From The Trussville Tribune staff reports
CENTER POINT — School resource officers was a topic that the Center Point City Council briefly touched on at a regular meeting on Thursday. Before this subject was brought up, the council heard an update from a representative of Retail Coach on recruiting businesses into the city.
Councilor Linda Kennemur said that she had a discussion with law enforcement officials on the costs on hiring additional officers to be present on school campuses. She said that she was told that costs may amount to more than $74,000 on a yearly basis.
However, she also said that the information she received was unclear.
Kennemur suggested inviting Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Craig Pouncey to the next meeting to explain more on what it would take to hire more resource officers.
“I feel pretty passionate about this,” she said. “I don’t think you can put a price on a child’s life.”
The council will continue to discuss SRO’s at the next meeting.
Caroline Heamberger, a recruitment specialist from Retail Coach, gave a presentation on the company’s progress in attracting more businesses into Center Point, which she said may help in increasing sales tax revenue.
One aspect of the study done by Retail Coach was what she described as “retail trade areas” where the cell phones of shoppers are tracked in order to find where they stop the most.
Heamberger explained that Retail Coach is studying the habits of shoppers and where they shop to better identify which retailers would fit the best in Center Point. She said that they are in talks with potential retail outlets, including a clothing store and a hardware store, but cannot give out their names if they enter the market in Center Point due to potential competition from other businesses and land price increase.
Afterwards the council went into executive session to discuss economic development. The meeting was reconvened after about 15 minutes where the council adopted technical codes for the city.
In other business, the council approved several purchases, including some for the Hilldale Baptist property, set to become a recreation center in the future. The first was a proposal from IS Technologies for data network wiring and infrastructure for $4,634.65. The second was for signage for $6,520.85.
The third purchase was a proposal from Tamburello Protective Services for security cameras for $6,500. Barlow said that the purchase was made out of bond and not from general funds.
In his comments, Henderson expressed his condolences for the family of Courtlin Arrington, who died after a shooting in Huffman High School yesterday, an area close to Center Point. He also reported that the newly-appointed library board will meet on March 11 at 3 p.m. in the council chambers to determine a board chairman.
The next Center Point City Council meeting will take place on March 22, with pre-council at 6:45 p.m. followed by the regular meeting at 7 p.m.