The Athens City Council recently approved an ordinance banning the placement of unsolicited publications in yards or driveways, and on Monday, a member of the Limestone County Commission sought more information on a similar ban for the county.

District 2 Commissioner Danny Barksdale said after reading about the ban in The News Courier, he was curious as to what steps the county commission could take towards something similar.

“I don’t know if we have authority to do something like that, but I was for (the ban) and think the City of Athens deserves an ‘attaboy’ for that,” he said. “That’s an effort to control littering.”

County attorney Mark Maclin said he would have to look into the matter, admitting he was unfamiliar with how the particular wording of the ban and noting that in cases like these, “municipalities have much more authority in setting ordinances.”

District 1 Commissioner Daryl Sammet said it would be good to have such an ordinance if possible and asked about fines or ticketing if caught violating the ban. In the city of Athens, penalties are at the discretion of the municipal judge, according to city attorney Shane Black, and include fines of up to $500 per unsolicited item placed in a yard or driveway.

Under the city’s ordinance, such items — including newspapers, flyers, political materials and advertisements — should instead be placed on a resident’s porch, on or by the nearest front door, through a mail slot, with the resident or in a distribution box.

“It’s just an effort to control litter, and that’s a countywide problem,” Barksdale said.

Other business

During the meeting after the work session, commissioners approved the following:

• Leasing a Winnebago Voyager Vehicle to the Limestone County Sheriff’s Office for $1 annual rent;

• Agreement with Condrey & Associates to perform a classification and compensation study for Limestone County;

• Agreement with Xerox for one-line fax for 36 months at a minimum payment of $167.75 per month;

• Awarding a bid to WOW! Business for joint internet services for the County Commission and City of Athens for $1,073.99 per month;

• Personnel actions — two new deputy hires, a new nutrition center manager and promoting a District 2 equipment operator;

• Preliminary approval for Jones Spring Subdivision, Phase 2, a 32-lot subdivision in District 2, north of Pepper Road on the west side of Jones Road; and

• Removing a CS5 Design Prem Upgrade, Dell laptop and 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe from inventory; transferring inventory from LCSO to the county’s information technology department; and adding a Talinco laptop computer, Ford F-150 and FARO laser scanner to the county inventory.

Visit https://limestonecounty-al.gov/about/meetings-and-minutes/ for the complete agenda. Visit https://bit.ly/LimestoneCountyYT to view a recording of the meeting or work session.