COLCHESTER – During a regular meeting this past Monday, members of the Colchester City Council voted unanimously in favor of an ordinance to both amend and consolidate the number of standing committees as part of Mayor Mark Clark’s initiative to streamline the functioning of local government for the betterment of the community.
There were originally more than a dozen standing committees with often overlapping responsibilities recurring with a consumerate number of meetings being held monthly, and with the vote on Monday, the number of committees have been reduced in number with name changes and consolidating responsibilities, and the new standing committees are: Finance/Legislative, Building and Grounds, Public Safety, Public Works, Labor Day/Festivals/Events, TIF Committee, Summer Ball and last, but not least, ARPA Committee.
Now that the ordinance has passed, it will be published for 30 days for public awareness and placed into the city ordinance book, which is the municipal code, which are the set of local laws enacted by the City Council.
Other legislative highlights from the City Council meeting on Monday include the unanimous approval of the mayoral appointment of Randy Faxon as City Clerk, and the city voted in favor to no longer renew the “protection agreement” that allowed for one Sherriff’s Deputy to be stationed in the City of Colchester for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for the next three years was enacted some two years ago with the McDonough County Sherriff’s Office. The City Council voted to end that “protection agreement”.
In other news, solar panels are a great alternative energy source for supplying electricity to the community, but solar panels might also present an inadvertent road hazard to oncoming motorists driving in and out of the city. Therefore, in response to some public comments that something be done, the City Council voted unanimously in favor of granting a variant to the McDonugh Telephone Cooperative to purchase an 8’ fence on the south and east sides of the solar panels located at the corner of Macomb and Fulton Streets.
Community members and city council officials have also taken note of the properties located around the city which have not complied with ordinances governing the condition of yards with overgrown grass, weeds and other nuisances. To correct the situation the City Council voted unanimously in favor of hiring independent mowers to mow non-compliant properties.
But, since there are several properties located around town, and there are several independent contractors who could potentially mow these yards. Research was done by city officials to compile a list of mowers who could be rotated seasonally to handle mowing the yards of non-complaint properties.
Pricing for the mowing and the list of potential contractors was not made public during the meeting, but city officials appeared eager to move forward with the initiative. During the related discussion, Mayor Clark indicated that an advertisement with pricing information might be placed with local media outlets and on social media, but those decisions would be made by the city council members on the appropriate committees in due time.
Fresh air and bright blue skies shown over Friendway Park this past Saturday, May 31, as dozens of children and their parents ran in Kids Run the Nation running and exercise program, organized by Kate Ruebush and the Memorial Medical Clinic Colchester. Reports from the City Council members during the discussion indicated that some 44 children signed up, and 33 actually participated. They were provided with afternoon exercise, community and friendship.
Due to a lack of refrigerating units to keep food and drink cold, the Colchester Lions Club graciously stepped in to charitably provide another refrigerator or two towards the Kids Run the Nation program.
For more information on the Kids Run the Nation program which is held May 31 to July 26 at Friendway Park from 10am to 12 pm, please go to https://wpse.wp103. org/o/wpse/live-feed The City Council voted Monday night to set the all-town yard sale weekend for July 11th and 12th 2025. There was also some discussion by the city to coordinate with the Senior Center to hold a car show on or about the same date so the two events could provide a greater opportunity for community building and might become an annual event. More information will be provided as events continue to unfold.
The City Council also closed a land sale deal for $19,585.10 for 7.8 acres of land that was located near Fandon where the old water wells used to be. The prior City Council agreed to sell the land, they opened bids on the land, and they did the initial paperwork. This was just the final step of selling the land deed to private owners. The proceeded from the lane sale deal with go into the Water and Sewer funds.
