something in the town's records that states a vehicle cannot sit in the same spot for more than a certain amount of time without being tagged. Fenwick said he would start tagging the vehicles with a time period so his deputies can go back and check on them.

If the vehicle is still in the same spot, Fenwick said they would talk to the owners about moving the vehicles.

-- Decided to send Hardwick's correctional recommendations for the town new code book to American Legal Publishing Corporation. By doing this, the company can make the changes that both the company and Hardwick caught, then send a revised addition back so the council can make its input on the changes.

-- Approved Ordinance 2007-1, the third addition of the employee handbook for the town.

The council meets regularly every second Wednesday of the month at 7 p.m. in the community center. The next scheduled meeting is set for Wednesday, March 14. This meeting is open to the public.