Residents raise construction-safety and towing-rotation complaints at council meeting

During public comment, two residents raised separate operational and safety concerns for council attention.

Kim Lassiter (speaker 11), a Benito Lane resident, said recent construction immediately behind her home has created a safety hazard and a pattern of poor notification to neighbors. "There's a tree right there. It's a 20 foot palm, and I watched them put it in the ground in coarse construction sand, not tamped down, no anchoring," Lassiter said, adding that heavy equipment worked close to her house and that she received little direct notice in advance. She told the council she had reported the matter several times to code enforcement and asked for better resident notification of planned construction activity.

Later in the public-comment period, Robert (speaker 9) of Grozak's Towing said he has tried for nearly two years to be placed on the police department's tow-rotation list since a change in the town ordinance and has received minimal response from police and town officials. "I've been requesting to try to get on to the police rotation since y'all changed the town's ordinance for almost 2 years now," he said. He alleged that the company that towed a crash vehicle on June 27 left it at an unsecured lot and that some vehicles on the current rotation lacked current license plates. He said his paperwork and DMV evidence were available for town staff to review.

Council members asked staff to follow up on both matters. The mayor and staff characterized the towing issue as an administrative matter and asked the speaker to provide documentation for staff review; staff accepted materials. On the construction complaint, council members encouraged the resident to continue communicating with code enforcement and noted that staff would look into the reported site conditions.