By TheresaArmstrong

Reporter

tdunn@gcnnewsgazette.com

The Leitchfield City Council agreed Monday to close the William Thomason Byway for four hours on October 12th to support a Walk-a-Thon. 

The council members were asked for support of the statewide event to walk. The goal of the walk-a-thon is to help bring federal grant money to the state to build sidewalks and walking trails.

Carolyn Thomason and Joan Martin presented the council with the request to close the roadway and Transportation Chief District Engineer for the state highway department Patty Dunaway had given approval for the road closure, reported Mayor William Thomason.

The walk will begin at the Grayson County Fair Grounds on October 12th at 2 p.m.

The walk will go down the byway and make a turn at the Salt River Road intersection. It will be a total of three miles to walk the entire 1.4 mile stretch.

Everyone is invited to attend and there will be free entertainment at the fairgrounds after the walk. Many community partners have agreed to support the walk.

The council agreed to support the road closure and provide police for the event.

The council agreed to allow a 9-10 year old traveling fast pitch softball team to use the city softball park but said they could not support the team financially.

Councilman Billy Dallas said that there are other teams in the city that find the funds from outside sponsors and the city could not support them all.

The council heard a complaint from a city resident complaining about ‘the new people’ who moved into the neighborhood.

The new residents are raising gamecocks and the noise is unbearable at times, reported the resident.

The council agreed there was no ordinance to prohibit keeping the birds in the city.

Police Chief Bart Glen told the resident to call the city police when the noise gets out of hand and they will handle it.

The mayor read an email written by Steve Haycraft, asking the council to discuss several issues. Haycraft asked Heiser Drive to be closed permanently. The council agreed that the permanent closure is not an option.

Haycraft, who called the William Thomason Byway, “The Dieway”, stated the road has poor visibility at the intersections of Grayson Springs Road and Salt River Road.

The council discussed the fact that people are not stopping at the stop signs and that is creating a problem on the bypass but no action was taken.

The third issue the email addressed was a smoking ban in public buildings.

The council agreed that most of the city buildings were already smoke free. The police station had been smoke free for about 10 years, according to Glenn.

According to Councilman Jerry Schlosser both firehouses were smoke free facilities. No action was taken on that request.