Fire Service Membership Underway For Non-District Residents Outside Bethany

Bethany City Administrator Jake Taylor plans to meet with the Green Hills Regional Planning Commission about providing code enforcement duties for the City of Bethany. The discussion was part of a meeting held Monday night.

Green Hills plans to hire a code enforcement officer to assist towns within their region to write up violations, coordinate with the court system, and maintain records regarding code enforcement. The city would like to reduce the code enforcement duties of current officer Norman Newlin and transfer those duties to the candidate selected by Green Hills. Norman Newlin would remain as the Building Inspector and the Project Manager for the City of Bethany. Taylor told council members that he would anticipate paying Green Hills $20 per hour for the service for an estimated 10 hours each week.

An update was also provided on the plans for the water main construction and the sidewalk project planned for Oakland Avenue. The city is separating the two projects due to  time considerations. The water main construction could start at the end of the month or in June once the water main engineering is completed. The city’s engineer will begin the TAP sidewalk project’s engineering following the water main engineering. Taylor reported the water main project could be done by the end of October to mid-November. The sidewalk work would likely have a construction start of the spring of 2024. A portion of the Oakland Avenue sidewalk will be closed until new TAP project is completed.

The city continues to experience issues with their Wastewater Plant. Variable Frequency Drives, which allow blowers to operate, are kicking off regularly and require an manual restart. The fix has been estimated to cost $86,000. That will need to be considered in the 2024 budget.

The City of Bethany is reminding those residents who do not live in a fire district that the sign-up for Fire Service Memberships continue until May 31st. After June 1st, the city will charge all non-city residents that live in the county and whose home or land is not located in a fire district for fire services. The memberships run through March of 2024. The cost is $50 per year for 10 acres or less and $100 per year for more than 10 acres. Bethany City Hall can answer further questions.