Topics covered Tuesday night in Carmi City Council regular session ranged from water meter replacements to meeting dates for 2026 and also toilet stirring to an ordinance surrounding actual toilet use. It was a full thirty-five minutes many were happy to flush at 6:05pm.
To kick things off, council members were led into discussion prompted by Alderman Jack Bradshaw wrangling with meeting dates and times for the upcoming year. He suggested council meetings were getting in the way of his opportunity to drive a school bus.
From November to about March, my Tuesday nights and Friday nights are just whack…no good. I had a chance tonight because we’re shorthanded with the school bus drivers, a possibility an opportunity to drive tonight. I turned it down because I felt like I needed to be here. Are these dates set in stone? I seem to remember a time when we had a different meeting on a Monday night.
Council members for the next ten minutes debated on a better option and instead decided to continue with their normal first and third Tuesday at 5:30pm gathering with Bradshaw the lone no vote.
Council also passed a resolution moving the November and December 2026 shut off dates for utilities to November 30th and December 28th. Disconnection dates are typically the last Wednesday of the month. They have been moved for November and December due to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
Council would also pass a resolution replacing a former ordinance which more clearly states that utility payments must be in hand at the city office by 3pm when offices close and not end of day (11:59:59pm) on the 15th in order to not be considered delinquent.
As the peristalsis of the meeting continued, council turned their attention to and many chuckled their way through an ordinance regarding “domestic waste”. The topic itself necessitated some explanation.
Mayor Stendeback: It’s happened. We’ve written tickets for people that…
Holly Healy: It’s a problem. We are having a problem with it.
Jack Bradshaw: Where is it being used at…where are people…where’s the domestic waste being…
Stendeback: In their front yards for the most part.
Mark Blake: in town…
Tracy Nelson: Peoples front yards?
Stendeback, Lacey Brashaw and Cynthia Attebury: Their own.
Lacey Bradshaw: Because they don’t have water or sewer.
Jack Bradshaw: You’re talking about people?
Many: Yes…laughter.
The council would eventually agree to attempt to legislate squalor out of residents by passing the ordinance which will allow law enforcement to fine “any individual or business caught in violation of the act shall be punished by a fine of no less than $200 and no greater than $2,000 per offense.”
The final agenda item surrounded banning the sale, delivery, and possession of synthetic kratom products within the city limits. Chief Jason Carter explained that kratom has been a problem for some time, but that the FDA has yet to make it illegal and now kids are beginning to use it.
We’re now having kids that are taking kratom because it’s readily available at most convenience stores, over the counter with no age restrictions. Kratom has been used as a derivative; addicts use it when they’re on probation to circumvent drug tests. It causes the same type of issues as opioids do but it’s the synthetic for the most part that’s being sold.
Beyond that, Richard Cook, Jr, who has become a staple at local community government meetings in the county recently took an opportunity to point out procedural issues including the agenda only mentioning a ban on synthetic kratom, but the ordinance language bans synthetic and natural kratom. Cook also took aim at the city for posting meeting minutes and other information prior to formally approving it at meetings and rounded things out by pointing to the exit sign not being illuminated suggesting that meetings shouldn’t be held in council chambers until it’s fixed due to a fire code violation.
Council also fielded a request from resident Nicole Wilburn regarding a flooding issue near her residence in Montgomery Circle. She said she’d been in touch with authorities as far back as last spring and it’s still unresolved. Leaders say it is likely due to a sidewalk caved in over a drainpipe and assured Wilburn they’d address it.
Mayor Stendeback says over the next few months, workers with a city contractor will be finishing a multi-year process of replacing all water meters. About 1,500 remain to be replaced. You may notice a white flag near your water meter and are asked to leave it in place. Once the meter is changed, the flag will be removed.
Also, the mayor says he’s excited to announce the return of a Halloween campout at Burrell Woods. It will be hosted on October 23rd and 24th. The event was last held prior to the CoViD-19 pandemic.