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October 14, 2008


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NEWS

Councilperson Davis Resigns as Adkins, Allen Bid Farewell, Huffman Appointed to Ward 3 Seat

By Lindsey Arnold
arnold@mckenziebanner.com

Ordinance for Signal Light Cameras Passes

MCKENZIE (October 9) - Thursday night’s McKenzie city council meeting was one councilmember short as Mayor Walter Winchester announced the sudden resignation turned in by Brad Davis. Davis had served a term of nearly two years but had to leave due to personal circumstances. The board unanimously approved his resignation and afterward Mayor Winchester said, "He was a very bright young man. I appreciate his truth and I think that he did what he stood for and I wish him well.”

Appointing a replacement for the unexpired term in Ward 3 was the next item on the agenda. Mayor Winchester recommended former councilman Willie Huffman to fill the seat for Ward 3. He came in second place to Davis in that election and no one else had shown interest in the position, said Winchester.

Councilmember Mrs. Jill Holland was opposed to the immediate filling of the seat at the meeting. She said, “With all due respect for Willie, he’s a fine person, however if this council votes tonight to appoint a new councilmember without advertising it like we did with a previous vacancy, I believe it will be perceived as backroom politics by the public. We have not had a meeting or workshop to discuss this and I would strongly suggest that we clearly open the lines of communication about the election process.”

Mayor Winchester countered, saying, “The city code states that the mayor and council will approve a person to fill the unexpired position, it does not say how it has to be done. Since Mr. Huffman has served in the council before and ran for the term in the prior election and expressed a desire to be reelected, that is why he is now nominated.”

The action passed by a vote of four to one with Mrs. Holland voting against.

At the beginning of the meeting Mayor Winchester presented a mayoral proclamation in honor of recently deceased Mr. Tom Nolen for his various outstanding contributions to youth of the community of McKenzie. Among his achievements and contributions were: co-chairman of the Annual VFW Children’s Christmas program from 1999-2007, co-chairman of local Boy Scout Troop 78 from 2002-2008, co-chairman of the VFW Patriot’s Pen in 2003, co-chairman of the Local Voice of Democracy program from 2004-2008, state chairman of the Voice of Democracy program in 2004 and 2006, chairman of the Boy Scouts in West Tennessee in 2006, was a local baseball coach for 14 years and served as a BellSouth Pioneer working to provide computer screening and training to students at the local Head Start. His grandson, Kelby McCaleb, accepted the award along with other family members and said, “Our grandfather was willing to do anything for his community. We just want to follow in his footsteps. It’s a great honor to accept this award on his behalf.”

A second reading on an ordinance reducing health insurance benefits optionally granted to councilpersons was approved by a vote of four to one. Councilperson Holland restated her position that “insurance benefits should not be paid to council members and our priorities are out of order. Rather than taxpayers’ money going into council’s pockets, I think that money could be more wisely used for the city.”

Members of the council and the chairman of the Water Commission were each eligible for the benefit of major medical insurance for themselves and their families. The city provided a benefit of the total monthly premium of $497.63 for the individual insured or one-half of the family plan, which is $621.22 of the total $1,242.44 premium. Since the council approved the measure’s second reading, the city will pay a total of $150 towards the total monthly insurance premium regardless of it's an individual or family plan.

A second reading of an ordinance concerning a signal light camera to be placed at the intersections of U. S. 79 and Cedar Street and U. S. 79 and Cherrywood Road was unanimously passed. Trafficpax offers to supply the cameras and all recording equipment at no cost to the city. The cameras will be triggered when a driver disregards the signal light. Three cameras will record the image of the driver, the vehicle and the license plate. Trafficpax will copy any images and send them to the McKenzie Police Department to examine before a citation is issued in the amount of $50. With each paid citation, the city and Trafficpax share the revenue.

According to the resolution, traffic accidents have been reduced at intersections in other cities where monitoring cameras have been installed.

Charlie Beal, city clerk, said the Trafficpax portion of the receipts is as follows: 150 citations or more monthly $27 each; 120-150, $31 each; 90-120, $35 each; and below 90, $39.00 each.

Trafficpax's Red Light Camera is primarily deployed to catch red-light runners at intersections. When a vehicle crosses the stop line after the signal has turned red, the camera is triggered by induction loops embedded in the subsurface of the road or by non-invasive laser detection. Relevant violation data, such as time and location, is recorded along with the photo. Violation data is captured and embedded onto the violation image.

Beal said the company requires a minimum number of paid citations to retain the cameras and it may not be cost effective to place the equipment at the U.S. 79 and Cherrywood intersection. Mayor Walter Winchester said the company will conduct traffic studies to determine where to place the cameras. The cameras might monitor only one direction of traffic instead of both directions, said the mayor. Cameras cost $75,000 and a minimum of 50 citations per month are necessary to justify the cameras, said the mayor.

In other business:

The council awarded the bid for purchase of a backhoe for the street department to Lyle Brothers of Jackson with a net bid of $39,000 as they are giving a $33,000 value on a trade-in.

The council approved Fire Chief Brian Tucker to purchase two new gas heaters for the bays at the fire department. The cost of the heaters should cost about $3,900 and would be a better investment than the $2,630 it would cost to repair the old ones installed in 1992, said Tucker.

The board approved the appointment of Rosalind Winston as a commissioner of the McKenzie Housing Authority Board. Current commissioners include Jennifer Waldrip, Keith Priestley, Beverly Owen and Chairperson Mildred Sneed.

Councilperson Darra Adkins spoke of her time on the council as this was her final meeting before next month’s swearing in of new council members following elections. Mrs. Adkins has served on the board since 1988. “I want the citizens of McKenzie to know how much I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the council. (Also,) I can look back and say I’m proud of the work our fire department does.” She also mentioned that next week is National Fire Prevention Week and that the fire department will be visiting the elementary school and gave them many praises for their efforts throughout her time on the council. Further speaking to the citizens of McKenzie, she said, “I just want (the people) to know how much I appreciate the confidence you’ve shown me at times of election and how much I enjoyed it and I will miss it.”

Councilperson Wade Allen echoed Mrs. Adkins sentiments, as this was also his final meeting after 14 years of service. “I have enjoyed my experience. I have great respect for the government of McKenzie. I learned a lot about the city government. It’s been beyond my wildest dreams, growing up as a sharecropper’s son, that one day I could be on the council,” he pronounced.

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October 14, 2008