By Terry Schrimscher For The Tribune
SPRINGVILLE — The Springville City Council met for the second regularly scheduled monthly meeting on Monday night, October 18, with a full agenda including downtown lighting, city budgets, and trash disposal services.
In the pre-meeting work session, City Attorney James Hill presented information on an emergency garbage bid with EcoSouth to take over disposal services for the city immediately. Springville, like many cities, has faced delays with garbage collection services in recent months.
The Council approved a temporary contract with EcoSouth to serve through the end of February 2022 while the city bids for new three-year contracts.
EcoSouth was selected as the vendor for the City of Leeds in July and the City of Argo in August. The service will cost $19.95 per month and will include debris removal.
The Council heard a discussion on replacing decorative lighting on buildings in the historic district downtown. The Springville Chamber of Commerce presented a contract for $5500 to reinstall the lights.
“The Chamber has been actively surveying the owners of the downtown buildings about having the lights placed on their property and, while our survey is not completed, we have yet to have a building owner or a business owner tell us they do not want to have the lights on their buildings,” Chamber of Commerce President Nickie Posey said.
“We have confirmed with the historic committee that there is not any kind of restriction about having the lights up through the historic district,” Posey added.
Mayor Dave Thomas had the lights removed by the city last year. Thomas has stated he wants to open a dialogue about better lighting options for the district.
“I don’t know that we had authority to take them down to start with,” Councilmember Wayne Tucker said. “My opinion is the city didn’t have authority to go on private property and take them down.”
The council approved $5500 for the Chamber of Commerce to reinstall the outdoor lighting on buildings in the historic district.
The Council approved the FY 2021-2022 budget discussed in previous weeks, including last week’s special session. The budget is $11,167,741 including $ 7,997,320 in the general fund and $ 2,590,040 for water and sewer.
Additions from the previous discussion include a new administrative assistant for Chief Walton in the Springville Police Department and the funding for new vehicles approved in the October 11 meeting.
In other business, the council approved the following:
- $90,000 for road paving
- Rezoning property at 50 McDonald Mountain Circle from R-1 to A-1 (agricultural)
- A resolution to use grant funding to purchase new fire hoses and nozzles
- A resolution abandoning the emergency alert siren system
- Up to $5000 for the design of hiking trails in the Big Canoe Creek Nature Preserve
- Up to $30,000 to hire Flow Motion Trail Builders to construct the trails upon approval by the State of Alabama and Forever Wild
The next regular meeting is scheduled for November 1, 2021, with a work session at 5:30 p,m. prior to the 6 p.m. meeting.