Tag Archives: Faye Tyree

Eutaw City Council approves motion to park all city cars, including police cars, among many issues discussed on full meeting agenda

Posted on by

By: John Zippert, Co-Publisher

At its October 24, 2023, regular meeting the Eutaw City Council worked through a full agenda with many important issues. The Council also held a working session on October 23, which paved the way for many of its decisions.

One controversial action taken by the City Council was a 5-0 vote to park all city vehicles at City Hall, when not in use. This includes police cars.
Since many Eutaw city police officers live out of town, they have been permitted to drive city vehicles home, so that when they are called to a crime scene on an emergency basis, they can get their faster and be fully equipped.

Councilman LaJeffrey Carpenter has been pushing for this policy change for many months. Carpenter, who is a Greene County Sheriff’s deputy and often comes to council meetings visibly armed with his pistol,
says this will save money and wear and tear on city vehicles. All five council members voted for this policy change, while Mayor Latasha Johnson and Chief of Police Tommy Johnson were opposed and spoke against the decision.

In the public comments section of the meeting, several Eutaw residents, including Faye Tyree, Danny Cooper, and Carol Gator, raised concerns about the new policy hampering police response to emergency situations. Concern was also expressed that this decision might result in more police officers quitting their positions to take better paid opportunities in other places.

At the City Council Work Session, City Financial Adviser Ralph Liverman presented a report which acknowledged receipt of a long promised $371,294.88 check from FEMA for reimbursement of expenses incurred by the City of Eutaw in debris clearing and collection from storms earlier this year. Liverman indicated an additional check for $40,000 is still forthcoming from FEMA for additional expenses. In his report, Liverman indicates the city accounts that have been reimbursed for storm expenses, including $118,544.88 to the General Fund, which improves the City’s overall financial condition and outlook.

The Council approved an Ordinance No. 2023-4 to grant a right of way agreement WIFI connections to cities in the Yellowhammer Network, which is planning to build a network of fiber to cities and towns in the western Alabama Black Belt, starting in Selma and moving west. Yellowhammer is fully funded for its plans, which reach cities and anchor institutions and cover some of the rural areas in between but not all parts of each county. The right of way agreement will allow running of fiber on and under streets and right of ways, owned by the city, but it is not an exclusive arrangement and other companies may also seek similar permission.

The Council also approved payment of an invoice for $30,000 as a reimbursement to the Alabama Department of Transportation for work done to improve lighting on the Interstate 20/59 Exit 40. This one of several annual payments owed by the City to ALDOT for the lighting project.

A credit card, with a maximum of $25,000, to be held by the Mayor, for training and travel expenses for city staff was approved. This single card will replace individual cards assigned to council members and staff department heads.

The Council approved Resolution No. 2023-16 for Traffic Signal Management between ALDOT and the City to install Econolite Cobalt Controllers at the four city traffic lights at the county square, which will improve traffic flow. This improvement will come at no cost to the city. The
Council also approved Resolution No 2023-17 to allow for the rehabilitation of the Sanders-Black Apartments with no changes to the zoning approval of the project, which is in place.

The Council heard a presentation by Leah Banks of Alabama Power Company and representatives of the University of West Alabama’s Connecting Minority Program, to provide broadband in Sumter County and parts of Greene County, especially the Boligee area. They left copies of a broadband survey for residents of Eutaw and Greene County to fill out, showing the limited broadband services available. The Mayor agreed to collect completed surveys at the City Hall. The Council also heard a presentation on the Tree City Program from the Alabama Forestry Commission which encourages the planting of trees in cities and towns across Alabama.

In other business, the Eutaw City Council:

• Approved renewal of the business license and gas tax collection agreements with Avenue Insights and Analytics for 2024.
• Approved repair of three police cars, two for transmissions and one for a motor. Tabled a proposal by the Chief of Police to lease purchase new police cars.
• Approved request by the Mayor to seek bids to renovate the bathrooms in the National Guard Armory, which must be completed by March 2024 for the facility to be used as a voting poll.
• Approved an additional $100 rental charge for groups planning to serve alcohol at functions held at the Robert H. Young Community Center (former Carver School) now owned by the city.
• Approved a contract with Living Waters Association of Alabaster to provide laboratory testing the City Water and Sewer system.
•Tabled leasing a new 2023 John Deere tractor for grass cutting, for 5 years at $1,926/month (total $97,852), until the city financial adviser can explain how this ad other expenses fit into the city’s budget for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
• Agreed to pay bills on hand for the month.

