By Nathan Prewett, For The Tribune
LEEDS – Following some controversy over the past few months regarding the Leeds Jane Culbreth Library’s budget, the city council voted to allocate $150,000 to the library at a meeting on Monday, April 18.
The board was given an additional $10,000 from Sen. Dan Roberts, who was in attendance with Rep. Dickie Drake and Sen. Jack Williams as they presented the check to the library, as well as a $25,000 to the city to repair a damaged culvert.
The funds for the culvert came from the Cawaco Resource and Development Council or RC&D. A weather event caused a tree to fall and damage a culvert in the city, prompting the need for repairs.
Roberts then presented the check to the library board.
“This has been an incredibly challenging last few years for you guys,” he said. “But I’m most grateful for what you do. As we move along with education, getting our children to read is a critical function. So I just want to say ‘thank you’ to them and, [Mayor David Miller], thank you for allowing me to present this check to them tonight.”
When the regular meeting was convened, the council passed several items on the agenda before coming to the budget amendment, which would give the library the $150,000.
“They have made a recommendation in terms of personnel hours and have come up with the dollar figures that would allow them to finish out the year,” he said. “Even with the previous management problems and over expenditures, this would keep the library up and running for the rest of the year, at which time we will have a formal agreement in place with the library board for operation in future years.”
The action was the latest in a conflict that some on the council had with Melanie Carden, who was the director of the library until her recent resignation. In February, she requested an allocation not to exceed $200,000 after funding was cut during the COVID pandemic.
The resolution to allocate the funds failed due to a lack of a second to Councilwoman DeVoris Ragland-Pierce’s motion. This was followed by disagreement from the public. In a past meeting, Miller cited what he said were issues with the management of the library, as well as overspending with the budget.
“We have a very good relationship with the library board,” he said at last night’s meeting. “And we’re doing everything to get the library back on track financially, and they’re working hard to work with us.”
Though the item was passed unanimously, Ragland-Pierce criticized the delay in allocating funds.
“I just think that we should have done this several weeks ago,” she said. “And I don’t understand why we didn’t do it when the director asked us to do this at first, and I feel like we’ve lost a very good employee.”
A discussion followed after Councilman Kenneth Washington asked if the library would cut hours for the employees. At some point, board member Linda Miller said that they would work to keep the 40 hours per week scheduled, but if it was not possible, they could have the library closed one day of the week. She said that there were no plans to cut the hours and that the funds would go to payroll and fringe benefits to carry the library through the current fiscal year.
Miller raised the possibility of hiring part-time workers or taking volunteers, alleging that they were refused by the library before. This was revisited in the public comments section, where Victoria McDonald asked several questions, among them concerning the volunteers.
She asked if there was documentation of this, to which Miller replied that there was. McDonald then asked if this was available to others, but Miller did not reply and told her of her remaining seconds to speak. When her time was up, she pressed Miller about the documentation but was later escorted out. Shortly before she was escorted out, she asked if she would need to come to City Hall to get the information and was told “yes.”
During public comments, Felicia Rucker-Sumerlin spoke of her candidacy for Jefferson County Sheriff. She asked for the support of citizens from Leeds and spoke on her platform, which included starting an investigative task force and a citizens advisory board.
In other business, the council:
- Approved the 2022 Back to School Sales Tax Holiday beginning on the third Friday of July,
- Awarded a cemetery lawncare bid to JG Southern LLC,
- Approved an estimated $80,000 to repair damage done by termites at the Leeds Railroad Depot,
- Accepted a contract with Avenu Insights and Analytics for the collection of taxes, business licenses, and recovery,
- Approved a budget amendment to reimburse the fire department’s training and education fund for $12,900,
- Approved a request from Police Chief Paul Irwin to use confiscated funds to purchase equipment not to exceed $28,563.46, as well as funds not to exceed $3,500 to pay for the costs of training and awards ceremony and travel for city officers,
- Agreed to use city funds and grants from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Alabama and the National Fitness Campaign Grant Committee to implement a public fitness area in the park for an estimated $180,000,
- Tabled a resolution to pave a road on Willow Street as requested by a resident after discussion on whether or not the road was private or part of the city and will speak with the resident further to potentially assist them as policy allows.
Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at City Hall on 1400 9th Street Northeast. Agenda packets can be seen online at the City of Leeds website.