Council okays single polling place for tax renewal elections

Demopolis will hold two special property tax renewal elections to benefit city schools in March, but the City Council Thursday voted to have just one polling place in the city.      

Since one of the elections is city-sponsored and the second is maintained by Marengo County, the one polling site will have two voting areas, and each voter will have to cast two ballots, said Mayor Woody Collins.

The two 5-mil issues have been on the books for more than 60 years and must be renewed periodically. Collins said the city issue brings in about $1 million to school coffers.

“I don’t think anyone has an issue” about renewing the tax, he said, but Collins admitted the requirement to vote twice in the same location might be confusing.

The Council honored a request from Freddie Charleston, president of the Demopolis Area Habitat for Humanity, for $5,000 to help pay for an office. The organization, Charleston said, is funded through donations. In the past Trinity Episcopal Church and the Theo Ratliff Center have provided space, but DAHFH needs a permanent headquarters to store records, interview prospective clients and provide a place for staff to work.

The group has applied for a $350,000 grant to construct 12 houses over the next two years. If successful, the new homes would eliminate some of the manufactured housing in the city and, with people working together, will create a closer community, said Charleston.

All the clients who have been served have been rom Demopolis, he continued, but the group has been given land in Linden and expects to reach out to other communities in the county.

DAHFH once had been included in the city budget. Collins invited Charleston to make a formal request to be included when budget hearings begin next year.

The Council directed the Finance and Budget committees to review an appraisal of the former Ford Dealership property prepared by Bill Mackey Realtors in anticipation of selling the lot at the corner of Cedar and Capitol.

Also approved was a resolution authorizing the city to join in a class-action suit involving the settlement of an opioid distribution case.

The mayor said a contract has been signed and money allocated for construction on Arcola Road, but the contractor cannot begin work until after the first of the year.

Councilman David McCants said he has been getting complaints from residents about pick-up trucks that are extremely loud. The mayor agreed and said some of them have been outfitted with cut-outs and glass packs. He asked Police Chief Rex Flowers to check noise ordinances to see if the noisy vehicles can be reined in.