By Crystal McGough
For The Tribune
CLAY – The Clay City Council unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday night declaring two properties within the city to be public nuisances.
According to Resolution 2018-04, the City Council will conduct a public hearing on April 10 during its regular council meeting to “consider all evidence, objections and protests regarding the proposed removal of all materials that may be considered a nuisance” at the properties of 5916 Debbie Drive and 7322 Cavern Road.
“This is the first step in the process leading up to that April 10 public hearing,” City Manager Ronnie Dixon said.
During the meeting, Mayor Charles Webster, Dixon and the council also gave updates on the new public library, the schools, and upcoming community events.
“I’m very pleased with the progress the library is making,” Councilor Don Baker said. “That’s going to be a great asset to this community. We’re doing that well under what the bids were and hopefully we’re going to be a little under the budget.”
The rough plumbing and electrical work for the library has already begun and the roof will be put on Thursday, Dixon said during the pre-council workshop.
“We’re on schedule to start the summer reading program at 2 p.m. on June 2,” he said. “Hopefully at 1 p.m. that afternoon, we’ll have a ribbon cutting and grand opening.”
During Mayor and Council Comments, Webster gave an update on progress that has been made at the schools, including a new walkway that was put in at Clay Elementary and some work that Faith Community Fellowship church did at Clay-Chalkville Middle School.
“It looks great,” Webster said. “The (CCMS) front entrance looks 100 percent better. The principal was really excited about it and appreciated what (they) did. It was for a good cause.”
At recent council meetings, Webster has addressed some issues at the middle school and his hopes for a better middle school under the new principal, Jason Wilson.
“Mr. Wilson has been there for three weeks now,” he said Tuesday night. “He’s done a great job. I think he’s going to be a big plus for us, for making a change in the school for the better, for the students, for the teachers, for the staff, and everybody around.”
Webster said that CCHS Principal Michael Lee, as well as coaches from the high school, have been giving Wilson assistance as he gets settled into the new position.
“They are working closely together on things,” Webster said. “It’s going to be a joint effort on making a turn-around at the middle school. I can already see a lot of good changes.”
Counselor Dennis Locke announced this month’s $500 School Grant winners for the elementary, middle and high schools.
Fourth-grade teacher Tera J. Lee won the grant for Clay Elementary and plans to use the funds to purchase Chromebooks for her classroom.
Mathematics teacher Amber Norris won the middle school’s grant and plans to purchase headphones, a Chromebook and desktop calculators.
RN/Health Sciences Instructor Farah Bridges won the grant for CCHS and plans to install curtain tracks in the ceiling of her lab with hanging privacy curtains to simulate a hospital and help students learn to follow HIPAA regulations.
Councilor Bo Johnson gave updates on several upcoming events in the community, including community service projects, summer movie nights and the 2018 Fall Festival.
“In the next few months, we’ll have a lot of community-based things going on,” Johnson said.
According to Johnson, he and Locke have been working on trying to put together a citywide community service day, possibly in June.
“We want to try to knock out as many potential community-related projects, whether it be things with the city, or ballparks, or elderly folks’ homes, or widows’ houses,” he said. “Just anything where we can be helpful and that we actually possess the skills to be able to do.”
He also said that there has been discussion about potentially moving the city’s free movie night to earlier in the summer, and possibly hosting it at the CCHS football field this year to alleviate parking issues.
In addition, plans for the Second Annual City of Clay Fall Festival will begin soon.
“We’re going to start way early this year planning for Fall Festival,” Johnson said. “This year, we’re going to put together a large team of people so it will flow a lot more smoothly.
“It’s just a cool time to be in the city of Clay and in the community,” he said. “I appreciate everything that everybody’s doing. It’s great to see us building some unity and coming together to get some things knocked out.”