The Kingston Town Council conducted their monthly meeting on January 14 at the Town Hall building. After handling the house keeping items like approving the minutes and the purchase orders, and covering a few other items, the council convened to an executive session to discuss and take action on the possibility of promoting Officer Mike Pierce to Sergeant. Once they reentered into the meeting, the council voted and Officer Mike Pierce is now Sergeant Pierce.
One of the other agenda items that the council voted on was deciding whether or not to tie in the water line on Marshall to the main line. Resident Richard Taylor approached the podium to discuss the agenda item. “I have asked the council for years to attach to the water line, and I was always told there was no money.” Taylor even offered to pay for his water line to be tied in. Once the council found out that the 22 or so houses in that area were getting ready to receive new water meters, it made sense to tie in to the main line while the change was being made.
The ladies from the Eastern Star 289 approached the council after the waterline issue was approved. The organization will be taking over previously dechartered Masonic Lodge. The ladies thanked the council for allowing them to use the room in the community building, and introduced the council to a gentleman who was interested in renting the soon to be vacant room.
The council also had to decide if purchasing a wood chipper would be a feasible purchase for the town. Currently, the town is using a borrowed one, and the opportunity to buy the one on loan fell into the town’s proverbial lap. The purchasing price for the wood chipper is $14,000. However, to buy a new one is more than triple that amount. After much deliberation, the council approved the purchase of the wood chipper only if the Streets and Alleyways, Parks and Cemetery, and Water and Sewer Departments split the cost 60/20/20 respectively.