At the end of the November 9^th meeting, the Cedar Bluff town council approved a one-time incentive payment to each employee for $1,150. After the approval, representatives from the town’s police officers questioned the bonus amount. When the explanation did not satisfy, rebuttals led to verbal sparks, singeing council members, mayor, and police.

A police representative stated that a $2,500 amount had first been mentioned in regards to the bonus. When the idea was expanded to include other town employees, it shrank to $2,000, only to end up at $1,150 by the meeting vote.

Council members insisted that the amount is not a slight on the police department. They had not collectively agreed to a dollar figure until an executive session compromise produced the $1,150 total. Being November, they felt a time crunch to approve and get checks out for the holidays.

The council rescinded the bonus and agreed to an emergency meeting November 16^th at 5:00 pm to discuss the matter.

In other business the council approved a rezoning request from Scott Farrar. This re-categorized property near Armstrong and West Chattooga Streets as “R3.” Farrar looks to build single family homes there, and an R3 designation allows a more dense spacing of the houses.

Council members also voted to shorten council work sessions. Instead of starting at 5:00 pm every second Monday of the month, they will now begin at 5:30 with the council meetings to follow at 6:00.

For more details listen to the attached audio recording of the meeting.