Chris Jones: Greene Publishing, Inc.
On Thursday, Mar. 16, at a special session combining its normally scheduled town meeting and the election of mayor and vice-mayor, Council members re-elected Calvin Malone as mayor and elected Brandi Seabrooks as vice-mayor. Previous Vice-Mayor Kovacherich Arnold was not present at the meeting, but called in on the Town Hall telephone. Malone was nominated by Council member Seabrooks, and Arnold seconded. The vote passed three to two. Seabrooks was nominated by Arnold, she seconded the motion, and the vote passed three to two.
A concerned citizen highlighted the fact that the town is short-handed regarding public works laborers. Town Manager Jim McCroskey responded by saying “...we've been advertising for a part-time person, and we've received no applications.” Other council members made recommendations to the Town Manager to continue advertising the available position in places such as CareerSource North Florida and local newspapers.
Another citizen, Brittni Brown, asked the council about the recent ordinance 2017- 240, which did not pass, that would put the Town of Greenville's election cycle in line with the rest of Madison County. The council agreed that by re-aligning their election dates via a charter amendment, a great deal of money would be saved on the printing of ballots.
A third Citizen, Pradeep Patel, who owns H&R Grocers, located at 1809 SW Main St. in Greenville, accused Town Manager McCroskey of threatening him in front of his son, saying he would go to jail if he did not rectify an issue involving a dumpster which is in disrepair, that the Town of Greenville empties as part of their billed services. Town Manager McCroskey denounced the accusation, saying that it was untrue. Public works employees noted that several town-owned dumpsters have had to be fixed, at an expense of $600 each, due to not sitting on concrete slabs. This causes the dumpsters to rust. Mayor Malone stated that the Town would be re-assessing its fees related to the emptying of dumpsters.
Finally, the consent agenda items were accepted, and the first reading of ordinance 2017-244, the moratorium restricting the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries, was heard. Similar ordinances have been presented in Madison County and the incorporated areas within it.