Christian Peterson
reporter.riverbendnews@gmail.com
On Monday, Dec. 9, the Mayo Town Council met for its regularly scheduled meeting. First, the council approved the agenda for the evening before quickly approving the minutes from the previous meeting. It then called for public comment, to which there was no response. The board then moved into the old business, which only had one item. The council was made aware that the Community Development Block Grant inspections would start on Tuesday, Dec. 10. After this, the council moved to its two big ticket items for the evening: the election of the mayor and vice mayor. The council elected Wayne Hamlin to serve as Mayor for another term, as well as Mamie Thomas as Vice-Mayor for another term. The board then called for its department reports. Sampson Edwards was the first to speak. He told the council that the American Rescue Plan funds would be spent in time, and explicitly pointed out projects including updates to fire hydrants and lift stations that the money would be spent on. He also told the council that three lift stations had gotten new control panels and that he would provide the council with a list of things he was interested in for appropriations. Garrett Land was next to speak, giving updates on planning and zoning in the town. First, he told the council that he was taking action against the Mayo Food Mart gas station. He explained that he felt they had been given more than enough time to fix the covering that had fallen over during the hurricanes. However, he had seen no movement to get the problem resolved, and decided to proceed with action to kick them into gear. Land also announced that the FastTrack gas station was now pumping gas. However, although they are pumping gas, the internal area was still closed down because it needed a complete remodel. He said that the gas station was about a month out from submitting an application for remodeling. Councilmember Jessica Lawson then brought up an item that had been brought to her attention. She explained that Ken Moser, a member of the fire department, had approached her about cleaning up the fire hydrants. She said that Moser had spoken to Edwards, and he had told Moser that he needed to talk with the council first to make sure everything was alright with them. Edwards explained his concerns were that the department would clean the hydrants during regular business hours and that they would avoid specific hydrants that he was nervous about possibly breaking. The council agreed these were legitimate concerns and told Edwards to meet with Moser and explain what needed to be done. The council then approved the payment of its bills before adjourning. The next Mayo Town Council meeting will be held on Monday, Jan. 13, in the Town Hall, located at 276 W Main St.