Auxvasse city supervisor: Plowing continued despite obstacles

Snow removal in wake of last week's blizzard was the main topic of the public works report given at Tuesday night's Auxvasse City Council meeting.

City Supervisor Justin Feger told the council that despite one of the city's maintenance vehicles breaking down, the maintenance workers were still able to clear the streets.

"We did have a lot of people in town who pitched in and helped," Feger said.

Council members told Feger they thought the maintenance crew did well considering the amount of snow that fell.

"I think the roads look pretty awesome," Mayor Kevin Phares said.

City Clerk Missy Hooks said Auxvasse has three vehicles used for snow removal - a backhoe, a dump truck with a snow blade and a maintenance pick-up with a blade. It was the pick-up that broke down during the storm, leaving two vehicles. She said three maintenance members worked 36 hours straight starting Tuesday to clear roads.

"Our main concern was to have at least one lane open on each street so that emergency vehicles would be able to get to a residence if needed," Hooks said.

"We had several citizens in the community who tried to help out in any way that they possibly could whether it was helping with the streets or other citizens' driveways and parking lots. It was much appreciated and great to see the community come together and help out," she said.

Councilwoman Stephanie Leverett suggested the council consider having a building to go to in emergencies if city residents have their power go off for an extended period. Phares agreed it was something the city should look into.

Hooks added that obtaining such a building for emergency use would affect the city's budget.

"Anything we want to do or set or plan is going to consist of spending money," she said.

No public comments were made during the public hearing held before the council meeting Tuesday. The hearing was for the annexation of 1.44 acres of land purchased for a proposed Dollar General store. The owners of the property have requested the land be annexed to the city. The newly appointed planning and zoning commission will meet Feb. 15 to discuss rezoning the property for commercial use.