Sharon Makes Changes to Comp Time, City Mowing

By Jasmine Williams

enterprise@dresdenenterprise.com

The city of Sharon held its monthly board meeting at the senior community center on Monday, May 11 with discussions concerning comp time and city mowing.

Greg Evans came to the board about comp time. At the time of the meeting, Sharon allowed a limit of 80 hours for comp time to all city workers. Evans said that with Covid-19 and some workers being sick that he has already accumulated his 80 hours of comp time and that he is still having to work overtime since there has recently been a shortage of staff members. Evans told that with the Covid-19 he is not sure when things will return to normal with having jail trusties back to work. The board said that since this is a special occasion of a national pandemic, the city has voided the limit of comp time for city workers. The board also agreed to revisit the issue of comp time each month until the pandemic is over and it will resume with 80 hours as the board sees fit.

Greg Evans gave his report to the board concerning water and sewer plus concerns over mowing. With the lack of jail trusties, the city cannot continue to mow as needed. The city mows city-owned and some non-city-owned areas to keep the city looks nice. The board discussed wanting to maintain the grass around railroad tracks especially those around Main Street. There were talks about sending letters or notices on water bills to the city citizens about changes with mowing non-city ditches. Mayor Monroe suggested Greg Evans compile a list of unkept properties and those who are known to not care for their ditch. The owners of those properties could receive specific letters about mowing their ditches in the coming months.

Fire Chief Gary Eddings reported to the city about his hopes to have an improved ISO rating with the cities’ recent flushing of fire hydrants and painting. Eddings also reported Sharon, which recently applied for a grant for new firefighter turnout gear, was a few points short of receiving the grant. He said he will apply again next year if the grant is available then.

Sharon City Park is presently closed with no date when summer activities can resume because of the pandemic.

Sharon’s new police chief Troy Withworth reported that the city is advertising for a certified police officer for the city.

In other news, the senior center has permission to update portions of the kitchen, which will be completed at a later date.

A rough draft of the 2020-21 budget was presented to the board. The first budget meeting for Sharon will be held with all department heads present and be in the coming weeks.

The board also looked at the Governor’s Local Government Support Grants which can be completed and given to the state now until April 30, 2021. Under this grant, the city of Sharon is allocated $50,259. Some things that can be done with this grant are IT upgrades, road maintenance, and public safety projects.

The city of Sharon’s city hall is now in the old clinic located at the corner of Mill Street and S. Highway Ave. The board brainstormed ideas of what to do with the old city hall building. It was discussed of renting or selling the building and also auctioning items currently in the building that the city will not need, such as desks. It was also mentioned the building could be used for storage for the city but no dissension was made on Monday night’s meeting.

The board also approve the March minutes since there was not a board meeting in April.

Sharon’s board next monthly board meeting is Monday, June 11.