Laney takes over as Demopolis mayor

Demopolis Mayor John Laney along with the newly re-elected city council took the oath of office Monday morning to open the first of two meetings.

“I just want to say what a pleasure it is to be here and how thankful I am to the citizens of this community because, if it wasn’t for them, I wouldn’t be here,” Laney said after receiving the gavel from Councilman Bill Meador during an 8 a.m. meeting that covered a number of formalities related to the changing of the city’s administration.

The council appointed Charles Jones as Chairman Pro Tempore before tackling an agenda largely built around the setting up of the city’s various committees.

“I feel that part of government is the need to get comments from the public. It will be our responsibility to set length of time. I do think it is essential that the public be able to speak at the end of each meeting about what’s going on,” Laney said, explaining his desire to provide an opportunity each meeting for citizens to address the council.

“My only comment about that was to have sort of a limited time frame, so it isn’t all night but is a reasonable time,” Meador offered. The council unanimously agreed to Resolution 2016-08, which makes the allotted public response time a staple to punctuate each meeting.

When the council turned its attention to the establishment of committees, Laney proposed a pair of new committees he hopes will help the operations of the city.

The Economic Incentive and Contract Committee will review any contracts associated with economic incentives for private ventures and report to the council members the findings of their review and value of the economic incentives to the private venture on a per job created basis. They will also include in their review the protections provided to the city in the event the private venture does not meet its objectives as presented to the council. The committee will also report on the potential impact (positive or negative) of the private venture on any currently active businesses. Secondarily, the committee is designed to develop recommendations for the council’s economic incentives for underdeveloped or underutilized areas of the city with the primary focus being on revitalization and job creation.

In addition to the EICC, the council approved the creation of the Grant Review and Capital Spending Committee. That body is set to review and make recommendations to the council on grants for which the city wishes to apply. Additionally, it will review capital spending requests prior to the preparation of budgets for each year.

“We might not be able to stop it completely, but we’re going to have to eliminate the last-minute request for grants,” Laney said. “I have a big problem with people coming at the last minute to ask for things, so that’s going to have to change.”

Council representation on committees will be as follows:

Economic Incentives and Contract Committee – Bill Meador and Charles Jones

Grant and Capital Budget – Bill Meador and Harris Nelson

Airport committee – Harris Nelson

Beautification – Nathan Hardy

Building – Cleveland Cole and Bill Meador

Cemetery – Charles Jones

Finance – Nathan Hardy and Cleveland Cole

Historic preservation – Charles Jones

Library – Cleveland Cole

Park and Rec – Bill Meador

Personnel – Nathan Hardy and Harris Nelson

Planning – Cleveland Cole

Public Safety – Nathan Hardy and Bill Meador

Water – Charles Jones

Board of Adjustment –Harris Nelson

BOE – Bill Meador

Hospital – Charles Jones

The council also touched upon the impending need to hire a city attorney as Bill Poole intends to retire by the beginning of 2017.

“I will take the recommendation. What I’m concerned about is that, if we move pre-emptively, we might not give people in the city an opportunity for that business,” Laney said.

The council followed that meeting with a 10 a.m. session that included the group’s normal agenda. Laney began by reading three letters to the Demopolis Police Department from entities such as the City of Linden and the Sumter County Sheriff’s Department that extended gratitude to the DPD for assistance in various events and investigations.

“Chief Reese, I would like to thank you for all the good work you’re doing to build good relations with the other counties and cities in this area,” Laney said to Demopolis Police Department Chief Tommie Reese.

The council also heard from Demopolis airport head Jason Pendergrass, who sought and received approval for a pre-application for an ALDOT grant that comes just shy of $167,000 with a five percent match by the city in the amount of $8,300. The city match funds would be needed by summer 2017.

“It’s called entitlement funding, so this is pretty much assured that we’re going to get it,” Pendergrass said of the funds, which would be used to renovate the facility’s terminal building. The renovations would include nearly doubling the size the building to accommodate a conference room, a pilot’s lounge, a small galley and a handicap accessible restroom. Additionally, the building would receive brick siding and a new awning along with a pitched roof.

“I fully expect that we can accomplish this within that $166,000,” Pendergrass said.

Meador was quick to endorse the project as it would create a showpiece for the city when business owners and potential industry leaders visit Demopolis.

“It’s our first chance to make a great first impression on some very financially capable people.”

The council also voted to rezone two lots located at 2933 Highway 80 East from residential to agricultural. The lots, which are currently vacant, already received approval for the rezoning from the planning commission. The property, which is surrounded by other unoccupied residential lots, will be used for cattle.

The council approved the festivities for Christmas on the River as well as a Community Development Block Grant agreement which will be used to make improvements on the entry road to Two Rivers and the WestRock chip mill.

Other business included approval for the Demopolis Fire Department to apply for a $46,000 FEMA equipment grant. Additionally, the council addressed the creation of an ordinance to perpetually approve the August sales tax holiday for as long as the State of Alabama honors it.

“It has come to my attention that our current budget is overstated on revenue by $500,000 and understated on expenses by $100,000,” Laney stated toward the end of the meeting, pointing to upcoming business for the council. “We have budget adjustments that we’ll have to make to salaries as a result of the federal mandate on overtime. The salary adjustment will be done by December. As far as where we get the money from and how we address it, that will be the problem of the finance committee.”

The council is set to meet again Thursday, Nov. 17 at 8 a.m. The first meeting of December is set for Monday, Dec. 5 at 5:15 p.m.