May’s Minden City Council Meeting was a brief affair, seeing as the agenda only hosted a total of 6 items on the agenda. Of these items, the ones of note include the annexation of the property belonging to Quickdraw Travel & Casino into the city limits, as well as the adoption of an ordinance officially implementing the STEP program for the City of Minden.
The annexation of the Quickdraw Travel and Casino’s property wen through fairly easily. Councilman Micahel Roy of Dist. D did have a question pertaining to a hole on the property, and whether the city would have an obligation to fill it if they annexed it in.
“If I remember correctly, there’s a big hole out there, around one of the drainage areas.”
“That’s an oxidation pump for their sewer,” said Gradner.
“Would that be put on us to fix?” asked Roy. “That’ll be their responsibility,” confirmed the Mayor.
After the brief discussion, the motion passed unanimously.
Next, Ordinance 1116 was motioned in by Councilman Roy with a second coming from Councilman Wayne Edwards of Dist. D.
A few weeks back the Council had had a workshop to discuss the specifics of the Safety Traffic Enforcement Program (STEP) program, though still a few questions lingered before the council adopted the program.
Councilman Roy asked why the limit for who officers would pull over was set at 12 miles an hour. Mayor Gardner explained that it was a matter of keeping a higher percentage of the fine going to the city, as opposed to splitting it with the state.
“If it’s 10, you would have to share that fine with the state, if it’s twelve, the city’s allowed to keep the entire amount.,” said Gardner.
“So we will not stop them unless they are doing 12 miles over the posted speed limit of 70.”
Councilman Terika Williams-Walker of Dist. asked whether the fine would increase based on how much individuals were speeding. The Mayor clarified that it would be the same price, regardless of how fast and individual is going.
“Regardless of whether it’s 12 mile over or 22 miles over, it’s still 250 dollars?” asked COuncilman Walker.
“Yes ma’am, And it will not go on your driving record if you pay it properly.”
Cropper noted that the Minden Police Department would have to wait until the middle of may to start enforcing the program, as some of the equipment needed for the vehicles used for the program had yet to come in.
“We’re looking at the middle of May. The old up is with getting all of the proper equipment for the vehicles,” said Cropper.
It was revealed by Michael Fluhr, Acting City Clerk, during his financial report that the city saw quite a significant increase in their sales tax collections for the month of April, $709,000 compared to last year’s collection for the same time period $526,000. “An increase of 183,000 dollars,” said Fluhr.
Reading a report from the sales tax commission, Fluhr explained that the possible reason behind the increase was the stimulus checks provided in the month of March.
“I believe the overall increase was due to retail shopping, eating out, car purchases, construction, and of course alcohol sales.”
He also added that a potential cause of the increase was due to the stimulus checks provided by the federal government a few weeks back. “It’s the stimulus money that went into the economy,” said Fluhr.
The Minden City Council Meeting takes place on the first Monday of every month starting at 5:30 p.m at Minden City Hall. Meetings are open to the public to attend.