HOBOKEN — The City of Hoboken approved the placement of a fence at the city’s cemetary for the protection of graves and headstones.
The 3-2 decision with one council member abstaining came during the Tuesday, August 5 meeting inside City Hall.
The council discussed for nearly 10 minutes of whether to purchase 200 foot of four-foot high black chain link fence or setting steel T-posts and running a chain along Thomas Street.
“This is to protect the graves and the headstones and all that stuff on the side of recreation department going into the ball field,” said Mayor Joey Crews.
The city received a $2,800 bid from Thrift Construction for the black chain link fence, material and concrete. T & T Fencing Company, Inc supplied a bid for material only without concrete for the post.
Another option, the placing of T-post and running a chain, was approximately $1,300 with the city doing all the labor.
City of Hoboken highlights
The City of Hoboken council discussed/voted on the following agenda items during the Tuesday, August 5 monthly meeting.
• Blight Ordinance review: City Attorney Adam Ferrell updated the council on his revisal of the City of Hoboken Blight Ordinance.
“I revised the proposed ordinance and it should be in your packet,” said Ferrell. “I’ve eliminated some of the language and definitions that were in there previously under Section two. That really governs what we’re talking about with nuisance conditions.
“Other than that, the procedural parts of it pretty much were left the same because procedure to enforce it should be the same, regardless of kind of the scope of it. If there’s any other further revisions you want to include, let me know, and we can maybe have something ready by next meeting.”
The item was tabled until the September meeting to allow the council to look over the ordinance.
• Lowes’ Hometown grant: Mayor Joey Crews informed the council the City of Hoboken’s application for the grant was turned down.
“That was a grant we had for the fire department building to upgrade the inside,” said Crews. “We just got the word on that.”
• New business: Dot Hickox addressed the council concerning the loss of trash bins the city has provided for its residents and the speeding on city streets.
“I’ve been told, I haven’t seen it with my own eyes, that there possibly are county residents and maybe even out of county residents use our trash bins,” said Mrs. Hickox. “I can’t prove that. It’s kind of a delicate situation as y’all well know and rules are rules. I’m not a perfect person, but I believe in what’s right and what’s wrong.
“We don’t want to lose the bins. I’m sure maybe there’ll be some options that we can study on to try to keep our trash bins available for the citizens of Hoboken.
“Next is our city streets and the speeding vehicles. I know we have that everywhere. I did talk to Mrs. Linda (Henderson, city clerk) about our coverage. We have a police chief full-time from 7:30 (a.m.) to 3:30 (p.m.) and we have some part-time help who fills in.
“The main hours of the speeding on Palmetto Street is from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. There’s some that zoom right over the speed bump. I don’t know, as far as the hours and more help at those needed hours, that’s something that y’all will have to discuss and decide upon. I don’t know if anything can be done there. Just, just give it your best shot.
“The next thing is Chicago Avenue, partly travel by the city and the rest of it by the county. We know dirt roads are in our county and we know lot of times when the rain comes there are these issues. The county has helped on that road, but the road grading is a major issue.
“I don’t know what part the city plays in getting the county involved in grading our road. But I’m finding out that there’s no training. There’s no guidance. I’m not knocking the county, because they work with us. Something needs to be done.”
• Hoboken Police Department report: Mayor Crews read the July report to the council.
HPD responded to 22 dispatch calls for service conducted, made 99 traffic stops, issued 63 citations (43 speeding, four driving with a license on person, four with expired tag/no tag, three driving while unlicensed) with 36 verbal warnings.
They department conducted a license safety check on 121 North July 3 resulting in 10 citations being written and one arrest being made.
• Hoboken VFD report: The Hoboken Volunteer Fire Department responded to one wreck with no injuries, two with injuries, two calls for smoke, a structure fire and one Code Red.
The annual Safety Day event is scheduled for Saturday, September 20 from 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
When questioned about the police department’s hours for the chief, the mayor said he thought the council wanted the chief to work 8 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
“We ought to have it where people don’t know what time he’s going to be here,” said Councilman Ray. “Especially if we’re having problems on the street at certain times.”
Ray made a motion for the hours of the police chief be variable with a second by Councilwoman Lee.
During the discussion, Henderson told the council the chief works from 7:30 a.m. until 4:35 p.m. Monday through Friday and the part-time officers work the weekends.
“He’s got a schedule and I’m real satisfied,” said Crews.
“The chief needs to present a schedule to the council so we can see who’s working when,” responded Jordan.
Following the discussion, Ray pulled his motion.
• Street and Water Department report: Mayor Crews informed the council he was waiting on the date for the Palm Street resurfacing project getting started.
“It should be anytime now because I was told in the next couple of weeks,” said Crews.
• Mobile Home Park: The mayor said Davis Stone have been cleaning up some of the trash.
• Community Center: The use of the facility for teaching a CPR class one to two times a month was discussed.
After a lengthy discussion, Councilman Ray made a motion to charge $150 per month for the use and cleaning. The motion passed 4-0.
The mayor told council members the driveway at the Community Center needs to be addressed.
“There are low spots and its rough,” he said. “We can get more ground up asphalt to fill the holes. We’re not going to be redoing the whole thing, we’ve got to do some work.”
• Budget hearing dates: Mayor Crews said the city was still waiting on the tax figures to set the millage rate.
“As soon as we get the information we’ll set our dates for budget hearings,” he said.
