Scarborough receives Granite Shoals Mayor's Award

By Glynis Crawford Smith

The Highlander

Roger Scarborough, long-time Granite Shoals resident, was honored with the Granite Shoals Mayor's Award at the city council meeting held Thursday, Dec. 1.

Mayor Carl Brugger called his work on the Planning and Zoning Commission, Board of Adjustments, the Comprehensive Plan Committee and the Airport Advisory Committee significant.

“The Charter Committee that drafted the city's charter is foundational to the city laws and ordinances we have today,” said Brugger. “His work with these groups and the expertise he provided (and still provides) cannot be overstated.

“He served on many of these committees when they were first created. Their success today was built on his contributions. With his organizational memory from his committee work, he often asks the best questions at Town Hall meetings when the discussion is focused upon questions of current city policy due to his exacting knowledge of previous policies.”

Brugger noted Scarborough's 20 years of service as a U.S. Navy aviator, from which he retired at the rank of commander, and his years of teaching in the Navy ROTC program, before he and his wife Joanne moved to Granite Shoals in 1984.

“He also was a nominee for the John Rinehart Memorial Award for Outstanding Community Service,” Brugger noted.

Major items on the agenda, namely the city policies on water wells (currently disallowed), water connection fees (currently assigned to new owners) and fencing (where drilling pipe has been the latest material under debate), were discussed at length, but not brought to a vote.

“We would like council members Mark Morren and Todd Holland, who are absent tonight, to have a chance to comment and to vote,” said Brugger.

The council instructed City Attorney Brad Young to return to council with ordinance language to reflect their discussions.

Council members decided to wait as well on action recommended for the city's employee manual.

City Secretary Elaine Simpson reported that Larry Crochet, a member of the Board of Adjustment since its inception, had submitted his resignation on Nov. 5.

“Your board has five regular members and two alternates, junior and senior alternates,” said Simpson. “You need to appoint one of the alternates because the board has a case on file for January.”

Arturo Rubio, the senior alternate, was appointed to the board.

The council also appointed a new applicant to the Parks Committee. She is Arlett Long, a mother who said her family uses the parks regularly.

Simpson noted also that Code Enforcement Officer Mike Barton will be returning to the private sector and the city will have to hire a replacement for that position. The city is advertising for two light equipment operators and three part-time firefighters and anticipates and police patrol officer opening.

The city has begun advertising in The Highlander and on the city website, www.graniteshoals.org, for professional engineers for the bond project to repair the city's major north-south arteries. Responses are due in Dec. 22 and the council could expect recommendations in January. However, he recommended bringing financial advisors and bond counsels back to a meeting on Dec. 12.

“They have an interesting option for private placement,” he said.

A citizen with a sharp eye on finance, Richard Ruben, had inquired about the sudden increase in overtime in the Utility Department report.

“We are having software problems at the water plant, which is old,” said City Manager Ken Nickel. “The alarms keep going off and you have to respond, even in the middle of the night, and go through a checking procedure.

“October was the worst, because at first we didn't know what was going on. We will be going through an update to report in January.”

Nickel said city hall would be closed from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 15, for personnel activities and closed for holidays De3c. 25-26 and Jan. 1.