Aldermen OK street closures for Hometown Christmas
Philadelphia aldermen have approved street closures for the Hometown Christmas Event planned for Dec. 1.
“We have to do whatever possible to ensure the safety of our community during this time of celebration,” said Ward 1 Alderman Justin Clearman. “This is the first year for such an event, so there will be a lot of learning on the fly. Regardless, I have a thousand percent confidence in our police department and am excited to see the turnout.”
From about 10 p.m. on Nov. 30 through 10 p.m. Dec. 1, the Police Department will close Center and Byrd Avenues. to make way for food truck vendors arriving the following morning.
The north lane of Main Street will be closed at about 4:30 p.m. before the event begins to make room for those attending the lighting of the Christmas tree.
“We will have officers, cones, and barricades out at that time to assist with the crowd,” said Police Chief Eric Lyons. “We ask the public to be aware of motorists and crossing the street because that one lane will still be open.”
In other actions, the alderman voted unanimously to:
• Approve motion to pay Perry Construction $79,363 for the Booker T ADA Improvement project completed to date.
• Approve the resolution directing the sale of the general obligation bonds not to exceed $420,000 for the new Police Department.
• Approve a motion to move $20,000 from the Cares Act from FFA to put towards a new fuel truck for the airport.
• Approve motion to give Cody Kilgore with the Street Department a $2-an-hour raise.
• Approve motion to pay Auto Trim $2,639 for police vehicle striping out of DFA PD Vehicle Account.
• Approve motion to pay A&B Mechanical $24,300 for work on the new Police Department.
• Approve motion to allow Police Chief Eric Lyons to attend the Chief’s Conference in Oxford from Dec. 11-15 and for the city to pay registration and travel.
• Approve motion to hire Darrius Goss with the Police Department as Patrolman 2nd Class at $17.56 effective Nov. 22.
• Approve the motion to extend the city-wide burn ban until Nov. 21 or until the county’s ban is lifted.
• Approve a motion to adjust the pay of the following part-time as-needed employees to $16 per hour: Scott Coggins, TJ Rushing, and James Stalcup.
• Approve motion to purchase a 2024 2500 Chevy from Tolbert Chevrolet for $64,990 at state contract price reimbursable by the Taskforce Fund.
• Approve motion to give Chief Deric Horne a $2,500 yearly raise and Deputy Chief Bill Chunn a $1,500 yearly raise.
• Approve a motion to initiate paying employees via direct deposit starting March 2024.