Local City Council members led by Mayor Jerry Jordan and Vice Mayor Lawrence Keeble continue to work hard for Mountain City’s residents and staff. While most residents were settling in for the evening, council members at a recent workshop held at City Hall were busy updating town policy and procedure.
The workshop was a continuation of the previous workshop held in December when members worked on ensuring town policies were in place. The meeting was open to the public but had no attendees other than representatives of The Tomahawk Newspaper. It began with each council member trying to get on the same page while navigating through a sizable work packet with dozens of items to be discussed.
“We are reviewing town ordinances,” said Alderman Lawrence Keeble.
Some of the ordinances discussed during the workshop included policies for handling Covid. The pandemic has caused a lot of changes to the nation, and Mountain City was not exempt. Older policies and procedures needed to be updated for modern illnesses. Since Covid has developed many variants and changes almost daily, it was recommended during the meeting that updated policies refer to the Health Department for any possible future outbreaks.
While discussing the language to be used in the updated policies, Alderman Dustin Shearin recommended “using language that says what the health department says instead of having to change the wording every time there is a new outbreak.”
Of course, the workshop discussion was not limited to Covid. Alderman Jason Bryan recommended policies address illness covered by the American Disabilities Act. “Some diseases are covered under the American Disabilities Act (ADA), and ours doesn’t reference any ADA.”
In addition to updating the policy on health matters, Council members also used the workshop as an opportunity to revise the reimbursement amount for miles used in City business. The standard mileage rate was increased from 0.58 to 0.65 ½ cents. This rate increase was changed to match the IRS-stated rate on the IRS website. Although the town was giving the increased rate already, the correct rate was updated in the policy manual.
While the world around us continues to change fast, local residents can find comfort that the officials they elected are working hard to maintain up to date on current events.
Although there continues to be more work for members to complete, last week’s workshop was deemed a success.
“We got through, and we have another workshop in February to review the questions we had. This workshop was very beneficial,” said Mayor Jerry Jordan.
For more information www.mountaincitytn.org
