Council to revisit trucking ordinance
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

An ordinance that was passed in order to save the streets of Jasper has now raised the ire of some small business owners.

Ordinance 12-06-2 deals with truck routes on city of Jasper streets in order to reduce the overall maintenance costs of streets.

Willie Adams, a truck driver and small business owner, addressed the ordinance to Jasper city council members Monday, April 9.

"We don't all have the resources to provide the necessary lots to store our equipment so some of us store our equipment at our home," Adams said. "And I realize that people are saying that the trucks are tearing up the streets and 90 percent of the time they are right, but there also the delivery trucks.

"If you say the streets are an issue, why not give this driver the opportunity to pay to repair and maintain those streets," Adams said. "The way this ordinance was written, it wrote the little guy out of it completely."

The ordinance sets load limits for city streets, excluding U.S. Highway 96, Highway 190, Highway 63, W. Martin Luther King Blvd, W. Houston Street, E. Houston Street, E. Milam Street, N. Manuel Street, McQueen Street, East Bevil Loop Rd. to Dorgan Drive and West Bevil Loop Rd. to Parker Dr.

Adams has lived in the A&L subdivision for more than 20 years and originally was not the city's limits.

Since his business is not listed on the city's tax rolls as a place of business, he is not allowed to store his equipment at his home.

"You need to consider the little guy," Adams said. "Give us a chance. Level the playing field a little bit.

"If the guy wants to take his truck home, let him pay to take his truck home," Adams said. "It is not fair for the little guy who can't take his equipment home and someone else comes down his road with a load of concrete or a load of shingles and tears up the street."

Adams said it could be costly if his equipment is vandalized when he is forced to park it at truck stops instead of his home.

Council members agreed to revisit the ordinance at a later date to determine if revisions would be made to it.

Council tabled a measure brought forward by councilwomen Gayle Meigs and Gloria Monzingo that would have allowed for year-round pickup of yard waste by city employees.