FAIRVIEW – The first item on the Fairview Town Council's agenda this week, after normal housekeeping, was to welcome guest Marty Hardman from Fairview Elementary, who came to request donations for the school's summer enrichment program. The program is used to help give at-risk students more individualized courses in reading and math, and Harding said the cost of the program is approximately $3,000. He also said that they had gotten a lot of good feedback and support from the community, but every little bit still helps. The council agreed to match its donation from last year and give $500 toward the program.
Under old business, the roof repairs at the ball park concessions stand have been completed, and fortunately there was no significant structural damage. Paving for the senior center parking lot started about a week and a half ago, and Mayor Keith Henry estimates another four to six weeks at least before the grand opening.
The council updated its ordinance to follow the state's dates for the Back-to-School Tax-Free Weekend. In previous years, the weekend has been in early August, but the council had to update its ordinance to reflect the change in date to July 21-23.
Negotiations to buy the Bailey property (Bailey Trailer Court) have continued, and Henry calculated that agreeing to Bailey's offer would likely be a better deal than what he and the council had originally planned to settle for. After hearing this and discussing for a few minutes, the council made a motion to have a contract drawn up for Bailey.
The first order of new business was the hiring of a summer lawncare worker. Despite several people sounding interested, only three applications were submitted and Henry only found two viable. The mayor and the council seemed to agree that many potential applicants likely never applied because of the lack of benefits, which was the first thing many interested people asked about when they called. The council agreed to ask around other towns like Holly Pond or Baileyton and see if they offer benefits to their maintenance workers so they could estimate how much it might cost them to start offering. On the subject of the two viable applicants, Henry received the council's approval to interview them and choose the better-qualified worker.
Another item on the agenda was a request for an archery instructor to hold summer classes in the community park. The instructor is a parent of a Fairview archer, and her son's enthusiasm for the sport inspired her to become an instructor to help Fairview's team improve. However, these summer classes will be open to students from any school who want more practice and preparation before school starts back. The council's main concern was making sure pedestrians and passersby wouldn't be put at risk, and one member made the suggestion to let her use one of the ball fields because the field is unused during the summer, and the fenced-in area would prevent arrows from straying too far. With this idea on the table, the council made a motion to let her teach her lessons there.
Other topics that were discussed were price estimates for repairing some roads leading into town and going by the daycare, allowing Cornerstone Church to use their pool ball fields during the day, landscaping for the senior center and a letter to the townspeople Henry will draft for next month that will address community involvement.
The Fairview Town Council meets on the first Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at Fairview Town Hall. The public is welcome to attend.
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