Rec director to fill in as zoning chief
Staff writer
Longtime zoning board member and city recreation director Margo Yates was appointed Marion’s interim zoning administrator Monday.
She replaces Duane McCarty, who resigned the part-time position but will remain as a full-time police officer.
The city also has an opening on its zoning board after the resignation earlier this month of chairman John Wheeler.
An interim administrator is needed primarily to act on routine matters, some of which require a three-day turnaround, city administrator Roger Holter said.
The planning and zoning board will continue to look for a permanent administrator to be confirmed by the council.
“I’d like to see someone in that position that’s a little bit qualified,” zoning board vice chair Terry Jones said. “We might be able to keep one for more than a few months.”
He and council member Ruth Herbal suggested that Yates step into the position.
“I’d love to make Margo do it,” Jones said.
Still to be resolved is whether she will have to forgo serving as a member of the zoning board while serving as interim administrator.
In other business, council members:
- Decided to revisit the city’s mask mandate, scheduled to expire June 30, at their June 1 meeting.
- Heard that water line upgrades had been slowed by rainy weather and by an undocumented fiber-optic cable that ruined a bore head during installation of pipe on Coble St.
- Learned that volunteers young and old were needed at 9 a.m. May 29 to help raise an avenue of flags for Memorial Day at Marion Highland Cemetery.
- Sent back to the city’s museum board with questions about quorum requirements proposed bylaws that would expand the board from seven members to nine.