Complaints about vicious and stray dogs dominate Eutaw City Council

Posted on by

dogsBy: John Zippert,
Co-Publisher

Much of the discussion at the January 24, 2017 Eutaw City Council was devoted to complaints about vicious and stray dogs in the city.
Part of the concern was with pit bulls owned by Lonnie and Channel Glenn who live at 122 Harris Avenue. Glenn is a police officer with the Eutaw Police Department. Channel Glenn, his wife, is an outspoken city resident who often attends City Council meeting and raises various grievances.
This time the shoe was on the other foot, as several audience members questioned the Council about ordinances governing vicious dogs and stray dogs that are roaming the city.
Blondie Means who was bitten by one of the Glenn’s pit bulls on Thanksgiving Day -2016 was at the Council meeting questioning the Mayor and Council about enforcing the ordinances against “vicious dogs” like the Glenn’s pit bulls. Means said she suffered lacerations on her hands, face and breast from the dog. The dog was shot by a passerby and later euthanized by the police. Means lives two doors down from the Glenn’s on Harris Avenue and says she is afraid to come out of her house because of the dogs.
Mattie Roscoe, mother of George Roscoe, said her son was attacked by the same dogs on Thanksgiving and had to go to the hospital for treatment. The second dog was placed in quarantine for ten days because of the attack.
Channel Glenn told this reporter “You at the Democrat have the story all wrong. Someone was trying to steal my dogs and that is why the dogs attacked them. You better get the story right!”

At the January 10 City Council meeting, Ms. Glenn testified that,
“I love my dogs like they are my children. They are locked up and never out. Someone was trying to hurt my dogs that is why they were bitten.”
Residents asked Mayor Steele what he was going to do about enforcing city ordinances on vicious and stray dogs. Steele said he and the city’s attorney, Ken Aycock were studying the laws and would take appropriate action soon. The Mayor seemed in a difficult spot caught between angry citizens and a set of dog owners who are on the police force and who gave him political support in the last election.
Eutaw Police Chief Derrick Coleman said, “ I was out of town at the last City Council meeting. I have heard about the problem with the dogs. One dog was put down and the other dog was cleared by a veterinarian in Greensboro, after the ten day quarantine and returned to the owners.”
Coleman said that the Glenn’s may have as many as 7 or 8 pit bulls living in their house but they are very careful in taking care of them and supervise them when they let them out. Coleman said he was waiting on the Mayor to give him additional instructions on the dogs and enforcement of relevant ordinances against vicious dogs.
Other complaints were raised at the City Council about packs of stray dogs running around in Eutaw and the need for an animal control officer to catch the dogs and take them away.
Ms. Yvonne Smith of 324 Kirksey Avenue and her daughter Sabrina Smith came by the Democrat to complain of a pack of stray dogs in their neighborhood. They brought a photograph of the dogs camping out on their porch. Yvonne Smith said, “ I have to use a walker and I cannot chase the dogs away. They smell and leave behind bad odors. What is the city doing about these problems?”
In the public comment period other citizens raised questions about flooding on Ann Street, due to clogged drains; lighting problems on Springfield Avenue; a sinkhole that needs to be corrected on Prairie Avenue; and a school bus driver raised concerns about a roadway at Hook Avenue off Mesopotamia.
Faye Tyree complained that she was appointed to the Eutaw Housing Authority on October 25, 2016, based on a letter from former Mayor Hattie Edwards. Mayor Steele sent her a letter to vacate her board position because there was no record in the minutes of her appointment. Tyree said two other persons were appointed at the same time and they have not received letters from the Mayor.
The Council approved a request by the National Wild Turkey Federation to use the National Guard Armory for a dinner and approved the city attorney to develop a resolution on clearing an abandoned house on Tuscaloosa Street adjacent to the Eutaw Elderly Village.
Many citizens left the meeting shaking their heads about the need for action on the problem of the pit bulls and stray dogs. These citizens will be waiting to see what Mayor Steele and the City Council do to deal with these problems at future meetings.