The meeting was called to order the secretary (that’s the Mayor’s ex wife) First item was a prayer by Reverend Goodby.  Reverend Goodby’s prayer was somewhat longer than usual; a fact noted by everyone in the chambers. There were 42 people in attendance in council chambers.  (note that the same 42 people were at every council meeting) The Mayor took his seat.  He picked up his brand new oak gavel and looked at intently.  He then glanced over to the Sergeant at Arms who was grinning from ear to ear.  The Mayor used the gavel to salute the Sergeant at Arms, smiled at him, and rapped the gavel on the block to open the meeting. A note here -- the gavel was purchased and used in direct violation of the statute which dictated that all gavels be made of zebra wood, a wood that it was now illegal to import to the US.  The remedy for the problem is slated to be in the 2016 Gavel Reconciliation Bill that was still stuck in committee having more pet project riders attached.  The current cost of the 2016  Gavel Reconciliation Bill was estimated at $ 32,000,000  dollars, $ 6,000 dollars of which was for promulgation of the new gavel requirements and the balance in the attached, unrelated riders to the bill.  More riders were being attached each day. Old business Extension of the date to file to be on the ballot to September 31. The Mayor announced that the date should be changed to September 30 since there was no September 31.  Council agreed, but the City Attorney spoke up immediately.  He related that extending the deadline was within the powers of the Council, bringing it backward would require approval from the State.  While the Council saw no problem correcting the error from last month, the City Attorney related that there was no provision in the law for any backward movement without State approval, even in the case of an error.  The estimated cycle time for filing the necessary forms, getting approval from the various  voters’ rights organizations (there were 17 organizations at present), legal review in Frankfort, and final approval by the Secretary of State would be 5 months. The First Ward Councilman interrupted the City Attorney and made a motion to extend the date to October 1.  The motion passed 5 to 0.   Swearing in of the deputies Council voted 5 to 0 to fund the Swearing in of the Deputies.   Every two years since the “Unpleasantness of 1944” there had been a Swearing in of Deputies ceremony in August.  The date was set for August 22nd. Traffic light safety study The City Safety Director reported that the traffic light survey was done and that the traffic light was timed properly. The Third Ward Councilman interjected that a left arrow be installed at the light.  The Third Ward Councilman insisted that the arrow was crucial to preserve the safety of the public.  The Second Ward Councilman argued that the arrow at the traffic light would only point down Harbor Street which was 45 yards long, ending at the point where it had been blocked off after the collapse of the Third Ward in 1922.  He further objected by noting that since there were no roads leading to the Third Ward, that no one ever needed to turn left at the light, that the arrow was a waste of money.  The Third Ward Councilman objected by saying that the Third Ward had no street signs, no stop signs, and no traffic control whatever.  He felt it was the right of the Third Ward to have at least one piece of traffic control. The Mayor, sensing that the topic of the bridge to the Third Ward was about to be opened for the 83rd time,  ordered another study of the cost / benefit of adding the arrow.  The Third Ward Councilman took a deep breath and said “But what about the bridge....”  when the Mayor rapped the gavel and said “There is no bridge”. Sale of the magnetic numbers on Ebay The Second Ward Councilman reported that the numbers had sold on Ebay by someone using the Buy it Now option.  He didn’t mention that they sold for a net total of 56 dollars after the Ebay and Paypal fees. New Business Reverend Goodby’s birthday The Mayor asked for a motion to proclaim July 29 as “Reverend Goodby Day”.  It turned out that this was the fastest motion - second - unanimous approval process in Fairhope2 history. The Mayor then delivered a brief summary of the Reverend’s life;  He was born in Tryon, North Carolina in 1965, in 1980 he went down to the altar at a revival and was saved.  A few years later (5 to be exact) he felt the call to the ministry.  In 1990, after a June graduation from Bible College in Gastonia, he married Miss Theodora of Asheville.   In October of 1990 he became assistant pastor at a small church in Charlotte.  In 1995 he moved to Fairhope2 to be the Pastor at the church down on Harbor and Greene streets.  The Mayor noted that It seems that the Reverend had life- changing events happen to him in years that were evenly divisible by 5.  That statement seems almost prophetic when one thinks about what happened next. The Reverend stood up to thank the Council for their appreciation, and noted that it was 2015 and that he was 50 years old.  He then announced that he had been promoted to a Senior Elder Pastor for Northwest Kentucky which  generated a round of faint, tentative applause and well-wishing.  He did say that he and Sister Theodora were staying in Farihope2 which got a rallying second round of applause.  As an aside, and almost under his breath he also announced that he had accidentally won 50 million dollars in the lottery back in February of this year.  Embarrassed and suddenly looking rather sheepish, he took his seat and looked at the floor. No one in chambers was quite sure what to say or do as the words “accidentally won 50 million dollars” echoed around chambers.  How does one“accidentally” win 50 million dollars?  The Reverend tried to explain what had happened back in February, but no one was listening ‘cause “accidentally winning 50 million dollars” left them all in a daze for the next 20 minutes. Indeed, for Reverend Goodby life changing events happened in years evenly divisible by 5.  There were those that speculated and wondered and even perhaps worried what the year 2020 was going to bring... Someone even mentioned that perhaps they shouldn’t worry about 2020 quite yet, ‘cause 2015 wasn’t over yet.  This, again turned out to be a prophetic statement. The Mayor, trying to get ‘hold of the Chambers again rapped his gavel and said only “Congratulations Reverend”.  At that point, seeing that nothing useful was going to happen that night and that any Council business could wait ‘till August, he rapped the non-conforming gavel against the non-conforming block and declared the meeting adjourned. It was 7:48 p.m.