Decatur city council passes parking and camping restrictions

DECATUR -- The Decatur City Council met Nov. 10 and passed two ordinances that would limit parking on Main Street and Roller Avenue and prohibit camping in any Decatur park. Both were passed on the third reading and go into effect immediately.

The first ordinance restricts parking on Roller Avenue between Second Street on the west and Day Street on the east and on Main Street between Maple Avenue on the north and Third Street on the south from 12 a.m. until 2 a.m. year round.

The ordinance was necessary to allow for street cleaning and traffic safety. Violation of this provision carries a $50 fine and vehicles will be subject to tow at the owner's expense.

The second ordinance prohibits overnight camping in any of Decatur's parks. This includes Veterans, McCollum, Edmiston, Crystal Lake, Compton, Johnson and City Parks. None of these parks are equipped with the facilities necessary for overnight camping.

Camping is defined as "erecting a tent, lean-to, or other structure for the purposes of lodging in a city park, or bringing in an RV, trailer, or other vehicle for the purpose of lodging" (Ordinance No. 14-02).

The ordinance would allow camping for special events cleared through city hall.

The council heard from a representative of Deffenbaugh Industries concerning placement of 55-gallon poly-carts in Decatur. Deffenbaugh wants to replace the current trash system with the more cost-effective poly-cart system.

With poly-carts, the company would employ one driver and a mechanical arm that picks up the carts from the curb and dumps them into the truck. This would cut down the number of personnel from a two or three person crew to one.

The system would also raise costs to residents of Decatur an additional 96 cents per month.

The council decided to table the item until the December meeting.

In other business, the council:

• Approved the appointments of Kenneth Setser, Stacy Brooks, Fred Thompson and Carl Florer to the Decatur Housing Authority Board of Commissioners. The appointees will be sworn in by a Benton County Judge in a ceremony to be announced by the housing authority.

• Reviewed an ordinance that would authorize improvements to Decatur's sewer facilities through the issuance and sale of water and sewer revenue bonds. The council decided to table the issue until the next meeting or call a special meeting.

The Decatur City Council holds its regularly scheduled meeting the second Monday of each month. The meetings are open to the public. The mayor opens the first 30 minutes of the meeting to citizen comments or complaints. Any Decatur resident wishing to address the city council should contact Kim Wilkins, city clerk, at 752-3912.

General News on 11/19/2014