The Johnson City Board of Commissioners met on Thursday to discuss many of the cities on-going projects and problems. The Board of Commissioners consists of the Johnson City Mayor, Vice Mayor, three commissioners, the city manager, and the city recruiter.
After a quick prayer and the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance the meeting began. The meeting consisted of many city altering and personal projects being looked at.
One of the first things on the agenda was a vote on the approval of a beer license. The license was for a restaurant to legally be allowed to sell alcohol on the premises. The beer license application was for the Magic Wok located in Johnson City and the application was approved.
Wong said, “We used to have the beer license, but my uncle owned it at that time. When I took over and changed the name they wanted us to reapply for it. The Magic Wok has been open for 28 years. We opened in 1992. It’s still there so I’m not saying it’s pretty good, but it’s not bad.”
Mayor Jenny Brock of Johnson City had no concerns approving the beer license. She said, “They are well vetted by our departments of the city. They have to go through police, fire, and legal review. They make sure everything is in place at the facility.”
Mayor Brock also said that all applicants go through background checks and training. They also understand that their privileges can be taken away if any rules are broken.
The next thing on the board’s agenda was a presentation from the US Attorney’s office on the hiring of a new Special Assistant. US Attorney Douglas Overbey spoke during the presentation about many on-going projects that they are overseeing in this area.
Overbey said, “One of our top priorities is working with local law enforcement to prosecute drug trafficking, gun crimes, and gang activity.” He stated two projects currently taking place in Johnson City, Project Safe Neighborhood and Project Guardian.
Mayor Brock spoke about how these projects were mainly gang and drug related. She said, “The reason those people are so valuable is because on certain kinds of cases, they are federal cases and if we didn’t have a federal attorney they would get tried locally and they won’t serve time at all.”
The board members also approved the sale of a state-owned property near Founder Park which the buyer, Michael Mansy, plans to combine with an adjacent building he owns and turn the new property into a coffee shop and bakery. Mansy said, “I’ll probably start construction in 2021 because of the time it will take to get the plants through the city. I know one of the tenants wants to move faster than that.”
Mayor Brock also went off the agenda speaking about the upcoming 2020 census. Brock said, “We had and 83 percent participation rate in 2010 so we need to see growth in this area.” She mentioned that the census will be done online this year beginning in mid-April. “If you read the Constitution it says every person, not citizen, who is here should be counted for.”
