Former first ward councilman and University student Jacob Redfern was acknowledged for his time spent on council from Aug. 17, 2009 to Dec. 31, 2009, at last night’s city council meeting.

President John Zanfardino commented on all of Redfern’s hard work during his short, but productive, term as councilman.

“Redfern demonstrated keen judgements on important issues as well as an earnest concern for his constituents,” Zanfardino said. “During a time of rigorous debate and local concern on creating a finalized budget, once seated Redfern immediately engaged himself in tough fiscal times.”

Zanfardino listed Redfern’s accomplishments on council, saying he was impressed that after his first meeting as first ward council member, Redfern worked meticulously when the city was experiencing some trouble and shortfalls.

“I greatly appreciate his hard work and would like to publicly recognize him for his dedication and faithful service on the council,” he said. “His energy and eagerness was enlightening and I wish him, along with the rest of council, the best of luck and success in all future endeavors.”

Redfern accepted his award, and thanked the residents of the city as well as the new members of council for helping him out through his term.

“I would just like to say thank you for helping me and preparing me to make tough decisions and catching me up to speed on issues in the city,” he said.

Redfern also spoke to new first ward councilman Mark Hollenbaugh, saying he gave him a good race in the November elections, and although it was down to the wire between the two of them, he is proud to see him doing such a great job already.

“I learned a lot, and had a great time being a part of Bowling Green’s city council, and I will cherish the time I spent here, and this award forever,” Redfern said.

The council also talked about Bowling Green’s two recent snow emergencies.

“We have had two snow emergencies now, one on Feb.5, a level two snow emergency, and another on Feb. 11, which was classified as a level three,” said Public Works Director Brian Craft.

Craft went into detail about the police department and how many overtime hours they spent between Feb. 5-7 and Feb. 10-12, using their judgements on removing vehicles from the city’s roads.

“During the level two storm, the public works crew spent 450 hours of overtime and police handed out a staggering 108 tickets to residents who did not move their cars from the city’s streets, many of which were towed,” he said. “During the level three storm 342 hours of overtime from the public works crew were documented as well as 75 tickets given out to residents.”

Over 300 tons of salt were used between the two snow storms, leaving 700 tons for future storms, Craft said, and the city plans to purchase 500 tons more.