By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Speed humps caused a bumpy discussion pre-adjournment at the December meeting of the Rutledge City Council.

At the November meeting Rutledge resident Neil Fitzgerald pointed out that the speed humps are reflective and therefore easy to see at night. During the day is another story: he said the speed humps look like shadows in some places. Fitzgerald shared his concerns that a driver might hit a speed hump and cause damage to their vehicle, thus posing a liability to the city.

Speed humps were not on the December agenda, though. Mayor Spencer Knight said they had discussed Fitzgerald’s idea of painting the speed humps yellow to make them more visible during the day. He then told Fitzgerald that they would discuss his idea again when it was time to repaint the speed humps.

When Fitzgerald asked what the council had learned regarding the legalities involved in painting the humps, Knight read from the Federal Highway Administration Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

“If used, speed hump markings shall be a series of white markings placed on the speed hump to identify its location,” he read.  

“Without going into it further, that’s it,” he said. “We ain’t discussing it. We’ll discuss it when we’re going to paint it.”

During the meeting council voted to purchased a 1994 Ford Ranger with 95,000 miles for $3,800 from Rutledge resident Keith Rex.

The city had maintenance records from TK Auto, the company that did all the maintenance work on it while it was Rex’s truck.

City Clerk Debbie Rutherford shared that in the past 18 months they have spent $2,655 to have the current truck worked on and over $6,000 to put gas in it.

Council member Brenda Thompson said that the city’s current truck is “old as Methuselah.”

“We definitely need one,” she said.

Knight said they could use that truck for reading and checking meters. He pointed out that they had budgeted for it.

“The white truck has served its purpose,” he said. “It’s at least 10 years old.”

As to the city’s personnel matters, Rutherford shared that their insurance company requested the city write up three new policies for city employees. Council members will look over the “Seat Belt Usage Policy,” “Good Driver Policy,” and “Internet, Electronic Communications, and Social Networking Policy” and discuss them at their next meeting.

In other news:
* Knight said that the city will flush its fire hydrants Jan. 2, 3, and 4. During that time residents may have low water pressure or have white water.
* Their January meeting has been moved to Jan. 22 so as not to conflict with the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday on Jan. 21.

Printed in the December 27, 2012 edition