LEESBURG – At their monthly meeting Monday, the Leesburg Town Council approved the purchase of a sprinkler system for Clover Park, formally approved the edits to the parking ordinance and signed a town lease for property.
At last month’s meeting, Leesburg Clerk-Treasurer Jan Carter asked the council if they would consider bids for a sprinkler system at Clover Park. The council decided to table the discussion until this month’s meeting.
The bids were not on hand to review, but Carter informed the council the bid from Rain Makers was $300 lower than the bid from Rico’s Lawn Care.
“The bid came in at about $5,800,” Carter said. “We have a history with Rain Makers. They have come here and fixed other things for the city.”
Council member Doug Jones liked the idea of getting a sprinkler system for the park.
“I think it is in the spirit of what (Betty Clover) would have wanted,” Jones said.
Jones moved to accept the bid from Rain Makers, Council member Larry Ritchie seconded the motion.
In a telephone interview this morning, Carter informed the Times-Union that the funds for the project will come from the Betty Clover Fund. Carter also said there is $17,000 in the fund, and this is a project the town has been looking at for some years.
Town attorney Vern Landis told the council that in order to make the new parking hours official they would need to sign the new ordinance that he had written.
The council signed ordinance 2012-3.
The new hours for no parking in the downtown is 3 to 5 a.m. Street Commissioner Brandon Queen has already posted signs informing the public of the times for no parking.
During public comments, Tonya Wood approached the council and informed them it was time to renew the lease of a 15- by 20-foot piece of property south of the town hall to her and her husband Steve. The board looked over the lease agreement and unanimously agreed to lease the property to the Wood’s for $1 for the year.
Carter said that the lease was to expire this month sometime.
Council President Tom Moore said that the property was owned by the town, but the Woods own several properties and have leased the land for five or six years so their tenants were not in violation of the parking ordinance.
During reports from department heads, Queen informed the council that he fixed a broken manhole cover that was pushed off its base. Queen additionally lined the bed of the Ford truck in order to prevent corrosion and fixed the John Deere tractor.
Additionally, Queen informed the council that Phend and Brown will start their construction on Smith and School streets next Tuesday.
Queen then told the council that there were three properties in violation of the grass and trash ordinances. The properties at 109 N. Harrison St., 104 N. Pearl St., 105 W. Van Buren St.; 101 W. Van Buren and 206 E. Prairie St. were also recently mowed by the town.
Derek Tenney informed the council that all of the sewer pumps were operational and there have been no break downs in the last month.
“All of the parts are inventoried and the extra pumps are ready if needed,” Tenney said.
The next meeting of the Leesburg Town Council is Sept. 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Leesburg Town Hall.
