Wellington council delays acting on request to purchase city land

By Sun Advocate

City cleanup was the main item of discussion at the Wellington council meeting last Wednesday.
Renee Blackburn appeared before the council with several proposals at the Sept. 28 meeting.
Blackburn told Wellington officials that she was working with Councilmember Paula Noyes, who was absent from the meeting, to form a city beautification committee.
A community meeting will be scheduled and advertised to enlist the help of interested citizens.
Blackburn asked for the city’s support for several cleanup projects, which include:
•Contacting absentee landowners of property on the south side of Main Street about rundown buildings, weeds, and neglected property.
•Sending letters to property owners who violate city trash and sanitation ordinances.
•Having Wellington city workers pick up yard trash on the curb on designated cleanup days.
�Using city workers more in cleanup projects and purchasing new tools to help them out, such as weed eaters and lawn mowers.
•Asking for the help of local churches in the cleanup effort.
•Asking the railroad and state highway departments to clean up weeds and trash along their rights of way through town.
Blackburn stated that letters have been sent to city residents designating Oct. 10 through Oct. 22 as city cleanup time. She asked the council to consider designating October as city cleanup month.
David and Tina Jensen approached the council with two written proposals to purchase land from the city on Ridge Road.
After a lengthy debate, the council decided not to proceed with any action until all members of the city council were present. The mayor and two councilmembers were absent.
The item was placed on the agenda for the next meeting.
The focus of the meeting then returned to city cleanup efforts.
Councilman John Pappas stated that, since Wellington was sending out letters about the cleanup, he felt city workers should be involved in the project. There followed some discussion about the logistics of the issue.
At the conclusion of the discussion, the council passed a resolution that the city would pick up yard trash on the curb twice each year, once in the spring and once in the fall.
The efforts are to be coordinated with Blackburn’s city beautification committee and Wellington workers under the direction of Edwin Erickson.
It was also decided that the city trash ordinances be reviewed so that letters sent to violators could site the specific ordinances being violated.
In other business, Wellington Fire Chief Scott Rowley and Jack Clark, who represents Home Fire Safety Company made a proposal to the council.
Rowley and Clark asked for $150 from the city to help purchase a new fire safety video to be used in training and to teach school students. The purchase would cost $300.00 and would be a joint venture between the city and Mr. Clark. Each party would contribute $150.00 dollars to the project with joint ownership of the video. After some discussion, the purchase was approved.
Mr. Rowley then briefed the council about recent meetings he had attended with other fire chiefs, and other issues concerning the fire department. One item of concern was the difficulty of finding and keeping people willing to serve on the volunteer fire department. “It’s tough to keep volunteers,” he said. Rowley stated that all municipalities in the county were having the same problem.
After a quick discussion about acquiring permission from landowners to trim some trees near city property, the meeting was adjourned. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 12 at 7 pm.