The City Council held a special meeting Jan. 7 concerning a petition calling for a special election to decide on whether to have a permanent Entertainment District at Pine Mountain Village. Alderman Harry Meyer read the ordinance that the petition invoked: ACA 7-9-111 Part H saying that a special election could be called under certain circumstances.
City Attorney Forrest Jacobi said he was annoyed that council had been called for this reason. He said the permanent Entertainment District stays in place unless city council decides to revoke or change the ordinance. Jacobi said that if there are people who want to vote about it, it can be put on the ballot in two years and then they can vote, but until then they must let the district operate as the ordinance states.
Meyer argued at first that the permanent Entertainment District should be held in abeyance until the election in two years, based on a similar case years ago. Jacobi disagreed. City Clerk and Treasurer Ida Meyer was asked by Mayor Butch Berry to explain the situation.
Ida Meyer she said that the Municipal League had told her that the ordinance about the permanent Entertainment District could not go into effect until it’s referred to the town’s citizens to vote. Jacobi said he believes the Municipal League doesn’t know what they’re talking about, and they misinterpreted ACA 7-9-111 Part H.
Jacobi expressed frustration that the Municipal League was even allowed to “weigh in on the issue.” He said initially the petitioner had come to him for advice and when he gave his opinion, they did not follow “chain of command” and “went behind his back to the Municipal League” and are still trying to get a special election even though they do not meet the qualifications for one. Several aldermen asked if the permanent Entertainment District could still operate at Pine Mountain Village for the next two years as planned, and Jacobi assured them yes and added he “didn’t know why [council] was even here.”
Alderman Terry McClung asked if the petitioners could try to get an injunction or had any recourse against council and Jacobi said no.