LEITCHFIELD -- The first March meeting of the Leitchfield City Council opened with the introduction of local Boy Scout Troop 135. They attended to observe the workings of city government as they are working towards a government related merit badge.

Leitchfield Mayor William H. Thomason and councilman Kelly Stevenson spoke of their bygone days in Troop 135. "It was way back in the 1950s," said Thomason. The pair remembered the late Paul Miller was the Scout leader at that time. Thomason asked present Scout Leader Patty Dudgeon what rank scouts were in attendance. She replied that most of those at the meeting were new to scouting, but, there were four Eagle Scouts in the group with one other young man working on his Eagle Scout rank.

With the Scouts recognized the council moved on to other business. The first was the second reading of a rezoning request for property located at 1108 through 1110 Brandenburg Road on the north side of the city. The property, owned by Marty Higdon, is presently zoned residential and the requested change would put it in highway business. The second reading was approved and the change will now go into effect, said attorney Kenneth Smart.

A second reading of another ordinance was then held. It pertained to an amended pay scale for City employees. The scale would be in effect for the next three years, said City Clerk Kerry White. It assigns minimum and maximum pay ranges for each job description on the City's payroll. Councilman Steve Dennison asked why some jobs changed quite a bit and others remained unchanged. The answer he received was the jobs remaining at the same rate of pay had no one nearing the upper reaches of the scale in the next three years. The jobs with change had workers already at or near the top end of the scale and no change would prevent them from receiving raises in the future as they would be capped out.

The annual code supplement ordinance was also passed by the council. It deals with the review of ordinances passed last year and the placement of them into the city's official code book. It was asked if the party responsible for the updates also checked for redundant ordinances and mistakes in the writing of the ordinances. White answered the company supposedly reviewed legal aspects of the ordinances, but he did not know if they looked for anything else. He stated he would find out.

When old business was brought up, councilman Jim Blain said he had received complaints that parking in the street along Kegley Drive was still a problem. "Residents are still having problems getting through because of cars parked in the street," stated Blain. The question of a possible restroom facility at the newly revamped DeWitt Park was then brought up. It was explained that the cost of year-round upkeep and the possibility of vandalism had kept the matter from receiving much attention. "We already have to keep someone at Beville Park all the time because of vandals and for maintenance," stated Mayor Thomason. "What about a porta-potti," asked another council member. Most of the council present at the meeting agreed that was a good idea. It discussed a possible screen of some sort to hide the facility from public view so it would not detract from the aesthetics of DeWitt Park. Mayor Thomason said that he would have the situation looked into further.

Councilman Wales Montgomery said Rough River Lake was as low as he had ever seen it. He was concerned that the low water levels would affect water supplies to the City. "It looks like its at an all time low," stated Montgomery.

The mayor then announced a Pet Walk-A-Thon was set to be held at Beville Park on Saturday, May 11th. Manuela Mattingly, of Twin Lakes Animal Hospital, was in charge of the event