From the Trussville Tribune staff reports
CENTER POINT — The Center Point City Council met on Thursday. Council President Roger Barlow led the room in a call to order, invocation and a pledge of allegiance to the flag. Afterwards a roll call was performed, and once it was confirmed that a quorum had been achieved, the council proceeded with city business.
The public was invited to make comments and Vann Phillips, principle of Center Point High School, addressed the council about the importance of fine arts in the school system saying, “There are children out there that are artistically inclined, and we want to give them the opportunity to express themselves.”
The council was moved by Mr. Phillips’ speech and approved granting $6000 for Center Point High School’s fine arts and theater program.
New business for the session included considering a quote from Continuity Consulting, LLC to install smart locks on the bathrooms at Reed Harvey Park. These locks are set on a timer and will lock the bathrooms from the outside making sure that the facilities are not abused outside the hours of operation, the mechanism will also unlock at a set time in the morning. The locks can be released from the inside. The council accepted the bid and the locks will be installed at a cost of $3452.49.
Under unfinished business the council considered a bid for renovations to the Center Point Community Center. Bennet Building came in as the low bidder. They will charge $416,677 to renovate the first floor of the center and, as an add alternate, $189,022 to renovate the second floor. Because of the way the bid is structured the council is free not to exercise the option of having the renovations to the second floor performed; in which case the $189,022 will not be charged to the city. However, that price is now locked in and, if the city decides to have the second floor renovated, the price cannot be raised. The bid was approved with one council member, Terry Leesburg, voting against it.
Also, under unfinished business, the council considered a bid for a new splash pad. The city council had initially agreed that they would not exceed $200,000 in funds for the project. However, that amount was for a splash pad of 1257 square feet. The bid, from Dawson, for the splash pad eventually came in at $231,000, but that was for a much larger splash pad than had been originally envisioned, one that measures 2124 square feet. Prior to the meeting a solution had been worked out in which the city itself could perform aspects of the construction, and by doing so bring the total cost of the project down to $204,400; with $90,000 of that total amount being paid for with a grant from the state. To take advantage of this arrangement the council had to reject the bid from Dawson and authorize the Mayor to negotiate a new bid. The council passed an ordinance to do so with one member, Terry Leesburg, voting against it.