By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
MOODY – The paying of a key to the city given to an individual in March was part of a meeting of the Pinson City Council on Thursday, April 18.
During the regular meeting the council became briefly divided over paying for a key that was given to Alabama Crimson Tide cornerback and Pinson Valley High School graduate Ga’Quincy “Kool-Aid” McKinstry on March 7.
The after party had $405 worth of food that the city provided for the attendees, but Councilwoman Glenda Kirkland expressed concern with paying for the key since it was not for the public and wanted it taken out of the bill schedule to be paid in another way.
“It was nice. I enjoyed it,” she said. “But the key, I cannot ask the public to pay for a key for a single individual.”
The key cost $175. Roberts was also concerned and said that this was because of the cost and the discretionary limit.
“It’s above the amount of money that you would normally have for spending on something like that,” he said. “So if you’d gotten something that was a teeny, weeny little thing that cost less than 25 bucks then it would probably be okay but since we got something that’s fancier then all of the sudden we’re talking about something with real value.”
City Attorney Shane Black advised that the bill schedule could be paid with an amendment of certain items.
When it came time to vote on paying the bills, the first vote was for the amendment first but resulted in a tie of three to three twice due to some confusion over the language of the motion.
The matter was resolved when Roberts offered to pay the $175 himself, which the council unanimously approved.
During the work session the council tabled several items on the agenda for a future meeting, the first being a motion to approve payments for the Clay-Pinson Chamber of Commerce and the Alabama Butter Bean Festival with an increase of $5,000 each.
The chamber’s portion would be $20,000 and the festival’s payment would be $15,000. Mayor Pro-temp Robbie Roberts said that the festival was paid $10,000 in 2023, making the total $30,000.
Councilman John Churchwell pointed out that there was no request for the increase, saying that he had talked with the festival’s director, Ronnie Dixon, and that he had not asked for additional funding, but Mayor Joe Cochran said that he had been approached by him for the increase.
The council tabled the matter for the next meeting.
The council later tabled a motion to begin archiving social media posts to be in compliance with Alabama law. This includes posts, edits and web pages. The surrounding communities use CivicPlus for archival, said City Operations Director Eric Winfrey.
There is a $2,000 initiation fee and a $7,188 yearly fee, though this can be reduced to around $5,000 without certain features such as web pages.
While the council was in agreement to implement the software eventually it was decided to wait until it is further researched.
It was announced that the Farmers Market was set to begin at the Rock School Center on April 19 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Winfrey spoke again and announced that the Rudd Middle School girls track team recently won a county championship game and that they would be recognized at the next meeting. He also mentioned that renovations at Rock School were nearing completion.
The meeting ended with the council going into executive session to discuss pending litigation and the good name of a character.
In other business the council:
- Tabled approving the purchase of access control for the Pinson Valley Sports Complex due to the budget being currently developed, and
- Approved the purchase of hot and cold steam tables for the events center at Rock School for $4,500.
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.