The Taylorville City Council met in regular session Monday Night at the Taylorville Municipal Building. The issue of an Ordinance that would annex a half acre parcel of land north and adjacent to 110 E. Heights dominated the discussion of the meeting, with discussion on the issue lasting nearly an hour. The issue that arose came from a resident who lives next to the property who has concerns about a project that is currently planned to turn the parcel of land into a parking lot that would exit next to his home should the land be annexed by the council. He stated how that project should it be built as planned would not only lower his property value, but also create a dangerous traffic situation in an area that is already a problem for him due to a fence that sits next to his driveway. Alderman Larry Budd commented on the issue agreeing with the Taylorville resident, and raising his own concerns as to why the project hadn’t been discussed with the council.

Because the parcel of land is less than an acre in size, the city engineer can simply approve or deny certain projects without taking it to the council. More questions were raised however by Alderman Jones as to whether or not City Engineer Joe Greene was aware when he initially approved the project to the concerns that were being brought up in the city council meeting.

The project engineer who was in attendance was asked whether or not they could change the plans of the project so that the parking lot traffic would exit the parking lot at the same entrance it came in at, eliminating the need of a driveway next to the residence’s home. The engineer stated plans could be drawn up, however they had to be submitted within the next two weeks for approval. Alderman Vota suggested a solution.

Ultimately the decision was made to table the discussion on the annexation of the land until the project engineer could speak again with City Engineer Joe Greene about the concerns of the Taylorville resident and the potential redesigning of the planned parking lot.