We CAN all get along: Council unanimous in decision to make public comment more convenient
Plus, Shawn Sandlin moves from interim to full-time city administrator, and Parks and Recreation is hiring
Council Briefs
Harmony in the house
Last Council meeting saw an even split between members for and against moving the public comment section of the meeting from near the bottom, after all the voting has been done, to near the top of the agenda, just after the approval of the previous meeting’s minutes. The mayor expressed his displeasure with Council’s inability to agree on the matter at the time.
At issue was whether, as Councilmember Cora Jane Wilson declared, giving the public the floor at the start of the evening would be “too disruptive”, or, as the Order’s sponsor, Councilmember John Payne suggested, would mean that if the public were to hear about a measure they needed time to think about before Council took a vote on it, they could do so before a vote on the measure was taken in the next meeting.
But with no further public discussion, harmony has prevailed, and Municipal Order 02-2025 that moves public comment to where it’s more convenient, passed unanimously in a roll call vote at this week’s regularly scheduled Council meeting.
Now public comment is back to where it was before covid. No one The Edge asked last week or this about why the public comments had been moved to the end, including Payne, knew why it had happened.
Mayor Bruce Fraley expressed his delight with the unanimity, and credited interim city administrator, Shawn Sandlin, for managing this feat of diplomacy behind the scenes.
And while this is not chronological, in executive session after the regularly scheduled meeting, Sandlin was offered the job full time and he accepted. So, Sandlin is no longer interim, he’s it.
Tourism and Biz Development split
In a work session earlier this week, Council discussed separating the tourism and business development departments of the City, which is how they were before. Sandlin said this would make it easier for the two functions to manage. He said did not know why they had been merged, when asked by The Edge after the meeting.
Now that Sandlin’s title is officially his, he will be making a move soon to permanently fill the head of Tourism’s spot. Currently, Dani Gift is the interim director of Tourism. Donna Angel is the director of Business Development.
Department head report: Parks and Rec
Priscilla Bloom, director of the City’s Parks and Recreation department said currently she has two maintenance workers doing their utmost to get the parks and ball fields ready for this coming weekend when spring soccer begins. This includes moving the multiple downed trees and branches from the successive wind storms we’ve had recently. Several downed trees have been cut and now need to be stumped, she said.
Bloom said she has been interviewing potential hires for seasonal help.
Bloom also told Council that restrooms in the parks are now open, and that the water fountains will be ready to turn on as soon as several of them are repaired after the winter.
A St. Patrick’s Day scavenger hunt designed in partnership with the Berea branch of the Madison County Library and local Winterberry Studios, attracted 40 families to the City Park. The Berea College CELTS program helped run the event, for which she was grateful, and Bert’s SpeakCheezy brought a food truck.
Additionally, a cooking partnership with the Library has been highly popular, Bloom said. Bloom explained that the library gives people a cookbook and then they pick a recipe to make and bring to a potluck at the folk center. The program is called Munchy Monday.
Bloom talked about a program where she visits the industries in town to tell them about the parks, and this week she was to visit Hyster-Yale.
Dates to remember: April 5, spring painting of facilities begins; April 9 is Senior Bingo; and April 15 is the Special Needs Ball. Visit the Parks Dept.’s Facebook page for more information on those events.
Bloom discussed the community swimming pool’s rehab progress, and noted that the winter’s snowy, rainy, windy weather had set the timeline back, but that the mandarins are to be put in soon, and then the pipes, and then the bottom can be poured. Hopefully, she said, the pool repairs will get back on the original timeline this spring.
If you’re looking for a job, Parks is potentially looking for you. Bloom said she is hiring for all jobs: maintenance, concessions, all the things.
The mayor thanked Bloom and extended his thanks and appreciation to her staff for their dedication and all the fun free activities they come up with.
Public thanks
During the public portion of the meeting, Berean Patience Martin came to the mic to thank the mayor and Council for helping to make Berea a great place to live by working together.
City administrator report
Sandlin said there wasn’t much he had to share.
Mayor and Council comments
Mayor
Fraley thanked Council for coming to back-to-back special work sessions on Monday and Tuesday afternoons.
John Payne
Thanked Council for helping to “strengthen the public’s voice” by agreeing to move public comment, and said he agreed with Councilmember Jerry Little that all City meetings should be live-streamed. He also wished a happy birthday to Pauline Oliver who turned 101 years today, March 19.
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