Three City of Canton employees were recognized by the council as Van Zandt County favorites in the 2022 Readers’ Choice awards put on by Van Zandt Newspapers. Canton Policeman Steven Hall was honored with BEST Peace Officer; Canton Fire Chief Bud Sanford was honored with BEST Firefighter and Michael Martin was honored with BEST City Worker. Mayor Lou Ann Everett presented certificates to the three men.

The council held an appeal hearing after executive session concerning business signage in Canton. An appeal was made by Natalie Roberts, represented by Attorney Joel Elliot, for Expressions Medspa on the decision not to allow backlit signage on her store front.

The District Overlay Board rejected Roberts’ application for a Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) on grounds of the location of the sign does not meet architectural features of the building, it is oversized for the placement area per Canton Main Street Design guidelines, and it is a backlight sign. According to the District Overlay Board, lighted signs are not allowed unless they are historic to the building. Typically, lighting for this area is downlights, gooseneck or other approved lighting.

Expressions Medspa is going to be in a building that can house multiple businesses.

Canton attorney Joel Elliot spoke to the council concerning the rejection of Roberts’ COA.

“The letter I sent lays out my position on the historical overlay district ... As such this building is only required to get a signed permit that complies with the Gateway District. As such, this particular item on the agenda, is not bound by the Gateway District requirements because it is not part of the Gateway District. This specific issue before you tonight, if the Gateway District guidelines are enforced upon Expressions Medspa, then there will probably be some type of litigation to determine the authority that the city has … When you are talking about everybody being treated the same no matter who you are or what you are doing, that applies to both sides of the table.”

“We have these ordinances in place for a reason,” stated Councilman Nathan Moore, “so that all the businesses that fall in the historic district, we all follow the same guidelines and rules. We are trying to pre serve the historic look of this particular area. This signage does not follow the guidelines.”

Councilman Moore made a motion to deny the appeal for sign determination for the property located at 237 S. Trade Days Blvd., in Canton. Chase Melton seconded the motion. The motion to reject passed unanimously.

Canton’s Kid Fish Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 14, on Two Acre Lake, located on Arnold Paul Road by the Canton Animal Shelter. Attendees are asked to bring their own tackle and gear this year; fishermen will be fishing for catfish. Hot dogs will be provided for those who attend. Fishing licenses are not needed for the event, as long as an adult has a child that they are helping fish.

The council approved the consent agenda consisting of financial reports for February 2022, meeting minutes for the March 15 council meeting and approved the budget calendar for FY 2022’23.

Ryan Sumner, local business owner, spoke to the council during the citizens forum and asked that the council explore other options for the Plaza Theatre other than demolition. The theatre recently flooded and has now been condemned and is going to be demolished. The council did not respond to Sumer’s request.

The council approved a bank depository bid for banking services following recommendations from City Finance Director Teri Pruitt. There were four bids received and council chose to award the service contract to City National Bank. The contract is for three years with a two-year extension option.

The council discussed changing the name of Short Street to Sanford Street. Councilman Moore recommended that the council name a new street as Sanford Street instead of changing Short Street. The council took no action on the matter.

Austin Melton presented a marketing report to the council. Melton stated that a focus on food at First Monday along with creating merchandise for First Monday is on the agenda. Melton reported $10,972.09 had been spent with an ad reach of 609,792. Social media platforms generated Facebook, 290,424 video views, 29 posts, 69,122 engagements with a total reach of 866,723. On Instagram, there were 2,460 interactions, 30 posts, 32,259 followers at a total reach of 262,6873.

Canton Fire Department Chief Bud Sanford presented information on the Pecan Street project. The waterline project is expected to be completed in mid-June, according to the chief. Chief Sandford also presented statistics on the Canton Police Department stating “In March, the department responded to 433 calls and as of today (April 19,) they have responded to 149 calls. The police department does much more than patrol the streets. This is an outstanding police safety agency. They assist us with EMS calls, even in the middle of the night. Officer Preston Roberts initiated care on a 1-year-old before EMS or the fire department could arrive. Their efforts go way beyond of just being a policing agency,” stated Sanford.

Information on the status of the Plaza Theater in downtown Canton was presented by Assistant City Manager Steve Ruppenthal.

“Unfortunately, this has turned into a demolition project. The majority of the museum items such as the fire truck and bell museum will moved. We are going to get started on packing everything up within the next two weeks.”