Former Councilman Arthur Dowdell continued his pursuit in questioning Councilman Clemon Byrd about his legal residency in Ward 1 at the City Council meeting Tuesday, Jan. 20.
Byrd defeated Dowdell in the last Council elections for the Ward 1 seat Aug. 26, 2014.
Dowdell has attended previous Council meetings to argue against Byrd. \0x2028"Mr. Byrd knows that we got pictures of an empty house," Dowdell said. "The district attorney is going to investigate you. I need to let you know."
Larry Taylor, resident of Ward 1, also spoke about the issue. He said he was concerned for Byrd and the quality of the house in question.
"I don't want you messed up in a whole bunch of garbage," Taylor said. "If you don't live at that address, there's going to be some problems."
Byrd responded to Taylor by saying he appreciated his concern, but Taylor's attorney should contact Byrd's attorney about the issue as they have been doing.
Byrd said Dowdell and Taylor are two of the main people concerned with the issue of his residency.
"I have no ill-will toward (Dowdell) now," Byrd said. "I never did. He's a citizen of Auburn, and he's allowed to come to the City Council meetings."\0x2028 Byrd said he is waiting to be contacted by the district attorney.
"I'll explain it to him like I've explained it to my attorney and everybody else," Byrd said.
Later in the Council meeting there was a discussion involving the development agreement with Orange-Auburn, LLC, about building a Newk's Eatery at the Heart of Auburn located on College and Gay Street.
Councilwoman Lynda Tremaine, Ward 5, was opposed to the unanimous consent vote that would have been necessary to pass the ordinance for the development at that particular meeting.
Tremaine said she needed more time to learn more about the development.
"I just want to have more time to ask some more questions to find out more about it with the location of it being on Gay Street," Tremaine said. "I don't want to go back and think gosh, we should have questioned that."
Tremaine said after the meeting she got more information about the development, but she still wants to know more about the landscaping and the lighting.
"I got more assurance that it will look better than what I first feared," Tremaine said.
The Council will vote on the development ordinance at the next Council meeting Feb. 3.
Other items that were discussed at the Council meeting:
Approved closing of city streets at Auburn University for the Toomer's Oak tree planting on Feb. 14.
Approved temporary closing of city streets on April 18 for the Auburn Oaks Celebration.
Approved purchase of two mast arm traffic signal poles for $34,168.28 for the Toomer's Corner Project.
Approved purchase of a $744,889 Pierce Velocity Custom 4-door Chassis 75' Quint Ladder Truck for the Public Safety Department-Fire Division.
Approved agreement for Sand Hill Recycling, Inc. 3-year inert construction and demolition waste disposal service.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
