By Meladi Brewer

DailyAdvocate.com

VERSAILLES — The Versailles Village Council met Wednesday to discuss full-time employment, the 2022 electric line clearing project, and discussed changes to the Village of Versailles Zoning Ordinance.

In a matter of new business, the council considered a motion to approve regular, full-time employment status for Mr. Christopher Price as Street Laborer I. Busse spoke up on Price’s behalf stating he has completed his six-month probationary period without any complications.

“Chris Price has been doing a great job. Always has a smile on his face, and he’s always happy to do whatever needs to be done,” Village Administrator Mike Busse said.

Busse stated Price was hired due to his previous experience running equipment and “It’s not that anybody can’t do it, but some guys are better at it than others.”

“We are really happy to have him on board,” Busse added.

The motion to hire Price was approved before moving onto the consideration of a motion to approve regular, full-time employment status of Mr. Ty Meyer as Police Officer, as he has also completed a successful six-month probationary period.

“I spoke to the Police Chief, Josh Bowlin,” Mayor Jeff Subler said. “He said he’s done a great job, and he hasn’t received any complaints or concerns.”

Subler said he concurs with Chief Bowlin — he has not heard any complaints or concerns regarding Mr Meyer, so they wish to motion him into a full-time employment status. A unanimous vote moved the motion forward with an approval.

Moving forward with the agenda, Busse spoke out regarding the motion of consideration to authorize a recommendation from the Tree Commission to approve Fitzwater Tree & Lawn Care to perform the 2022 Electric Clearance Tree Trimming Project.

“The Tree Commission is recommending we move forward with base bid number one of $19,000 and base bid number two of $7,500 for a total of $26,500,” Busse said.

The project is a budgeted item that is done every year to clear the electric lines and hazards. The council has previously discussed replacing the trees in Versailles to smaller, less electric line invasive trees, so there may be a fluctuation in the price in years to come; however, until those trees are replaced there is no way of telling at this time.

Finally, the council discussed a written recommendation from the Planning Commission for proposed text amendments to the Village of Versailles Zoning Ordinance, Section 502 Accessory Uses and Section 517 Residential Design and Appearance Standards.

The proposed amendment is in regard to metal roofing versus shingles within the village limits.

“We felt like our regulations were lacking in specifics,” Busse said. “We also found we currently do not allow metal roofing in town; although, if you look around, you will find there are some pretty nice metal roofs now, so we came up with some language that would allow for specific types of hidden metal roofs.”

Busse continues to tell the council he believes it is going to quickly become the standard over shingles. He proposed they look at it and decide if they are going to allow metal roofing in town or not.

There will be a public hearing on Mar. 23 at 6:50 p.m. for review of the proposed amendments and to take public comments.

The next Versailles Council meeting will take place Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, at 7 p.m., in EMS Building, 320 Baker Road, Versailles.

To contact Daily Advocate Reporter Meladi Brewer, email [email protected].