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 back to the usual length; 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 rapped the gavel on the block and opened the meeting. The Mayor made mention of the fact that there had been a special emergency meeting of Council early in August, and that the results of that meeting would be “new business” in the discussion section of tonight’s meeting.  Swearing in of the Deputies The Police Chief took the floor and announced that the “Swearing in of the Deputies” went without a hitch.  There were 13 new deputies sworn in as opposed to the expected 14.  It seems that Brother Samuel had decided to move back to Metcalfe County.  He (Brother Samuel), after a little less than a year in Fairhope2, was going back to his roots,  He had come from Metcalfe County, down somewheres between the Chicken Bristle area and the GAP.  Now, everyone in Metcalfe, Hart, or Barren Counties knows that this GAP is NOT a store, but a real, honest-to-goodness GAP.  It is sort of a  narrow path that was cut through the rock along the river back before the Great War.  It was supposed to allow the river to flow through when it flooded and the water to flow out when the river ebbed.  Today it is mostly used for a point of reference for directions to places nearby and a place that all the old- timers can cite when telling stories of their youthful escapades  back in the 60’s.  One thinks that more lies have been told about the GAP than there are moves on a checkerboard. The Disher Sisters were the honorary joint Police Chief(s) for the ceremony, since they were two of the original class of deputies sworn in back in ‘44.  They handed out the certificates, and the younger Disher sister made a short speech.  Since it was a hot day, the fact that it was a short speech virtually guaranteed that she would be invited to speak in the next Swearing in of the Deputies.  It was generally a day for people to get together -- a few of them even stopped by the Fairhope2 Public House for a little extra celebration on into the wee hours of the morning.   New Business The Mayor announced that the Council had voted in an ad hoc meeting in early August a measure that authorized the sale of City Hall to a trust that had been set up by Reverend Goodby.  A hush fell over the chambers ---- The facial expressions on the attendees generally fell into the following categories:  Huh?     What?    Why?    How?    Aint no way!    WTF? All eyes fell on the Mayor, shot over to Reverend Goodby, and back to the Mayor. There was a general look of bewilderment amongst all the attendees.  The whispering began and the whispers grew to be almost deafening. It sounded like a roomful of snakes.  The Mayor took a few more moments to let the idea set in and then continued.  He then announced that the City had signed a 200 year lease with the Petunia Goodby Memorial Trust to lease back most of the City Hall property for a rent of one dollar per year, with the total of all lease payments for all years ($200) payable in 2015.  The proceeds of the sale would go to build a new Junior College, finish the Eucalas J Peter Library, repair infrastructure and modernize the docks in the first ward.  With a glance towards the Third Ward Councilman he noted that none of these proceeds would go to any bridge projects. The details were that the PGM Trust would maintain two small offices in the building, some additional small spaces inside, and all of the outside lawn and parking areas on each side of the promenade from the sidewalk to the building.  The lawn areas amounted to about 2 acres of grass. He also announced that the Ten Commandments as well as the Christmas and Easter exhibits on the front lawn would continue to be outside City Hall  in the future  and would be larger than before.  Response to AAAAAAARF The Mayor called upon the City Attorney to  read the following letters: First was a letter from Allied Americans Aligned Against Any And All Religious Foundations (AAAAAAARF) stating that they were preparing to enter into a lawsuit against Fairhope2 demanding that the Ten Commandments be removed from city property, and that no Creche or other religious exhibits be constructed on the front lawn.  There was more legalese, but no one was listening after the first sentence.   The facial expressions on the attendees generally fell into the following categories:  Huh?     What?    Why?    How?    Aint no way!    WTF? The second letter read was the Fairhope2 response to AAAAAAARF.. Dear AAAAAAAARF We, in Fairhope2 think you are barking up the wrong tree.  The City of Fairhope2 does NOT have, nor will it have any religious symbols on its property.  