JACKSON TAKES ISSUE WITH EASEMENT ENCROACHMENT

JACKSON -- Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. will be hearing from Jackson's city attorney and engineer soon.

The city wants to know why the company built a 15-foot-long concrete pad across the city's 15-foot-wide utility easement directly over a water main in a residential area of Otto Drive and Charlotte Court, which is near Old Cape Road.

The matter was brought up by Alderman Paul Sander during a Board of Aldermen meeting Monday night.

Sander said the adjoining property owners, Gene Morris and Richard Sauer, told him of it after complaining unsuccessfully to the telephone company about the concrete pad, which will be used to mount a structure housing telephone switching equipment.

"It looks like a miniature billboard," said Sander. " And they apparently plan to put similar structures like these in a lot of other places around town."

Sander said the property owners are upset over where the pad is.

"They offered to let the phone company put the structure on a corner line of their property so it would not be setting in the middle of their back yards, but I understand the telephone company refused," he said.

Sander said he also was concerned that the telephone company did not get a building permit for the structure. "There was no interaction with the city at all on this," he said.

Acting City Engineer Rich Bowen told the board that as far as he's concerned the switching box is a structure and not a buried or overhead cable. Bowen said the utility easement is for overhead or buried cables and pipes, not for building structures.

Sander said the city owns the easement and has the prerogative to authorize other utilities to use the easement.

He said the pad and structure must be moved. "The one they have put up needs to be moved, and we need to have some input from the phone company on where they plan to put the others," said Sander.

The board told the city attorney and the city engineer to instruct Southwestern Bell not to build any more of the structures until the issue is resolved. They will report back to the board at its May 20 meeting.

The board likely will vote May 20 on an ordinance to raise pay of aldermen and the mayor by $25 a month. Aldermen now get $50 per month and the mayor $100.

Outgoing Alderman Leonard Dambach, who was defeated by Valeria Tuschhoff, made his last motion as alderman to draw up the ordinance for the pay increase.

It was approved on a 5-3 voice vote, with Aldermen Lee Roy Brown, Dambach, Glenn Oldham, Phil Johnston and Jack Piepenbrok voting yes and Sander and Aldermen Kevin Sawyer and David Ludwig voting no.

The board asked the city attorney to research city and state statutes on the pay increase proposal since anyone who votes for the pay increase cannot benefit from it during the term in office in which it is passed.

City Administrator Carl Talley gave Mayor Carlton Meyer petitions with 2,411 names asking that stoplights be placed at the intersection of Donna Drive and East Jackson Boulevard.

The board also authorized partial payments to contractors on several projects now under way. A payment of $39,112.45 was approved for Dutch Enterprises for work on the East Jackson Boulevard sewer line.

A $22,950 payment was approved for Mark Skinner Inc. of Jackson for work on the East Jackson Boulevard water line, which is now well over 50 percent complete.

A partial payment of $9,065.02 was approved for J.W. Givens Construction for work on Jackson Trail. Bowen said he is "looking forward to a pretty rapid completion of the project, weather permitting."

The board also approved 1991 swimming pool regulations, with no increase in the admission price.

The city administrator said an increase is "dearly needed;" an operating deficit at the pool grows larger each year. However, Talley said it would take voter approval under the Hancock Amendment to increase the admission price. He said the city will continue to subsidize the pool operation.

After adjourning for 10 minutes, the board reconvened for the swearing-in of the mayor, City Collector Beverly Nelson, Ward 3 Alderwoman Tuschhoff, Ward 1 Alderman Sander, Ward 2 Alderman Sawyer, and Ward 4 Alderman Piepenbrok.

Sawyer and Piepenbrok had no opposition in the April election.