During July’s sparsely attended meeting of the City Commission, Mayor Walter Goode expressed his desire to have more of the city’s residents participate at the meetings, which are held on the second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. at City Hall.
“Every chance I get I try to encourage the other folks to come. ... I encourage (those who have) any complaints ... to come (to the meetings) yourself, sit out there and bring those complaints directly to us,” Goode stated.
Goode spoke on the City Commission’s decision to not join a joint fire-board merger and the interest it sparked within the community.
“We have had numerous calls from people in the area wanting to know where our participation was within the fire board,” he said.
The city of Charleston will remain a volunteer fire department that contracts with Bradley County; this is the process the city has been using for the past three years.
Charleston residents experiencing a fire will have at least one paid fire station from Bradley County respond, as well as a local fire station.
When asked if the city would ever have paid firemen, Goode responded by saying the possibility is there but given budget constraints it is not currently an option.
“We would have to be looking at a whole lot of revenue to run a fire department. We would have to start looking at insurance and all kinds of things like that for a paid department,” responded Goode.
In other business:
- The city’s recreation board has begun planning their annual Halloween party, which will be held the Saturday before Halloween.
- Goode also announced Arch Chemicals is helping the Charleston Historical Society purchase a building to act as heritage center for the city. The heritage center would be a part of the proposed Charleston Greenway project unveiled earlier in the year.
- Representatives from the historical society said the building was a key item in their ability to begin searching for grants for the project.
- The city also recognized S. T. Johnson for his service to the city of Charleston and the community. Johnson was presented a plaque by the mayor for his nine years of service.
