The Cleveland City Council took care of a lot of business during an almost two-and-a-half-hour meeting Monday night. Among the items were four public hearings.
Package stores
The council held the second public hearing on the sales of Package Distilled Spirits. City Attorney Keith Whitaker shared with the council a couple of minor changes to the ordinance to address commercial daycare and after-school locations.
The ordinance limits the number of package stores to three, and the stores are limited to city or state highways with three lanes or more. The council, following the public hearing, approved the ordinance that became effective with the approval.
Land use map
A second public hearing was held as part of updating the city’s Comprehensive Plan and Future Land Use Map. The plan was last updated in 2021. Following the verbal comments and written comments submitted by two individuals attending the meeting, the council voted to postpone any action on this item until their first meeting in May to give them time to review the written comments.
Personnel policies
After a year-long process and following a second public hearing, the council approved a 97-page Personnel Policy and Procedures manual for city employees. The last time there was a major update of these policies was in 1994. The council decided they would work to keep these policies updated every three years.
Water leak protection
At Monday’s meeting, the Cleveland City Council also held its first public hearing on establishing a Leak Protection Plan for city water customers. City administrator Kevin Harris shared with the council the idea of implementing the program.
Harris said the program would be a self-insurance program to help residents when there is a water leak that could run up their utility bill. He said he favored the self-insured program where the city would add a $2.00 per month fee to the water bill, and that money would be used to pay for repairs that residents have between the city water meter and their home. It does not cover any leaks inside or under the residence.
Harris said the program would mirror what the White County Water Authority is doing for its customers.
According to Harris, if a customer determines they have a water leak between the water meter and their home, they would go ahead and get it repaired and present the bill to the city for reimbursement back on their water bill, up to $1,000 per year.
The subfreezing temperatures back in January resulted in several residential customers having water line breaks on their property, costing hundreds of dollars to fix.
The city will hold a second hearing and receive comments on this issue at their May 9 council meeting. Residents who prefer to make comments without going before the council may e-mail their comments to [email protected].
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