OLNEY—The Olney City Council had a huge audience in attendance for their June 23 meeting, with every seat taken up and even some people who stood in the back of the council room to hear what was on the agenda that evening.
Unfortunately for those waiting in the warm room, the meeting started with the varyingly-rancid Brian James O’Neill II, with whom those in attendance had to share odor molecules.
O’Neill got up and gave his not-so-intelligible speech on “crybaby elected officials; there’s the door and the truth really hurts,” ect. for his input under the public comments and presentations portion of the meeting.
Property nuisances/junk yard
When all of O’Neill’s nonsense was said and done, Ramona and Donald Shipley brought forth more serious and realistic concerns: They’d brought photos of property concern to the council, during the agenda discussion of ‘property nuisances.’
The Shipleys stated that there was junk next door to their property, which also sits next to the CVS Pharmacy in Olney on Main Street.
“It’s a rat trap and it’s hazardous to the people who live around it,” they advised the council.
Mayor Ray Vaughn told the council that after the property owner is told to clean up, the owner then has 14 days to do so. If the owner does not then he or she will be issued a citation.
A discussion then took place about a property having a fence around it and what type of fence needed to be around a property, focusing more on the subject of someone’s yard being unsightly.
“Do we have any tools to enforce people having junk, in which it’s a junk yard?” Vaughn asked city manager/city attorney Larry Taylor.
Taylor’s conclusion on the matter was to tighten up the language of the ordinance a little further.
Linn Street Railroad Crossing
The next item on the agenda brought forth several members of the audience.
The subject matter centered around the closing of Linn Street Railroad Crossing.
None of the citizens in attendance wanted to have it closed.
Vaughn stated that the closing of the road was a process that takes several months to do.
Resident Edward Jones got up and produced photos of his own to show to the council, stating he felt the road needed to stay open.
Jones told the council that there has only been two incidents that have occurred at the crossing in the past 50 years.
Vaughn told Jones there is another crossing about a half mile down both ways and the crossing is on a hill and is dangerous.
Mayor gets nasty/rude
Jones started to tell Vaughn that there is a pothole (and was using out one of the photos), when Vaughn cut him off.
“There are lots of potholes,” Vaughn said.
“I know, but we are talking about Linn Street right now,” Jones responded.
After Jones was done, Marilyn Hawes and her husband Charles, spoke about their concerns with closing off Linn Street, claiming that if they close Linn Street it will be the ideal place for people to have their drug labs.
Mrs. Hawes spoke about how a vehicle was found full of weapons in that area and people have been arrested multiple times for having meth labs in the woods in and near that location.
She said their concern is that the police will have no access.
McLaughlin not in favor
City council member John McLaughlin then said he was not in favor of closing down the road and feels that signs should be posted and the shrubs should be cut down.
He said that in other situations, much like this one, the council had been voting “No” when the public didn’t agree.
“The only thing that makes this situation different is that (the city) is being offered $50,000 to shut the road down,” McLaughlin said.
The council then decided not to close Linn Street “at this time.”
Cash up front
The council also discussed changing some of the ordinance violation fines to a higher fee and offering citizens the option to pay the fine without a mandatory court appearance.
“If people wish to pay before attending court, then they may,” Vaughn said.
McLaughlin added that it would “simplify the process and keep people out of the courts.”
The next Olney city council meeting will be held on July 8 at 7 p.m.