The Ironton City Council meeting began with Finance Director John Elam giving an update on the city’s computer server.

“It’s my pleasure to announce to you, with the exception of a few minor clean ups, we have done an official hardware update within the finance department server,” he said, explaining that the server serves pretty much the whole city and the old one was 10 years old. “It was getting to the point where it had to be reset quite often. This new server should carry us for  the next 10 years.”

He said the funds for the server came from the Ironton Municipal Court and he thanked Judge Kevin Waldo for making the money available.

Ironton Police Chief Pam Wagner updated the council on the police department activities.

She said a couple of months ago, the IPD was awarded a nearly $10,000 grant from the federal Department of Justice to purchase TASERs.

“Capt. Dan Johnson got an email on (Wednesday) evening that we should be getting those funds next week or the week after,” she said. “So, that’s good news. We’ve been waiting for that for six or eight weeks.”

She said that the police have been making more drug arrests and that drug overdose deaths were up.

Wagner was asked about signs being posted on utility poles and on city right of ways. She said unless council had changed it, it was still illegal.

Wagner said that the IPD works with the city Street Department to get signs removed. She said it tends to spike around the first of the month when there are a lot of yard sales.

“Everybody wants to put their sign on a telephone pole,” she said. “We do try to do our best to get them down.”

The section of the meeting on ordinances began with Ordinance 18-33 being tabled.

It would establish a bank account for asset forfeitures received by the IPD. It will be tabled until the council’s legal counsel can review some guidelines from the Ohio Attorney General’s Office.

An ordinance about the mayor executing a lease with the Ironton Lions Club got first reading. Ordinances about amending the city budget and establishing fees to remove trash and debris from citizens’ property both got second readings.

Vice Mayor Rich Blankenship explained that since two councilmen were unable to attend that left five council members in attendance, so they didn’t have enough votes to pass the ordinances on an emergency basis, which requires six votes.

The council then went into executive session to discuss collective bargaining. There was no action taken.

Ironton City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month on the third floor of the City Center.