City Council Meeting 21 August 2018

Invocation by Mike Lanier.

Call to order at 6 PM by Mayor Wolff.

Roll call showed all members present.

Approve the Minutes:

Unanimous vote to approve the minutes as read.

Mayor’s Report and Comments:

City Clerk, Carrie Smith, stated that as of right now there are 4 billing cycles for electricity. Plans are to go to one billing cycle which will align all the dates. Bills will come out on the 28 of the month. If unpaid by the 15 of the next month electrical service will be cut. New software to support this system is coming in with hopes of having it all in place by 1 October.

Anyone paying their bill by check will be required to produce ID.

Councilperson Davis noted that she was not informed of some of the committee meetings until after the meeting. It was noted that Ms. Davis does not have a published email address and it is difficult to get meeting information to her due to this.

New Business:

Glen Andrews representing OSMOSE, an asset manager for pole accountability, had been contacted by the city to give a proposal of how to get utilization and return on current pole assets. Mr. Andrews was on hand and noted that joint use and contracts of pole utilization were important to the city.

The city formalized a contract with Mr. Andrews, acting as a neutral third party, to provide the city with an accurate account of how many poles the city-owned and what additional appendage and equipment were attached to them.

It was noted the lead dispatcher, Judy Chambliss, was getting an excessive amount of overtime. The explanation offered was the alternate dispatcher had been out on 12 weeks of leave which has expired yet the alternate dispatcher has not reported back to work and has offered no explanation. Ms. Chambliss has been covering additional hours because of this. There cannot be a new hire until the alternate dispatcher is terminated. Ms. Smith is running an ad for a dispatcher in the paper now. this should resolve this situation soon.

The city has 2 water wells that are inoperative now. One pump is located at City Hall and the other is at the City School. Superintendent Davis and Goodwin, Mills and Cawood representative Bob Carter advise the city that new wells need to be drilled. Mr. Carter told the mayor and council that there should be some grants available for this issue.

The Rural Development Agency provides grants that will cover up to 75% of the cost. A minimum grant will cover up to 45% cost and provide a 55% loan over a 40 year period. it must be requested and 4 years of audits must be provided. Thanks to Ms. Smith doing a good clerk job, these audits will soon be available, unlike it was with Mr. Hitsom who was paid more money and did nothing toward accomplishing anything for the city.

Mr. Carter will submit the application for a fee of $25,000.00. He gets to retain this fee whether the application is accepted or denied.

Mr. Carter addressed the plan for the ballfields. He stated they should be completed next week and approximately $400,000.00 more should complete the park.

Accounts Payable:

Councilperson Caylor voted nay to approve the accounts payable because of invoices paying the new park director for mileage on his private vehicle were contained therein. Mr.Caylor's reasoning was there were other city vehicles available for use not requiring the extra payout for mileage and, in Mr. Caylor's opinion, the mileage charge was also excessive. (Total mileage is running around 200+ miles per week increasing the city’s payout by $100.00+ per week). The mileage invoice did have a statement on it saying approved by Mayor Wolff .

Adjourn: 6:50 PM