VIENNA — After months of waiting, the Vienna City Council approved the additions to the city’s mobile home ordinance during business at the council’s March meeting.

City Attorney Ross Bush was present at the council’s meeting. He said along with the ordinance, the application process involves five forms, but he does not have those ready yet. However, Bush said if the council approves the ordinance that night, he will put the applications together to be ready “for the first one out of the shoot.” He said the council can pass the ordinance without the forms being ready to go.

Mayor Tyler “TC” James said they’ve talked about the forms and what they should include. 

City Clerk Carrie Roberds told the council members she received a phone call about starting the process with a mobile home placement application. South Ward Alderwoman Brenda Davis said she was asked about placing a mobile home in the city and she counseled them to wait until the mobile home ordinance passed. “They understand and are waiting on us,” she said.

Mayor James said he thinks they should pass it that night, and work on the application. Davis said the council does not want the application to be too complicated. The mayor asked how they would go about starting the process without an application. Davis said the ordinance states approval of the application form. 

North Ward Alderwoman Reva Hutchison said it’s not uncommon to pass a bill without the application, but she things the application needs to be done quickly.

Roberds said she informed the caller the mobile home ordinance was on the March council agenda. She thinks they will contact her soon about starting the application process.

Davis said the application creation “will not be cumbersome,” adding the people in question want to place a new, different trailer in the city. 

Davis said she thinks the council should proceed and pass the mobile home ordinance as it won’t change with or without the application. She made a motion to read it aloud entirely, which she did, and then to read it by title only, which she did. There was a second to the motion and the council approved the updated mobile home ordinance. 

The updated ordnance allow all presently existing mobile homes to continue to have the right to be there at their present location. It is unlawful for anyone to locate a mobile home in the city without first securing a permit from the board of aldermen. They must file a written application with an affidavit. A permit will not be issued until after a public hearing about the mobile home’s placement in Vienna has been held. This gives citizens of Vienna the opportunity to be heard about the mobile home’s placement. At least 15 days notice is needed and notice of the meeting will be published in the local newspaper for two weeks with the last publication at least seven days prior to the hearing. The application includes a deposit of money sufficient to pay the estimated cost of the newspaper publication and any excess will be refunded to the applicant. Persons may apply for expedited review of an application including the waiver of publication and notice if it an emergency replacement of an existing mobile home. The city council then may by majority vote, waive the publication process and notice process and approve or disapprove the application. 

In other business at the March Vienna City Council meeting:

• Mayor James said Clerk Roberds is working with Penny Schoene of Vienna, on fine-tuning the financial software system. After tax season, Schoene said she will come to a meeting and talk to the city council about it. 

• The city is working with Mike Distler of Meta to set up and get the city’s website online. The domaine name costs $12 a month. Mayor James said Distler will work with Clerk Roberds to set it up. 

Davis said it’s not hard to do. James said he understands but they talked about putting the ballfields schedules on the website and that part may be harder. Roberds said they can use Google Calendar. Davis said the Vienna Chamber of Commerce will do a link to the city’s website. Roberds said they are transitioning and will get there.

• Clerk Roberds reported it was a “challenge” switching over the credit card the city used to use. Instead of the old one, she applied to a credit card from The Maries County Bank with it referenced as a city credit card instead of the previous business card reference. She has completed the application and asked for the council’s approval. The previous credit card already has been cancelled. The council approved the new card.

• Clerk Roberds reported a date has been set of April 20 for a special recognition ceremony for the Vienna High School Softball Eagles as the team won the 1A State Championship in the fall of 2020. She didn’t have any other details except it will be held in the VHS Gym. James said they talked about doing something when the team captured the state softball title. Davis said, “We need to recognize them. It’s a big deal.”

• The council members discussed when they will begin working on the 2021-2022 fiscal year budget. The city’s current fiscal year ends June 30, 2021. James suggested they begin the process in May as its close to the end of the fiscal year and the numbers are “more solid.” 

• Davis asked if the city has experienced problems with the postal service. Roberds said she’s had some reports of city residents not receiving their water bills, but they were not returned to city hall. Davis said the slowness of the postal service needs to be taken into account when they do a mailing. 

• The council did not go into executive session as planned because the closed session part of the meeting was not advertised properly. Executive session posting has to be for a specific reason and the public needs to know what the reason is.