However, the property owner, the PGM Trust, may have whatever religious symbols or exhibits that it chooses on the  part(s) of the property that are not leased to the city.  If you have any problems with that, feel free to contact the PGM Trust.  They have offices in the portion of the old City Hall that they did not lease to the City.  There was more legalese again,  but no one was listening. There was applause and “hoopin’ and hollerin” as the idea of City Hall being sold to the Petunia Goodby Memorial Trust suddenly made sense. It was a long term, practical work-around that helped Fairhope2 retain its religious traditions.  Thirty seven attendees volunteered to donate animals, straw, and building skills to the Creche this Christmas season. With a rap of the gavel on the block the Mayor got the meeting back on track.  Other new business The Mayor requested that funding be authorized in the amount of $200 to pay the PGM Trust the rental for the next 200 years per the lease agreement.  It passed 5 to 0. The Fourth Ward Councilman had asked Brother Richards to address Council and give a short presentation on his new project.  Brother Richards was originally from Wisconsin but for years has lived in the Fourth Ward on about 25 acres of ground.  His property borders the Ohio River on the upstream side.  That property has always had a wonderful view of the riverboats pushing coal  and oil along the river.  If Mark Twain had visited Fairhope2 before writing his book, Tom Sawyer might have lived here.  Whenever there was a heavy fog the sound of the foghorns generated an eerie, yet comforting and warm feeling.  Now, we all know there are only two things that can bring that sort of “well-being” feeling -- one is a foghorn through the river fog in a distance, and the other is the horn of a lonely C & O diesel-electric locomotive  echoing across the fields of a morning.  Brother Richards had always wanted to have both in the same place, but in Fairhope2 he had to settle for only the foghorns. That’s luckier than most people.  Brother Richards had always raised some of the finest alfalfa in the state.  People would come for miles to get his alfalfa. One year a well known horse farm in Bourbon County bought his whole crop.  We can’t mention the name of the horse farm, but let’s just say that most people would recognize the name when they heard it. But then came the Tremor of ‘02 ( that’s 2002) and things changed.  As a result of the Tremor the altitude of the northeastern 20 acres fell by 12 inches.  It was still above water quite a bit, but the soil became quite soggy like good Melvin or Nolin soils.  The other effect of the Tremor was that topsoil, silt, and sand carried by the river now tended to accrue on the upstream edges of those 20 acres, increasing the area by about 3 acres thus far.  This rich, loamy silt and sand, combined with the already fertile 20 acres had turned into a very fertile bog.  Without land to grow alfalfa, Brother Richards decided to create a cranberry farm just like the ones he remembered from his childhood in Wisconsin, but he had two unsuccessful seasons ‘cause it was just too warm to grow cranberries in Kentucky.  The third unsuccessful season was the year he tried to grow cranberries when Fairhope2 was in Illinois, the logic being that since Illinois is north of Kentucky and generally colder, maybe it might work.  It didn’t.  Brother Richards, not to be discouraged, was now going to grow rice. The Mayor interrupted by asking what this had to do with City Council.  ‘Turns out that Brother Richards was simply explaining in a long-winded way that there would be an influx of some migrant workers to work his rice fields, and that he may be installing some temporary trailers to house those workers. The Mayor glanced at the Fourth Ward Councilman.  The Fourth Ward Councilman nodded slightly.  The Mayor said “Thank you for you presentation”. The Sergeant at Arms mentioned the fact that he was sending the Illinois State Flag out to be dry cleaned since the rains upstream had been getting stronger and this was, in fact, the beginning of the rainy season. The Mayor summoned the City Service Director.  He went on to say that the City Service Director should prepare a presentation and process for the next Council meeting to allow citizens to ask questions of Council via e-mail.  The City Service Director began to protest, but the Mayor ignored him with a wave of the gavel. The Mayor picked up his brand new, oak, non-conforming gavel and rapped his new, oak, non-conforming block to indicate that the meeting was officially over. it was  7:48 p.m.