By Morgan Bryce
Associate Editor

Plans to add additional parking spaces and greater access to Smiths Station’s Government Center and soon-to-be-opened Jones Store Museum took a step forward during their Aug. 14 city council meeting.
The council approved a resolution authorizing Allen Asphalt Services to complete the project, which Mayor Bubba Copeland explained in further detail during the meeting.
“When we originally paved in the front of (the Government Center), we didn’t complete the back, so this is the second part of that. It will square off the parking lot and add about 10 more parking spaces, which will also give us spaces at the museum complex,” Copeland said. “There will also be handicap-accessible parking in front of the (museum). This project will also entail striping, road-bed maintenance, and a four-inches thick layer of asphalt.”
The council also passed a regulation stipulating rules on the specific type of artwork that can be displayed inside or outside of the Government Center.
“We need to make sure that we maintain the integrity of this building. We don’t anyone putting signs inside or outside (of the Government Center) that is not appeasing to the total brand of the city of Smiths Station,” Copeland said. “At this point and time, we don’t have a leg to stand on, because this is a public place. So anyone could come and place a vulgar sign out front, there’s nothing we could do about it legally besides take it down. This will be able to help us regulate things like that.”
In other business, the council:
– Approved and adopted the general and environmental fund budgets for FY2019
– Entered into a contract with the Lee County Highway Department for a resurfacing of Lee Road 298
– Discussed the progress of the city’s planned veterans memorial and development of an updated employee handbook.
The Smiths Station City Council meet on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, with their work session beginning at 5:30 p.m. EST and their regular meeting at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.smithsstation.gov or call 334-297-8771. The Government Center is located at 2336 Lee Road 240.