Washington County Enterprise-Leader
Lincoln Council Appoints McBride
LINCOLN — Lincoln City Council last week accepted the resignation of Ward 4, Position 1 council member Doyle Dixon and voted to appoint David McBride to fill the vacancy.
McBride, who is retired pastor of The Sanctuary in Lincoln, was sworn into office after the
March 16 meeting.
The council approved a resolution that spelled out the circumstances for the vacancy.
Dixon did not seek re-election in the November general election, but Archie Ackley ran unopposed for the office. Ackley was elected to the position but did not take the oath of office as required by state law and was not certified as a member of the council.
At the time, Ackley told Mayor Doug Hutchens that he decided not to serve because he was thinking about moving out of the city limits.
By law, that meant Dixon would continue to serve in the position as the incumbent until a successor was elected and qualified, according to the resolution.
Dixon, however, submitted a letter of resignation to the mayor and the city council on Feb. 21.
Hutchens said that for all his years on the council and as mayor, this is the first time the city has encountered this situation.
After the meeting, McBride, who retired as pastor on March 1, 2020, and now has the title Bishop, said he has been “convicted” to put a little more time and effort into serving the city.
He lives in Ward 4 and said he called the mayor to express his interest in the position.
“Anything I can do to help the city,” McBride said, who will be serving in his first public position.
McBride served The Sanctuary for 31 years. In addition to serving
as a pastor, McBride is an artist and also worked as a brakeman and conductor for the Frisco Railroad for 18 years.
In other action last week, the council voted 5-2 to adopt an ordinance to amend the city’s Unified Development Code for off-street parking. Council members Terry Bryson and Billy Rusher voted against the ordinance.
The mayor’s vote was required to get a two-thirds majority to place the ordinance on second reading and then on third reading. The vote was 6-2 for both of those motions, with Bryson and Rusher voting against the motions.
The ordinance was amended to allow residential parking spaces and drives in excess of those required to be either hard surface or gravel. The amendment states that no gravel parking spaces or drives may exceed 10 feet in width in front of the front building line and no gravel drives or parking spaces may be adjacent to the street.
Hutchens said existing structures will be grandfathered in and will not be affected by the change.
Hutchens noted that the purpose and intent of the section was to provide a hard surface requirement. However, he said the way it was written denied any gravel anywhere on the property.
“We’re attempting to open that up to allow some gravel in addition to the hard surface,” he said, adding, “This provides guidance and a little control over what’s coming in.”
Rusher agreed with some type of standard but also noted people should be able to do what they want with their yards.
Bryson wondered about all the gravel that has been put in this year in violation of the UDC, saying in some cases gravel is being used to cover one-half of the yards and is interfering with drainage in some cases. He asked what the city would do about those situations.
Council member Johnny Stowers noted the amendment is not perfect, but Lincoln has to realize it’s growing, and people are moving to Lincoln, and others are repairing and updating their homes.
He said he didn’t like regulation anymore than anyone else but believes the city needs to do something or it will “end up with a nightmare.”
In other business, the council authorized the mayor to enter into a contract with Iright Technology for a new server for $22,695.81. The city already uses Iright for information technology and security services.
The council tabled an ordinance to amend the UDC for accessory buildings, specifically portable carports and sheds. This amendment will be on the April meeting agenda.
Under committee reports, Hutchens said he wanted to give a “big shoutout” to city employees who helped during the freezing winter weather in February.
“Everyone went above and beyond to keep our services going,” Hutchens said.
The city received $29,624 for the February distribution of its 1% sales tax, which is based on December sales. This compares to $28,045 received in February 2020, and is the second highest monthly collection received in the past 14 months. The city received $ 30,151 in November 2020, which was based on September sales.