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Proposed Hathaway Homes Project Becomes Contentious Issue at Taylorville Council Tuesday Night

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Tuesday night's Hathaway Homes issue brought out a crowd to the Taylorville City Council meeting.  (Staff photo)

It was a short but contentious Taylorville City Council meeting Tuesday night, due to the President’s Day holiday on Monday.

The Council’s vote on February 4th denying the Planning Commission’s recommendation on allowing Christian County Integrated Community Services, to build a subdivision of single family homes for low income residents behind the VFW on the city’s south side, to be called the Hathaway Homes subdivision, created the discussion for the night.

Officials with C-C-I-C-S indicated to the mayor after the February 4th vote, that there could be consequences to the Council’s “no” vote, because the agency had met all the criteria stated in city code, for the Council to approve the project.

Mayor Brotherton told Regional Radio News after the meeting, that following the conversation with C-C-I-C-S officials, he asked city attorney David Fines to draft a confidential memorandum to council members, outlining the potential risk of a law suit by the agency against the city to get the Hathaway Homes subdivision built.

While the information in that confidential memorandum wasn’t made public Tuesday night, Fines did outline to aldermen that the city could face potential litigation by C-C-I-C-S because they followed all the criteria in proposing the subdivision to the city, and yet were turned down by the Council.

Brotherton said the reason for the initial “no” vote, was that the council felt there was adequate subsidized housing already in Taylorville, and that bringing in additional low income residents would tax resources of both the city and the school district.

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A motion last night to bring the Hathaway Homes subdivision to the full council for another vote, died for the lack of a 2nd, ending the discussion.

Christian County Integrated Community Services executive director Jeff Copley had no comment following the Council’s decision.

The Taylorville City Council Tuesday night passed a number of motions that came from various committees. Aldermen OK’d a tuition reimbursement to assistant fire chief Mike Crews of just over 268-dollars; they OK’d advertising for summer help and a water service technician; and they approved 6 dates for the E-A-A Jabiru Chapter 1315 to hold their fly-in/drive-in breakfasts.

Taylorville alderman Tuesday night passed motions allowing bow turkey hunting at Lake Taylorville for this season only; OK’d the youth turkey hunt at the lake for April 6th and 7th; OK’d a motion to seek bids for sanitation services and cabin cleaning at Lake Taylorville; and bought a truck for the water department at a cost of just over 38-thousand dollars.

 

 

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