Dixie Law appointed to fill council vacancy in Springtown

SPRINGTOWN -- Dixie Law was appointed to Position 4 of the town council in Springtown at the regular Aug. 9 meeting in the town hall. Her appointment followed the resignation of Terri Glenn from the council. Law will serve out the remainder of Glenn's term.

The appointment of Law followed an announcement of Glenn's resignation and the request for an executive session to consider candidates by Preston Barrett, Springtown's mayor. No motion was made in regard to going into executive session, but the council and mayor left to discuss personnel matters and returned to open session about four minutes later.

Amanda Richardson was nominated to fill Glenn's term but her nomination failed with a split 2-to-2 vote. Law was then nominated and the council was again split 2-2, but Mayor Barrett cast a vote in favor of Law to break the tie. Barrett then administered the oath of office to Law, and the meeting continued with Law as a voting council member.

Lisa Taylor addressed the council and asked if the town had a mowing ordinance which could be used in regard to property adjacent to her property which had been allowed to grow up in weeds and was harboring rodents and other pests. Barrett said he would contact the property owner in regard to city code and see if the new property owner would take care of the problem.

The council passed a resolution authorizing Benton County to act in the interest of the town and its residents in regard to disaster preparations. The pre-hazard mitigation plan is being prepared in connection to the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The town's participation through the county is without cost to the city, according to Mayor Barrett.

The council approved a resolution to move the September meeting to Thursday, Sept. 1, at 6:30 p.m. The date change was to allow the council to adopt an agreement with Black Hills Energy for natural gas service in the town at the earliest possible date and also handle the regular council business for September.