Council part 3

Mark Spivey in the Courier and retired Courier reporter Bernice continue with their professional reporting on the Council meeting. I will add some of my "take".

A resolution approving the waiving of city residency requirements for the Public Health officer raised the question why no Plainfielder was offered the position. When it was explained that the individual need a license from the state and no one locally was certified the resolution was accepted for action this Monday.

There was a time when the city's Health Department was a prestigious part of Plainfield's glory days. There was a full service laboratory that could do biological testing as well as chemical. Its services were used by surrounding communities. The Health Board was usually chaired by a physician. Does such a committee (board) exist today, and if so who are its members and what is its function?

The subject of the downtown concerts was on the agenda for an application for funding. Last year the budget was $49,500 plus $500 allocated city expenses. This year the goal is slightly more than half that amount with most of the funding from SID funds and Urban Enterprise Zone Authority. It is believed that the money raised through sponsorships will be insignificant this year. There will be a cut back on the total number of concerts but perhaps an evening one.

The Council will act on a resolution requesting grant monies from the State Department of Human Services, Division of Addiction Services Drug Court Program for the Dudley House i the amount of $302,272.00. The city has not as yet received a licensing certificate needed to reopen the facility. The plan to transfer the operation to an unnamed non-profit is still viable.

In a separate discussion the proposal by the Area Sewer Authority to built in conjunction with the PMUA, a new pumping station on city property adjacent to the little league field and the PMUA facility to replace one which is over aged.

Regarding the 'Boxing Club's" appeal and protest to the Council, it seemed that they have been operating for several years without a notification of a code violation. With the opening of a new private gym facility the timing appeared to be suspicious. As reported the code violation is a serious and dangerous one that should have been corrected years ago. Why was no action taken earlier, if there had been a fire we would have had a disaster on our hands. I hope that funds cold be found to keep this enterprise functioning.