McGuffey mayor plans to step down in August

McGUFFEY — McGuffey Mayor Gary Conley will be stepping down in August.
Conley announced his decision to council at its Saturday morning meeting. Council President Greg Howard will lead the village after the Aug. 18 council meeting, said Conley. Council doesn’t meet in July.
Conley has served as mayor for 12 years and was on council for eight.
“It’s time for a new face and new ideas,” said Conley of his decision. “Over 20 years as mayor and on council is enough. It’s time.”
Conley thanked the current and past members of council who have worked with him and also thanked Clerk Sandi McKinley for her dedication to the village.
“You’ve been a good mayor,” McKinley told Conley. “It’s not a very thankful job.”
“I’ve tried to do good by the village and I think I have,” said the mayor.
In one of his final meetings, Conley chastised Councilman Robert Spradlin for comments he made during a recent special meeting. At the meeting, council rejected an increase in the garbage rate, which put the village out of the trash-collecting business. When a member of council seconded the motion for the raise, Spradlin called the member a “liar.”
“Everyone is entitled to their vote, but you shouldn’t have called (her) a liar,” scolded Conley. “You owe her an apology.”
Spradlin refused to apologize.
“We need to be professional at our meetings,” said Howard.
Since the village ceased to pick up garbage on June 1, said Conley, most residents have contracted with private haulers and by dropping the service, the village worker has more time to devote to other projects.
“It has been a blessing,” said Conley.
But there are several residents who are not removing their garbage, the mayor noted.
“Some want to let it pile up and take it to the dump themselves,” noted Howard.
“The clean-up committee has to do its job,” said Conley.
Council gave McKinley authority to find a hauler for the village trash.
In other discussion, when council installed water meters in the village, they were placed at residential services. Since then, a business in the community has used an extra amount of treated water from the town. Council agreed Saturday to meter the four businesses in the village and all churches with an effective billing date of Aug. 1.
Council member Peggy Evans was thanked by council for organizing the recent visit by the HOBY program, which brought several teenage workers to the village to perform tasks such as painting and maintenance to properties.

By DAN ROBINSON
Times staff writer

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Posted by Kenton Times on June 18, 2012. Filed under Local News,Recent Headlines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry