By: Jeremy Handel, Staff Writer
The Woodruff City Council unanimously approved the proposed budget for the fiscal year 2022-2023, which totals just more than $4 million, and moved forward an item to add industrial development to the city’s planned development zoning category at their June 28 meeting.
City Manager Lee Bailey provided a brief overview of the proposed budget for the second reading of the item. Highlights in the budget include the purchase of three new police cars and the addition of a new police officer position, the addition of a new sewer employee, and a four percent cost-of-living increase for city employees.
Bailey said the additional resources for the police department and sewer department are important to maintain safety in the city during a time of expected growth. He indicated that the budget does not have a tax increase and feels it’s a fairly conservative budget.
“I’m comfortable with the budget,” Bailey told the Council. “It does address some needs we’ve had for the past few years with the police department.”
Mayor Kenneth Gist praised Bailey and staff for their work on the budget before the Council’s approval vote.
In other business, the Council also approved the first reading of an ordinance to add commercial and industrial development to the city’s planned development zoning designation. When the designation was created, it was designed to allow residential and commercial mixed-use, allowing for housing developments with retail and commercial elements without having to get two separate zoning approvals.
With the proposed change, which was spurred by a development request for a commercial and industrial mix, the planned development designation will allow for the same single application for zoning for a development mixing commercial and industrial development. Bailey emphasized that the addition does not allow the mixture of industrial and residential without a commercial element, and the industrial options for planned development requests will have other limitations to ensure it does not impact the residential portion.
The Council also passed the second reading of an ordinance to revise the city’s conditional use permit ordinance to comply with state law. The discrepancy was discovered by a staff audit of various zoning ordinances, and a new language was added to bring the city within compliance.
During the opening of the meeting, Debbie Davis, owner of the Yellow Butterfly in downtown Woodruff, addressed the council regarding parking. She requested the city look into limiting parking in the downtown area to one or two hours. Davis told the council that people are taking up parking spots in front of her business all day and it’s deterring customers from coming in due to the lack of parking near her business. Bailey indicated that the city would look into the issue and get back to Davis with their findings.
City Council meetings are held on the last Tuesday of each month at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall. The meetings are open to the public, and the next meeting will be held on July 26.
Author: Tracy Sanders
