By Woodrow Polston
Members of the Laddonia Board of Aldermen met for regular session on Thursday, April 13. The meeting was called to order at 6 p.m. by Mayor Gary Garnett. Immediately following the opening of the meeting, Garnett announced that he was submitting his letter of resignation and that as of April 13 he would no longer assume the responsibilities of mayor for the City of Laddonia.
Upon this notice, members of the board of aldermen nominated Tresa Hodges to assume the role of mayor, which carried in a 3-0 vote. The resignation of the mayor created a vacancy on the board for one alderman and mayor pro-tem. Garnett stated in his letter that his business required his full-time attention.
“I am declining the position as mayor for the City of Laddonia, due to personal business reasons,” said Garnett. “I have personal commitments that will need more time and attention that I feel will hinder my responsibilities as mayor. I am turning my keys into you at this time. I have been honored to serve as mayor for the past two years and proud of the accomplishments we have made. With our councils approval, we paved all streets, ensured playground equipment was assembled for the kids, set forth a water supply agreement with MFA, purchased new picnic tables for the park, obtained insurance and LAGERS for hourly employees, hired a part-time and full-time Office clerk, obtained new Dollar General Store, applied for and received a grant for bleachers, participated in the Audrain County Leaders meetings each month, purchased a new tractor, brush hog, backhoe and tools for the maintenance department. We were also honored as a recipient of the Fuqua signage. I am encouraging the council to continue to focus on planned projects such as a new basketball court, hiring a replacement police officer and the Clearance Cannon Dam Project,” he added.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, Amber Snyder addressed the board concerning an issue involving dogs coming to her home and getting into her chicken coop. One of the dogs took one of the chickens and injured it. She took the chicken to the vet, and it cost her $100. Snyder stated that the dogs are still clawing at the coop to get in. One of her chickens had died a few hours later because of the attacks.
Alderman Tom Ellis asked her if the board proceeded to give the owners of the dogs a ticket, would she also be happy if they paid the vet bill? She stated that she was OK with that. Snyder also asked the board if she could shoot the dog if it came back and attacked again. Ellis will be looking into this on behalf of the board.
Scott Ferris declared his interested in purchasing the ditch digger if it is for sale. Everyone agreed on the selling price of $1,500, despite Ferris’s offer of $500. Ellis is going to check and see if it can be sold online.
Code Enforcer Lori Patterson has not been getting paid for this position.
The position was brought up by Eddy Craft that he would volunteer to do this job without any more pay. This will be discussed further at a subsequent meeting.
Jeremy Fendrick wants to see about purchasing the lot across from his residence.
This is a two-story house that has been abandoned and there are raccoons that live there, not to mention some other animals. Alderman Travis Lybarger had looked up the address for a contact and Ellis will investigate this to see what it is that we can do.
Concerning the city park bathrooms, work has been working on getting everything ready for opening. There has been a new toilet and sink put in along with a new hand dryer. The hours of operation was brought up and when the bathrooms need to lock it up for the night. The board agreed on the hours of 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. This would give the residents utilizing the park a good time frame.