By Crystal McGough, copy editor
CLAY — The Clay City Council unanimously approved Ordinance 2020-01, annexing 2799 Shoemaker Street into the city of Clay, following a public hearing at its regular council meeting on Jan. 14, 2020.
A petition for annexation was previously submitted to the Planning & Zoning Commission by property owners Silverio Torres ad Elena Garcia, and the P&Z gave a unanimous recommendation of approval to the council. No one spoke in favor of or against the annexation during the public hearing.
“Mayor, this was an annexation case that I mentioned to you earlier,” City Manager Ronnie Dixon said. “… Mr. Torres and Miss Garcia plan to build a single-family residence on this property and their builder accompanied them to the Planning & Zoning Commission meeting. So it comes to you as a unanimous recommendation for approval.”
After approving the ordinance under “unanimous consent,” the council then moved into the Mayor and Council Comments portion of the meeting, where Councilor Dennis Locke announced the winners of the monthly $500 school grants for Clay Elementary, Clay-Chalkville Middle School and Clay-Chalkville High School.
For Clay Elementary, the winner is school counselor Mandi Evans.
“She submitted two applications, so I’m going to combine those and she can divvy those funds up however she wants to get either a Chromebook and/or calming down kits to help the students continue to calm down or regain their composure while they’re still participating in their classrooms,” Locke said.
The winner for the CCMS grant is English Language Arts teacher Kathy Goodson.
“The funds will be used to purchase a Chromebook and the next three books in the Bluford High Series,” Locke said.
Finally, the winner for the CCHS grant is Speech-Language Pathologist Leslie Childs.
“Those funds will be used to purchase alternate seating for her classroom,” Locke said. “This will provide a more relaxed seating structure to help students feel more at ease within their learning environment.”
Additionally, Locke informed the council that a mistake was made when awarding the previous grants in December.
“When I did the awards for the school grants in December, apparently I had two for the middle school and zero for the high school,” he said. “We’re going to make that up to them next month.”
The next meeting of the Clay City Council will be Tuesday, Jan. 28, 2020, at Clay City Hall. Pre-council will begin at 6 p.m. and the regular council meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m.