New mayor, Council ready for first meeting Thursday

Lynda Dunbar

New Greencastle Mayor Lynda Dunbar will conduct her first meeting Thursday, Jan. 11 as four new City Council members are seated for a 7 p.m. session at City Hall.

In addition to Mayor Dunbar and new Clerk-Treasurer Mikayla Johnson, the January meeting will also mark the debuts of Fourth Ward Democrat Vince Aguirre and Republicans Katherine Asbell and Tina Nicholson, at-large and Third Ward councilors respectively.

Meanwhile, First Ward Councilman David Masten returns to the seven-member panel after a 24-year absence. When Masten last served, it was as at-large councilman on a five-member body.

Holdovers include Republicans Mark Hammer, at-large and the longest-serving Council member in more than six decades; Darrel Thomas, at-large, returning for his first full term on the City Council; and Stacie Langdon, beginning her third term as Second Ward councilor.

Not only will the new City Council face the challenge of tackling Ordinance 2023-7 -- the proposed UTV ordinance to allow use of certain recreational off-highway vehicles on city streets, on second and final reading after it was tabled by the Council in December -- but will also elect a Council president (currently Hammer) as well as making assignments to the Development Center, Commission on Sustainability, 911 Board, Planning Commission, Tree Board, Council Budget Committee and West Central Solid Waste District.

The Council will also make its annual appointment to the Redevelopment Commission and establish the day, time and place for its 2024 meetings.

The meeting, which is open to the public, will also see second reading of Ordinance 2023-8 to rezone property at the southeast corner of Warren Drive and State Road 240 to accommodate a proposed car wash and a resolution authorizing the use of credit cards for city officials.