By Martin Couch
At the last Bryant City Council meeting, Alderman Adrian Henley opposed a patrol for the Greens at Hurricane Creek area to prevent speeders.
The motion needed to pass the Council by six votes, Henley's no vote made it a 5-1 and it did not pass.[more]
"I voted no to this ordinance because I believe there are many other ways to deal with this," Henley said. "The government should not be called to fix this situation on private property. It is not only the Greens now, but this will open it up to all private property.
"Our police force is stretched far enough without patrolling private property," he continued. "This ordinance for police to sit on the property to ticket someone on private property, i.e. a speed trap."
The area in question is between Woodland Drive and Springhill Loop. Speeders are cutting through the Greens apartment complex causing some citizens to bring the matter to the City Council in recent public hearings.
"The businesses that are having problems with cars driving too fast should try other avenues first," Henley said. He suggested speed bumps or hiring a security officer.
"The city cannot afford to have a full-time cop on their private property to make sure nothing happens, unless they want to pay for it," Henley said.
The ordinance did pass the Council and will have to be read in two more readings.
"The only thing my vote no did was to make it go through due process of three readings," Henley said. "If you will notice, most things at these meetings get pushed through in one night and do not go through the Robert's Rule of Law motions. I try to be consistent and make sure that every citizen has the right to come and voice their concerns and not pass things through in one night."
If Henley is tired there is a reason, too. He's still trying to campaign for his Ward 3, Position 1 spot while having a new little boy, Preston Zander Henley, to take care of too.
"So my hands have been full," he said.
