Long-awaited paving in Red Bank has begun, said Mayor Ruth Jeno, giving credit to City Manager Tim Thornbury for his efforts to get the project underway. The resurfacing will be done on portions of Dayton Boulevard and Morrison Springs Road as well as 22 secondary streets. Building sidewalks along Dayton Boulevard will follow.
An unplanned infrastructure project is also in work.
Emergency repairs are being made to the bridge in the 100 block of Valley View Avenue. Mr. Thornbury said structural failure was found during routine maintenance, likely caused by erosion by Stringer’s Branch that runs underneath it. Structural engineers were brought in and found the bridge to be unsafe for vehicles after which the road was closed and traffic rerouted. Emergency repairs, which are unbudgeted, will soon be made to the bridge with the cost coming from emergency reserves. Authorization was given to the city manager to spend up to $120,000 without going through the bidding process since this is a major point that citizens use to access Dayton Boulevard.
On the second and final reading, an ordinance was passed to reduce the proliferation of pole signs which the commissioners decided create distractions and visual clutter among other negative effects. No new pole signs will be allowed to be installed and the ordinance establishes a plan to gradually phase-out currently existing ones.
The city manager was authorized to apply for and accept a Property Conservation matching grant from Public Entity Partners, the city’s insurer. The grant will provide $2,500 that the city will match. The money is planned for purchasing security cameras at Fire Station #2 on the north end of Red Bank. Mayor Jeno noted that October is Fire Prevention Month.
Mayor Jeno also gave a reminder that there are two churches that distribute food in the city. The Red Bank Food Pantry at Red Bank United Methodist Church will next be open this Thursday from 5-7 p.m. The Red Bank Baptist Church will distribute food from the Farm to Community program Thursday morning from 8 a.m. until noon. Both will be done as drive thrus.
The mayor said that Big Frog Brewing, a Red Bank micro-brewery located at 2122 Dayton Blvd., and its owner, Carter Wexler, have been named an official member of “Adopt a Waterway” for stewardship of the Stringer’s Branch for six years.
The cancellation of this year’s Christmas parade was announced by Mayor Jeno. The COVID numbers are increasing, she said, and the city does not want to be responsible for anyone getting the virus.
Both the regularly scheduled agenda work session and the commission meeting for Nov. 3 have been cancelled because they fall on the day of the coming election.