The Guntersville City Council met for the first time of the new year on Monday night. There wasn’t much on the agenda due to the past Holidays.

Mayor Hembree gave a personnel report that included the possibility of enacting a sick leave bank for city employees. Councilman Sellers suggested this plan to allow employees to share their sick leave with other employees that have extreme circumstances and major health issues. The council plans to continue to look deeper into this plan and hopefully will act on it soon.

The council then called upon Chief Peterson to speak on a major traffic issue concerning Reed Road, Jarmon Road, and Bluff Road. Councilman Myers and Chief Peterson suggested that there is a large volume of traffic buildup on these roads due to the construction of the health department in that area. They hope to slow the volume by making Reed Road into a dead end by adding a cul-de-sac. Councilman Myers suggested the cul-de-sac so that school buses and emergency personnel would have an easier time turning around. Chief Peterson also suggested that the sharp curve on Bluff Road should have the radius of the curve extended. The council also discussed the possibility of adding a center island and turn lane onto Jarmon Road to ease some of the traffic from backing up.

Councilman Whitaker spoke about possibly adding some additional parking to the boat ramp on highway 227. The council wants to discuss this more by looking at some possible grants and other funding in the upcoming year. The council also suggested that hunters should not use the boat ramp as an area to clean or discard their kills.

Councilman Cary suggested that a handicap accessible walkway should be added from the Guntersville Museum to the Public Library. He also spoke of a water drainage problem on Highway 79. The council decided to look into both these issues further.

Mayor Hembree went on to talk about the status of the Downtown Renovation Project. He was excited to get the project back going after halting for the Christmas Holidays. He acknowledged the issues that it is causing downtown but believes that once it is over it will benefit everyone.

Hembree also discussed the growth of the Conner’s Island Industrial Park. The park received a Number Three Designation and he expects this to help the growth in the future. Hembree said he is excited about the number of positive upcoming projects in the near future.

The council has commissioned that the old post office be added to the historical register and they hope that this will bring in some extra funding to restore the building.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday January 19, 2010 due to the Martin Luther King Holiday on Monday.