Several Bourbon residents attended the town meeting Tuesday evening to share their concerns.
Alvin Chupp had appeared before the council in June to seek permission to resurface an alley behind his house at 606 North Harris Street so that he could have an entrance to a garage that he is erecting. Chupp said the alley is overgrown with grass and he wants to take up several inches of sod and lay down limestone. He indicated that he would assume all cost for the project. During the June meeting, the council asked Chupp to speak with his neighbors and return to the July meeting.
Chupp presented signatures from four of his five neighbors during the July meeting. The fifth neighbor, Tamar Dominique, attended the meeting and expressed the reasons for her opposition. She said she bought a property with a backyard and didn’t want traffic going through, her grandchildren play in the area, she has registered dogs that could be more likely to be taken, and other security concerns.
Bourbon Council President J. Hanley said it is technically an alley that everyone could use and that Chupp is only asking to improve it. Both council members Larry Wattenbarger and Les McFarland said they wanted to look at the alley before making a decision. Hanley made a motion to approve Chupp’s request, but it died from lack of a second.
Resident Kenn Workman told the council that he is disabled and spoke to his opinion that the town needs more parking signage to designate parking in the downtown area and the baseball fields. He also spoke to the disregard by people using golf carts in the areas marked no motorized vehicles. The council took no action, however, his concerns will be noted in the meeting minutes.
There was also some discussion among the Bourbon Town Council members and Bill Keyser form the Zoning Department, on revising a Town Park Board. Keyser indicated that state grants applications for park projects are available for towns with park boards.
Bourbon did have a park board from 1978 to 1983. It remains unclear why it was dissolved. The council did vote in favor of forming a park board; however, no other details were confirmed.
Carol Anders Correspondent
