SALYERSVILLE – Salyersville City Council met in regular session on Monday, December 15, discussing an open burning ordinance and the ongoing sewer issues through town.
The council considered the second reading of a nuisance ordinance, again, stipulating keeping properties in the city relatively clean, brush piles a certain distance from neighbor’s property, limits amount of used tires allowed for residences, etc., opting to table the ordinance until the next meeting.
They also looked at an open burning ordinance, which would prohibit burning trash in the city limits, which would allow cooking fires, recreational fires and to burn brush, but not rubber, plastics or cardboard, for instance. The council unanimously agreed to pass the first reading of the ordinance, with Mayor Stanley Howard explaining the full ordinance will run in the newspaper after the second reading.
During comments from the audience, a resident from Dixie brought up the ongoing sewer system issues, specifically addressing that she has sewer gas in her home all the time, noting that her and her family are having health issues from it, including headaches, respiratory issues, negatively affecting a family member with asthma, and more.
“The smell is so overwhelming in his room alone, it will take your breath,” she said when talking about the room of her son with asthma. “They have come out and attempted to make fixes to different things. There’s no leak in my home; however, they have found through smoke testing and things there are some leaks on up the street that need to be addressed in order to fix this. However, nothing has been done at this point. I do have a few questions as far as how can this be repaired. I know this is a huge issue and it’s not something that can be taken care of immediately, but it would be nice to see steps in the right direction. I’m not the only person this is affecting. I’m just one who is willing to come and say something.”
She asked the mayor what month and year the auditor was hired to do the city’s last audit. An office staff member of city hall responded it was requested in February or March of 2024 (talking about the fiscal year 2023). She also asked the mayor why the auditor did not come into city hall to complete the audit as a one-day sit down session as they have done in years passed. The mayor and office staff said the auditor was there for a couple of weeks, but they have not received the audits, yet. Mayor Howard said the auditor had everything he needs to complete the audit, though.
The community member confirmed with Howard that the audits are being completed at this time and there is no non-compliance issue with the audit process, with the mayor and staff agreed with, stating the auditor had not notified them of any issues. Howard also confirmed the fiscal year 2024 audit has not been started because the auditor hadn’t finished 2023. The office staff member also stated the 2022 audit had not been completed under the previous administration until last year.
She also asked the mayor about his statement made in October that the auditor would be releasing the audit in a couple of weeks. Mayor Howard said he had an email stating the audit would be done within that time frame, but it was not, claiming he was given no reason why it was not completed.
David Gardner also addressed the council, asking if the city council agendas and meeting times could be posted on the Salyersville City Hall Facebook page, but Mayor Howard said he would not do that. Gardner also gave a packet of Open Records Requests and responses he had received regarding the bills that have been included in council members’ monthly meeting information as compared to the bills paid out of city accounts. He mentioned possibly appealing a potential lack of response to one of the Open Records Requests to the attorney general, but City Clerk Karen Howard contended she had responded within the timeframe. He also asked the council to reconsider the three-minute time limit for responses.
Mortimer Meda Group is working to confirm the statements made about the status of the city’s audits. Mayor Howard previously stated the city has been awarded grants to pay for grinder pumps and other sewer infrastructure, but the funds are being held until the audits are up to date. A large portion of the current grinder pumps are believed to be in disrepair, causing sewer overflows throughout the system and strong sewer odors emanating from the aging system throughout town. Mayor Howard has said the city’s efforts of pumping the locations not working properly are not enough to keep up with the issues caused by the sewer infrastructure that is not working. The SI will continue to follow this ongoing issue.
