At a special called meeting on October 3, 2023, the Eutaw City Council approved the first three contracts, presented by project engineer, Angela Henline, for the joint Eutaw-Boligee Water system Restoration and Resiliency Project.
Contract A for Metering, Monitoring and Flushing Improvements (Project No. FS010444-02) was awarded to low bidder, Lavender, Inc. of Aliceville, Alabama, for $531,215. In her report to the council, the engineer includes an itemization of the costs and approvals by the engineer, City of Eutaw and ADEM, which is funding each of these projects.
Contract B for Boligee Tank Rehabilitation (Project No. FS010444-02) was awarded to Robinson & Sons Construction Services of Haleyville, Alabama for $294,896.
Contract C for Backflow Prevention Improvements (Project No. FS 010444-02) was awarded to Lavender, Inc. of Aliceville, for $708,760, after the low bidder sent in a corrected bid, which was not accepted, This contract will install over 1,300 backflow preventers for the system’s residential customers. Business and commercial customers will also receive more appropriate backflow devices for their service.
The Eutaw City Council then turned its attention to three agenda items placed there by Council member La’Jeffrey Carpenter. These were city vehicles; police DARE account and city gas card. Carpenter had no specific suggestions or resolutions for these issues. Other council members suggested a time log on use of the vehicles and periodic inspections, which the Chief of Police said he was already doing for police vehicles.
In a previous meeting, the council voted to restrict the Mayor’s use of a city credit card, which has created problems in reserving rooms and rental cars when city council members and staff are traveling to training and other conferences. The Mayor has a debit card which is not accepted for certain transactions by hotels. The council agreed to discuss this matter further in an upcoming work session.
The council tabled action on two agenda items: lease-purchasing a John Deere 5100E Cab Tractor to replace an aging tractor; and loaning the city’s street sweeper to Aliceville, until there was more clarity on the City’s financial status. Mayor Johnson announced that the city was still awaiting reimbursement of over $400,000 from FEMA for debris removal after the tornadoes earlier this year. FEMA is promising payment by the end of October. These funds will be returned to the city’s General Fund and restore stability to the city’s finances.
The council heard a report from Lorenzo French, PARA Director, who also serves as administrator of the Robert H. Young Community Center (old Carver School) and the National Guard Armory, which are city owned facilities. French asked for funding to clean-up the field behind Carver after the Class Day, a few weeks ago. French was advised that the groups $350 deposit on the grounds was not returned and was available for necessary clean-up.
French also advised that the National Guard Armory needed repairs prior to the March 2024 Primary Election, which uses the facility as a polling place. French was advised to get estimates for the cost of repairs for the council to consider at future meetings.
In other actions, the Eutaw City Council:
• Approved a ‘Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday” for February 23-25, 2024.
• Purchased two defibrillators for the Eutaw Police Department and two for the Eutaw Fire Department at a total cost of $3,280.
• Received financial reports from Mr. Ralph Liverman, Financial Consultant, on utility revenues, opening a new bank account for Rebuild Alabama Gas Tax funds, and a report on the status of a $500,000 loan to the City of Eutaw from Merchants and Farmers Bank for trucks and other equipment, purchased in October 2021. The amortization schedule shows that as of the September 18, 2023, payment, the balance owed is $258,546.78.
• Approved payment of bills.