The first act of business at the new Jonesville town hall Monday was to approve grant funds garnered for the police department. The mayor and board of commissioners accepted a matching grant for upwards of $37,000.

The funds will be available for the purchase of a new police car, three mobile data terminals (MDT), and four radar guns. Sandy Lawrence from the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Program, was at the Monday night meeting to collect Jonesville signatures on the grant agreement.

A letter of conditions was passed around the new podium and seating area in town hall for all to observe and finalize. Lawrence said the money would be made available in April but could wait till the beginning of the next fiscal year, July 2008, to be drawn upon.

Chief Roger Reece explained during the meeting that the MDTs would make running license tags easier.

Reece said currently Jonesville has to run license plates through the county dispatcher by phone.

"It keeps the county tied up," Reece said. "MDTs will be good for communications."

The board's approval of the grant passed, and Lawrence collected the signatures needed for her paperwork.

Reece thanked the board during his departmental reports.

"Thank you for adopting the grant," he said. "Everyone will be happy to know we are going into the new year with new equipment coming."

Reece also thanked Jonesville's public works department for helping them move the police department over to the new facility on US Highway 67.

Other issues on the agenda revolved around water taps to be installed in the following months and the equipment needed by Public Works to do so. Properties in violation of zoning ordinances were reviewed with a special note added by Kevin Wilson, the Jonesville Zoning Manager, about the fact that summer would bring a new set of zoning ordinance concerns.

"Growing season is upon us so overgrown grass and weed issues are coming," Wilson said.

Other zoning ordinance questions had to do with the minimum housing issues and appropriate town communications with violations.

After each department gave their March reports Mayor Lindbergh Swaim thanked everyone for coming to the initial meeting and asked if the audience seats weren't better than the old wooden benches. All present agreed that they were.

The old town hall and police facility will still be used by the police department and town hall for storage and extra police department work space.