The Eutaw City Council met for its regular fourth Tuesday monthly meeting. All council members were present. The Council handled mostly routine business. In the public comment period, at the end of the meeting, several residents of Boligee complained about the quality of water they are receiving in Boligee.

The residents who were complaining about the water felt they did not get adequate answers to their questions and wanted the Eutaw City Council to schedule a “town hall meeting” where residents could express their concerns and get better responses. Several members of the Council said they would consider the request for a town hall meeting in the future. They also said that residents could attend their work session meetings and raise questions in more detail.

The Council for the second time, tabled a motion to increase the salaries of the mayor and councilmembers. These increases would not go into effect until after the next municipal election for those persons elected at the next municipal election in August 2025. Mayor Latasha Johnson stated that she is opposed to these raises until the council approves raises for employees. These decisions will be made as part of the next fiscal year budget, which begins on October 1, 2024.

Several projects were listed in the ‘old business’ section of the agenda, which are projects to clean vacant lots and remove unstable buildings, old cars and other problems. The areas listed were: Ditch between Edwards Drive and Roebuck Avenue, Burned house on Banks Avenue, Holes in the road by Mrs. Bessie Harris’ house, House on O’Neal Street next to Mollie Rowe’s house, and House on 3rd Avenue.

Mayor Johnson said that the city was implementing a new ordinance, wherein, if the homeowners do not clean up these vacant lots, the city can do the clean-up and charge the property owners for the cost. The city has acquired the proper and necessary stickers and a police person, with a car, trained to act in accordance with the new ordinance. The Mayor said she would report on progress at these sites in future meetings.

In other business, the Council acted on the following:

• Approved registration, travel and per diem for Councilwoman Suzette Powell to attend the AARC Training Conference in Huntsville on October 6-9, 2024.
•Approved registration, travel and per diem costs for Assistant Police Chief William Smith to attend a Command Leadership Institute in Huntsville on October 21-25,2024.

• Received financial reports on City bank accounts in Merchants and Farmers Bank through August 31, 2024, from Financial Advisor Ralph Liverman. These reports will be used to prepare a budget for the coming fiscal year. Liverman plans to visit in early October to help prepare the budget in consultation with the Mayor and Councilmembers.

• Received a letter on the new Alabama Municipal Official Training Act which requires the mayor and councilmembers to receive a minimum of 40 hours training in their first year of service and at least 5 hours of training every year thereafter.

• Approved payment of outstanding bills.

Mayor Johnson in her report said that she could not do her job, “without God, the Council, the staff and the residents of the City of Eutaw”.

After adjournment, the Council opened for public comments and questions. Several Boligee residents asked about the safety of drinking water from the municipal system since it was often brown in color and seemed dirty to them. Iris Sermon asked about the Boligee sewage system,
which was still spilling sewage on the ground at pumping stations.

Delores Smith, a Lock 7 resident complained about land taken for eminent domain for the airport. She reported that the City was selling her land and wanted to get her land back since it had not been used for the airport. The Mayor said that she did not know about the sale of this land but would check with the Eutaw Airport Authority about the situation.

Mayor Johnson indicated that she would try to schedule a meeting, with the city engineer present, to discuss the status and progress of the City of Eutaw – Boligee water and sewer improvement project. At this meeting, they would try to answer resident’s questions and concerns about the project.