By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
MOODY – The Moody City Council voted to pay $6,000 to the St. Clair Economic Development Council to enter into a new grants needs assessment program.
Moody Chamber of Commerce members Autumn Null, Andrea Machen and Jessica Machen were present for a proclamation declaring the third Wednesday of every October to be Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day.
St. Clair EDC Retail and Marketing Specialist Candice Hill explained that this will have all of the municipalities of the county working together to form a comprehensive grants assessment plan and that the EDC will be working alongside the Witt O’Brien’s group for the program.
“EDC is very excited,” she said. “I’m very excited to be working as the coordinator for the grants program.”
The project will begin with Moody and then to other cities where the EDC will meet with each department head and perform a needs assessment, which will be followed by a grants assessment.
“The city of Moody’s been looking for a grant writer for the past year, year and a half,” said Mayor Joe Lee. “I know (Councilwoman Linda Crowe’s) put a lot of work into interviewing grant writers and trying to hire one for the city of Moody and it’s kind of all fell into place – the county and the EDC and Moody to work out a deal with O’Brien’s to be a grant writer. We’re excited about it and excited where it may take us.”
The council also approved an ordinance that authorized the issuance of a general obligation warrant, series 2023. Attorney Brad Cherry explained that last year the council passed an ordinance that refunded its 2014 warrants that financed the civic center, which was $8.4 million.
He said that it saved $600,000, which was partly due to the fact that it could not be refinanced on a tax-exempt basis. In 2022 they “locked in” a tax-exempt interest rate. The ordinance passed on Monday night converts the warrant to a tax-exempt warrant. He said that the interest rate today amounts to two and a quarter percent.
He added that this was approximately half what the current market rate for interest rates are.
Later during the meeting, the council voted unanimously to recognize the third Wednesday in October of each year to be Support Your Local Chamber of Commerce Day. Moody Chamber of Commerce Director Andrea Machen was present along with board members Jessica Machen and Autumn Null to be recognized.
The council heard from department heads for the month of September, with Police Chief Reece Smith reporting 1,238 calls for service, 19 vehicle wrecks, 170 citations, 146 reports written by officers, 64 misdemeanors, 19 felonies, and 14,772 miles were driven by police vehicles. Maintenance for vehicles amounted to $8,265.40.
Fire Chief Larry Horton reported 159 responses, three vehicle fires, 85 medical emergencies, seven vehicle wrecks, 14 public services, 31 lift assists, 19 false alarms, and five mutual aids. The average dispatch-to-en-route time was one minute and 41 seconds and the average dispatch-to-arrival time was six minutes and 73 seconds.
There were 27 annual inspections, 15 re-inspections, and one fire pump inspection, he said.
In other business, the council:
- Approved a request from Smith to purchase extra L.E.A.D. student kits to accommodate more student materials for Moody Middle School for $600,
- Approved $1,200 to send an SRO to NASRO Basic School Resource Officer certification in December,
- Approved Smith’s request to advertise and hire a part-time flex officer,
- Approved Smith’s request to advertise and hire to replace a full-time police officer position,
- Approved purchasing a drone for the fire department for $10,000 with costs to be shared by the police and fire departments,
- Rezoned a property located off Moody Parkway from AG-1 (Agricultural) to R-2 (Single Family Residential).
Meetings are held on the second and fourth Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at Moody City Hall on 670 Park Ave.
Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@gmail.com.
