Sturgis City Council last night took action on a request by the Fraternal Order of Police to rent a building, the sale of a plot of land owned by the city, and the appointment of code enforcement officer.
Sturgis Acting Police Chief Eric McCallister informed council members the F.O.P., made up of three counties, would like to rent the Odd Fellows Lodge. He added they would do all the labor to make repairs to the building, free of charge.
After a brief discussion, council members unanimously approved the request. Mayor Mike Hardesty will be attending a F.O.P. meeting Wednesday night to negotiate a rental price and finalize a rental agreement.
Mayor Hardesty also brought before council a parcel of land owned by the City that he would like to sale.
He stated the resident next to the property wants to buy the plot, but the City has to declare is surplus before they can move forward. Council members unanimously approved designating the plot of land as surplus and for Mayor Hardesty to move forward with the sale of the property to the highest evaluated bid with council having the right to reject any bids.
In other action, council members discussed the Occupational License ordinance after Councilman Pete Brown brought up the issue to Mayor Hardesty.
After some discussion, before going further regarding amending the Occupation License ordinance it was decided to allow City Attorney Ben Leonard to review it and present the ordinance at the next meeting.
In other business, Mayor Hardesty informed council members they are making progress on code enforcement and suggested appointing Sturgis Fire Department Chief Chad Cullen as the Code Enforcement Officer.
Council members unanimously approved the mayor’s suggestion.
Councilman and Alcohol Beverage Control Administrator Doug Rodgers provided council with an update regarding the sale of alcohol at local businesses.
The next regularly scheduled Sturgis City Council meeting will be Monday evening, March 7, 2016 at 6:00.