By Terry Schrimscher, For the Tribune
CLAY – The Clay City Council held its second scheduled meeting of 2023 Tuesday night, Jan. 24. With only two items listed on the agenda, the meeting moved quickly to conclusion in less than 20 minutes.
The City of Clay extended a moratorium on the construction of storage units for three more years. (Photo credit: Paul Brennan)
The agenda contained an update on properties at 789 Chestnut Drive and 6791 Old Springville Road. Both properties were given 14-day extensions during the public hearing held in the Jan. 10 meeting.
“Both of them have cleaned their yards,” said City Manager Ronnie Dixon. The city will issue letters to both property owners stating their properties are now in compliance with city ordinances on public nuisances and should be kept in compliance going forward. The resolution on abatement for the two properties was removed from the agenda.
The other item on the agenda, renumbered to 2023-01, was in reference to a city moratorium on the construction of mini warehouse and self-service storage units within the city limits.
“This council put a moratorium on mini warehouses several years ago,” Dixon said. “It’s time to renew that moratorium. We did a study back then and determined there were two mini warehouses for every citizen of Clay.”
The council had the option to extend the moratorium from one year to three years to the completion of the current terms of office.
After a brief discussion, the council voted unanimously to extend the moratorium for 36 months.
In his report to the council, Dixon mentioned a situation with a need for repairs on Clayton Road. Responsibility for the upkeep of the road is shared between the city and Jefferson County. Dixon said county engineers measured the road and designated 94% to the city of Clay.
“Their estimate for our portion if they paved it was $276,761,” Dixon said. “From what the county is claiming, that’s what we’ll have to put our pennies in the jar for to get to that $300,000 mark by the time you claim striping and the right of way that goes with it.”
Additionally, Dixon said work is being scheduled to patch the road, which the city does annually. Patching could cost approximately $20,000.
“Yesterday, asphalt was $120 a ton,” he said. “This time last year it was $45 a ton.”
The next meeting of the Clay City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Feb. 14.
