Greene County Democrat

Tag: project engineer

  • Eutaw City Council learns that city is losing police officers due to low pay

    At its regular meeting on February 13, 2024, the Eutaw City Council learned from Chief of Police Tommy Johnson that three police officers had left the staff to take jobs at other law enforcement agencies, due to low pay.
    Currently Eutaw police officers have a starting pay of $15.00 an hour which the officers said is not sufficient for their essential and needed services. This wage is comparable to many fast-food workers in the area, who do not have the same risks and danger faced by police officers.

    Chief Johnson said that four additional officers may leave and that the current staffing pattern requires extensive overtime pay because there are not enough officers to cover all shifts.

    The Eutaw City Council, at this meeting, approved an amended policy on the use of city vehicles which allows police officers to drive cars home, beyond the police jurisdiction, but not for personal use beyond the roundtrip to work. This will also allow the police, who live out of town, to respond to emergencies more quickly. An earlier version of the policy required parking of all city vehicles including police cars. Chief Johnson and some police officers objected to the original policy and the effort to control and reduce a small benefit to police officers, which may have contributed to some officers leaving the staff.

    Council members concerned about the reduced number of police officers, agreed to a Council Work Session on Thursday, February 22, 2024, to review the police budget and possibly adjust pay rates to improve recruitment and retention of police officers.

    The Council considered a fee schedule for the rental and use of the Robert H. Young Community Center (formerly the Carver School) which the city purchased from the Board of Education. The proposal suggested $300 for a four hour basic rental of the gymnasium, and increments for additional hours, also if funds are raised and further if alcohol is served at the function. The facility has been used for funerals, by 501c3 non-profit organizations and others who may not be able to afford these rates. The Council tabled the rental fee schedule for further discussion at the upcoming work session.

    The Council approved salary raises for two of three city employees, who were recently promoted: Broderick Lewis as General Superintendent at $18/hour; and Marcus Burton, Water and Sewer Supervisor at $17/hour; Paul Jones raise is pending based on resolution of a problem with his driver’s license.

    In other actions, the Eutaw City Council:

    • Approved the low bid of $1,074,075.09, of Cornerstone Civil Contractors, for the Eutaw Courthouse Streetscape Project and sent the information forward to the Alabama Department of Transportation and Goodwyn, Mills and Caywood, project engineer, for contract award and initiation of construction.

    • Approved Ordinance No 2024-20-06 #6 regulating grass and weed nuisances, accumulation of rubbish, abandoned and inoperable vehicles, abandoned/dilapidated structures, and other nuisances. This ordinance simplifies the process for dealing with these nuisances and eye soars in the city.

    • Received a report from Logan Land Company that land owned by the City of Eutaw on County Road 53, also known as Lock 7 road, which is zoned M-1, for light industry is worth $10,000 to $15,000 per acre for sale in 4-to-5-acre parcels. A church group had indicated an interest in purchasing some of the city’s land in this location, which prompted the city to seek an estimated commercial value for the property.

    • Received notice from Mayor Johnson that the City of Eutaw had submitted documents to be included in the RAISE Grant, a program by Auburn University to build sidewalks and crosswalks on Greensboro Avenue, Hwy 14 to Highway 43, reaching to the Carver Circle community and public housing units.

    • Approved a proposal from Lorenzo French, PARA Director for a one-week Boys and Girls Basketball Camp at the Robert H. Young Community Center in June 2024.

    • Approved payment of bills for the past month.

  • Eutaw City Council approves first three contracts for Water Restoration and Resiliency Project

    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.