SCOTT CITY RECEIVES COMPLAINTS ON TRAINS

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City's mayor is unhappy with a parking problem in one area of the city and plans to authorize the police to begin writing tickets if it isn't resolved.

That is a big chore considering the vehicles are Union Pacific railroad trains.

Complaints from citizens and the police department about trains blocking the intersections of three streets into the south end of Scott City were discussed Monday night at the council meeting. Mayor Jerry Cummins asked council member Cindy Uhrhan to meet with a Union Pacific representative to work out the problem.

"If you don't get satisfaction then I'm going to instruct the police department to start writing tickets," Cummins said.

The city has an ordinance prohibiting trains from blocking the intersections for more than five minutes, Uhrhan said. Public Works director John Rogers said he had heard of a train blocking the intersections for more than an hour and a half.

In other council business:

-- Scott Amick of Amick-Burnett Funeral Home met with the council prior to the meeting to express his concerns over a proposal that would limit the kinds of headstones that would be placed in the new section of the cemetery. The section has not been opened for purchase and the proposal would not affect any other area of the cemetery.

Council member Rodney Holloway had suggested limiting memorials in that section to flat bronze plaques that would be easier to maintain.

Amick said even flat plaques present lawn maintenance problems. He said he doesn't see a clear advantage to limiting the selection of memorials and thinks the city should not mandate what kind of headstones the public can buy.

The city also received a $12,250 appraisal on the cost of paving the remaining streets in the cemetery. The project can be broken up into individual streets if the city can't afford the entire project at one time.

-- The council bought a $3,000 forklift for the recycling center.

-- The Rev. Randy Morris plans to paint the caboose on Main Street Saturday. The restoration of the tourist attraction is scheduled to be completed by the Sept. 6 Railroad Day Celebration.