In other council action on Thursday:
The council voted 6-1 in favor of a $4.2 million purchase of 55 ticket vending machines for the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The debate sometimes got way off the bus, when Clint Olivier, known as one of the more conservative members made a suggestion that the bus line going up and down Blackstone should be no charge. Olivier surmised that if fares were free, there would be no need to hire anyone, like a law enforcement officer, to make sure people are paying.
While that idea was rejected, it did stimulate conversation as to whether various departments can hire law enforcement and pay for it out of there departments, thus putting more cops on the streets.
Steve Brandau was the lone no vote.
-The council rejected a city request to write off nearly $69,000 in a bad loan for this home near Cedar & Dakota as part of a now-defunct city program. The owner claimed hard times in his effort for the city to okay his short sale.
The 4-3 vote saw Olivier, Brandau, Garry Bredefeld and Luis Chavez vote no. Paul Caprioglio, Oliver Baines and Esmeralda Soria voted yes.
-The council also agreed unanimously to sell a 14 acre property at Herndon & Brawley to a developer for $1.7 million.
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