Council handles board appointments

The Demopolis City Council held its final meeting of the year Thursday evening, appointing Tommy Tate as the new chief of the Demopolis Fire and Rescue Department.

During the meeting, Demopolis Mayor Mike Grayson announced that the city is putting together a plan to alleviate the parking problems at the city’s Jackson Street park.

“We’re going to wait until after the rainy season, but we’ve got a plan,” Grayson noted in the meeting.

The council appointed Jay Reynolds to the Demopolis Water and Sewer Board with no discussion on the matter. Grayson, Bill Meador and Harris Nelson voted in favor of appointing Reynolds while Charles Jones voted in favor of Dexter Jones. Cleveland Cole voted against both nominees. The absence of Mitchell Congress left the vote 3-2 in favor of Reynolds.

The council also took nominations for the two open seats on the hospital board. Webb Tutt is up for reappointment while Dr. Maurice Fitz-Gerald recently finished his final term.

Cole nominated Dr. Judy Travis. Meador nominated Tutt and Jim Grantham while Jones nominated Dr. Ronnie Chu.

The council also took seven nominations for four spots on the Demopolis Parks and Recreation Board.

Jones nominated Joseph Bailey and Dexter Jones. Cole nominated Jason Perryman. Nelson, the council liaison to the board, nominated Rob Pearson and Martin Simmons as well as Paul Willingham and Alfred Padilla, who are currently on the board.

The final agenda item of the meeting saw Buddy Gray approach the council and express concern over a handful of features around the city and how they relate to the Americans with Disabilities Act in addition to other questions.

“Any public entity that employs 50 people, must have an ADA officer appointed,” Gray noted before going over a list of concerns that included the need for more handicap accessible entrances to certain public buildings as well as the lack of Braille at public facilities.

Jones punctuated the council discussion by responding briefly to Gray’s comments.

“I’m sure that we need to bring some of the buildings up to code. At some point, I think that we may need to have a meeting with (Junior) Brooker and address some of the things that Mr. Gray just brought to our attention,” Jones said.