Florence City Council January 14

Agenda Point Three: Roll Call. All City Council were present with the exception of Councilman David Osborne, who passed away January 10, 2025. A short eulogy given by Mayor Aubuchon was very kind and fitting for the councilman.  Mayor Aubuchon stated she felt she could not put into words anything good enough to honor Councilman Osborne.

Agenda Point Four: the meeting notes were approved 5-0 with little or no debate.

Agenda Point Five: School Board Recognition Month was recognized by the Council, and Mayor Aubuchon presented a thank-you plaque/certificate to a representative of the Boone County School Board.

Agenda Point Six: authorizing Mayor Aubuchon to execute negotiations, operations, and maintenance of a new traffic signal system. This system will interpret traffic movement from Ewing to Mount Zion and is advertised as a system reactive to traffic patterns. It also will respond to emergency vehicle movement to facilitate ease of movement when such vehicles are needed.

Mayor Aubuchon asked if there were any last points of business anyone wished to cover. Councilwoman Chambers brought up social media and public concern for the lack of enforcement on parked cars during winter emergencies in the city. Florence Police Chief Jeff Mallery explained that when a complaint is received from the city about snow removal due to blocked streets, they respond and do their best to have the vehicle moved without resorting to towing and/or a fine.  Councilwoman Chambers mentioned there was quite a bit of public concern about cars needing to be moved. Chief Mallery stated he simply did not have the resources due to all the other calls across the city due to such emergencies.

Mayor Aubuchon asked if there were any points the gallery wished to address. Jim Leach went forward and explained the parking problems in his neighborhood and the issues with cars parking backwards, snow removal, and car parking ordinances. Of the seven good parking spaces on Mr. Leach’s street, six are always taken by cars ignoring the city parking ordinance; the parking is at its worst on weekends. Mr. Leach shared a phone video of parking problems; Lieutenant Jason Reed and Councilwoman Chambers expressed interest.