Government : ATV/UTV & Food Truck Ordinances move through consideration, J&R fees discussed

The Vinton City Council met on Thursday evening. Before the regular meeting, the council met in a work session. The topic of the meeting concerned the sanitary sewer system on B Ave. Needed updates and repairs were discussed.

The regular meeting began promptly at 7:00 p.m. With the council conducting the usual business.

A lengthy discussion was held concerning rezoning to permit the creation of a duplex. There was much discussion concerning "spot zoning" with the city attorney sharing his thoughts on the issue.

He told the council that they have the authority to make decisions that they feel benefit the city. Citing a decision made by the supreme court, he gave the council three criteria laid out by the court. The general welfare of the city is the concern of the council. The council will be reviewing the Comprehensive Plan of the city and will continue to do more research.

The council approved the second consideration of the Food Truck Ordinance #1078

Another hot topic was presented by lawyer Jennifer Zahradnik on behalf of J&R Sanitation. J&R Sanitation put in a request back in June for an increase in the amount that they were paid for garbage and recycling pick up. The businesses had figured their original contract in July of 2018 when diesel was $3.16 a gallon. The cost in September was at $5.02 per gallon and currently it is $5.40.

The contract with the city allows J&R to request an adjustment to the amount that they are paid once annually.

The city had requested of the business basic information concerning how much the expenses had increased for the city of Vinton. At the meeting in September, the numbers were still not available and the council felt that they just could justify a change without data to back up the request. The council requested that they tally the cost for the two weeks between meetings and bring back some data.

Zahradnik was able to provide the city with several pages of data for the council to consider. They plan to have something as soon as possible for J&R to help with increasing costs.

The city moved on to the first consideration of Ordinance #1079 pertaining to the ATV/UTV use in the city limits. The ordinance is slightly more restrictive cited was the requirements for turn signals. The council moved to approve the first consideration.

The other items on the agenda were also approved without much discussion.

Just a reminder that Trick or Treating hours will be from 5-8:00 p.m. in the city of Vinton.