Council okays increased funding for City Landing project; Charles Jones Sr. remembered
Upgrading of the Demopolis City Landing is a “phenomenal project,” Mayor Woody Collins told the City Council Thursday, “but a lot of trials and tribulations” have arisen during the pandemic, “and some of the issues that have come up have been very difficult, at best.”
Initially the city was responsible for $200,000 of the $1.2 million cost of the project. After the bid was awarded, issues in the parking lot and the increasing price of materials caused the Alabama Department of Natural Resources to ask Demopolis to step up with more funding or the project would be shut down.
Since the City cannot afford the $1 million required for a project now estimated to cost $2.9 million, Collins said seven governmental agencies, including the ADNR, stepped up to make the new City Landing a reality. Demopolis now will pitch in $375,000. The rest is coming from the Corps of Engineers, Demopolis Park and Rec Board, Marengo County Commission, the county Park and Rec board and the county Economic Development Authority.
“That sounds impossible, to get seven government groups on the same page working for a common cause,” the mayor said. “We have been as fortunate as any group could be because of the people who have involved themselves in this,” he continued.
Collins said the City had asked the state to quash parts of the project to bring down the costs, but the state denied the request.
Councilmen unanimously approved the revised funding. Park and Rec director Walker Reynolds said the target date for opening the landing remains the end of March or first of April. “It’s all weather dependent.”
Collins started the meeting by remembering former City Councilman Charles Jones Sr., whose son now sits on the Council. The mayor said Demopolis had “lost an icon” in Jones, who died Friday, Jan. 28.
Collins and the senior Jones served on the City Council together. “Every time we ever disagreed on an issue, by the end of the day we give a little, we take a little,” the mayor continued. “This is the art of compromise which is lost in state and federal politics today.”
He added, “You’re living in a better community because of Charles Jones.”
Council members suspended rules and passed a Food Truck Ordinance which will allow mobile vans to dispense food in the city. The trucks still must pass the Health Department inspection and pay the required business license fees.
No action was taken on the unsafe conditions of some apartment complexes in the city to allow for further research. It was also requested that the ordinance include a way to prevent trash from being strewn over the property, whether by requiring trash bins to be corralled or by other means.
Police Chief Rex Flowers’ request to allow police officers to purchase the weapons that were being replaced received approval. Flowers said the buy-back price quotes were well below what was reasonable. Officers will be able to purchase their former weapons for $300 each. The new weapons were paid for with Asset Forfeiture Funds.
After Building Inspector Julius Rembert reported another dilapidated house would be demolished on Center Street, the mayor complemented him on the continuing efforts to rid the city of derelict homes. Rembert said a whole block in the area has been “revived.”
Fire and Rescue Chief James Bailey said firefighters are undergoing search and rescue training now and will have smoke training when the department burns a derelict house on Saturday.