Last Thursday was the regular monthly session of the Joshua City Council. In the days leading up to the meeting rumors circulated about the possibility of hundreds of people showing up in opposition and support of the Renegade Club opening in the city. In case you haven't heard, it's a private club currently undergoing renovation. The opening date is not yet set as far as I know. It has become quite a heated debate for many Joshua residents since alcoholic beverages will be served if the owners application is approved by the TABC.
We ended up with about 75 people in attendance on the issue from what I could tell and just 13 addressed the council. Both sides of the position were very respectful and orderly which was nice to see. I'm about as big a fan of addressing our elected leaders and petitioning our government as you will find so I felt bad for everyone that, unfortunately, action they would like to see is outside the authority of the city council and any changes that we could make to zoning in the future would not affect the current situation.
In other business the opening day for the new Joshua city park "Splash Pad" will be Friday, May 20th. I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of kids out there this summer!
The city will be holding several public meetings on upcoming drainage projects in the city over the next few months. More details on those dates and places as it nears. This is related to the bond package that passed in 2009.
Mayor Hollarn proclaimed April as "Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month". In attendance to receive the certificate was Johnson County Sheriff Bob Alford who works closely with the Johnson County Child Advocacy Center.
The council accepted two resignations from our Planning & Zoning Board. If you would like to get involved with the city this is a great board to serve on. Please contact city hall for an application.
The council approved a gas well drilling application from Chesapeake Energy for the East Allen 3H well. Last month the council tabled the application until pending ordinance issues were taken care of by Chesapeake on existing well sites in the city. Chesapeake moved quickly and corrected all noted issues.
The council approved a change to the Cooper Valley subdivision concept plan.
The council awarded a street project contract to Reliable Paving for phase three of our 2009 bond package street repairs in the city. This is actually an additional phase of work being performed with savings from the originally planned work in the bond. Market conditions allowed for lower cost repairs to the streets noted in the bond so a great many more residents will now enjoy new street surfaces.
The council approved cancellation of our local May municipal election since the two city council seats up for election were unopposed. Although the two gentlemen serving in those positions are great assets to the city I wish we would find more citizens interested in local government to bring more discussion and excitement to the election process.
A.J.
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