Tuesday night was the first City Council meeting without Mayor Bill Stendeback, who served in the position for 517 days.
To start the meeting, City Attorney Greg Stewart asked the council board members to vote for a Pro Tem Mayor for the night’s meeting; the vote was unanimous for Doug Hays.
Hays then moved quickly and announced that the previously scheduled special meeting for Wednesday afternoon had been moved to another day. On October 13 at 9 am, city council members will select an interim mayor to serve the remainder of Stendeback’s term, which runs until April 2027. Citizens interested in running for Mayor of Carmi can pick up a packet once it becomes available. Hays explained the reason for the reschedule: a special meeting can be called only by the mayor or by three aldermen. The original meeting did not meet either standard, so it was moved properly.
During public comments, Hays asked,
“So I am going to respectfully ask that this section of the meeting be as it is stated, business and comments. Anybody is welcome to speak. If you have a comment to make regarding anything on the agenda or something in town, uh, we will listen to comments. Um, but I am afraid that questions are just not gonna be feasible tonight, as, just gonna be blunt, in this transmission period, there is not really anoyone, I think, qualified to answer very many questions right now.”
Landon Rudolph approached the podium,
“I get you’re in an interm period and I respect that, but questions haven’t been respected thie entire time even when you weren’t, so I’m going to proceed as I have before.”
Rudolph then asked whether Stendeback’s resignation was legal, then moved to City Clerk Cynthia Attebury.
Rudolph: “Mrs. Attebury, your filings show a 50% ownership in Professional Auto Parts. Were there any conflict of interest exceptions the city relied on for at least $197,000 in city payments to that business?”Attebury: “Absolutely there were. They’re filed at the, at the county.”Rudolph: “At the county clerk’s office?”Attebury: “They sure are.”Rudolph: “You’re not talking about the economic statement of interest are you? I’m talking about the actual conflict of interest exceptions.”Attebury: “Whatever I was required to file.”
Chula Fleming then asked the board, again, to look into microphones so residents attending meetings can hear better.
Moving on to the only agenda item, alley closures for Corn Day. The board approved closing the alley behind Danny’s Pool Room and the Elks from 6:00 pm Thursday, October 8, until 11:59 pm on Saturday, October 10. The alley by Webb Hay House will close earlier for Farm to Table on Thursday and will be closed from 7:00 am on Thursday, October 8, until the same time on Saturday.
City Supervisor Brad Attebury provided updates on the projects underway in Carmi. The Sycamore Street project is still ongoing, with road closures continuing into next week; updates will be given. The digester at the sewer plant and the air lines are finished, and vibration testing on the motors will begin. Engine 7 passed testing; they are waiting on reports from Engines 9 and 10; concrete pads have been poured for the skate park; the east water tank’s yearly inspection was last Friday; and Route 1 will close at 3:00 pm on Friday, October 9.
Alderman Jack Bradshaw shared news from the standing committee: donations are still being accepted for the water slide at the Carmi Municipal Pool. They are still on track to have it operational by the next summer season.
Alderman Jeremy Courson gave a shoutout to the Junior High Softball team who competed in State. Good job, ladies!
With no other reports, City Council adjourned. Their next meeting will be on October 13 to select an Interim Mayor.