Council Meeting Minutes 12-12-2023

CITY OF SOUTHSIDE
COUNTY OF ETOWAH
STATE OF ALABAMA

The City Council of the City of Southside convened in regular public session in Council Chambers at The City of Southside City Hall on Tuesday, December 12, 2023. Prior notice of this meeting was given in compliance with Resolution No. 0-035-2005 of the City of Southside, Alabama and the Alabama Open Meetings Act. Mayor Dana Snyder called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m., with Keith Clay leading in prayer.

The following council members were present: Mayor Dana Snyder, Council Members: Joseph Hutchins, John Hatley, Keith Clay Danny Garnett and Don Steward. With a quorum being present, the meeting was opened for the transaction of business. The council recessed to the work session at 4:03 p.m., and reconvened the council meeting at 5:28 p.m.

Mayor Snyder inquired of the council if there were any corrections or additions to the minutes from the regular council meeting held on November 28, 2023. A motion was made by Joseph Hutchins to approve the minutes as presented. A second of the motion to approve was made by Don Steward. Roll call vote: ALL AYES. The motion carried unanimously.

First on the agenda was Police Chief Jarrett Williams who started off by thanking the council for their approval to hire 2 new officers. Chief Williams then introduced 2 new officers, Connor Vervynckt, with 10 years of law enforcement experience, and Isaac Franklin, who will be attending the academy, and then working with Southside P.D. The Chief then introduced Officer Jaeger, a K-9 officer who recently became certified as a narcotics officer, as well as his handler, Sergeant Jeremy Johnson. Chief Williams commended the officers, and stated that the K-9 had already been a part of several successful apprehensions in just a matter of weeks. Chief Williams then recognized 2 promotions of Officers within the Department; Patrol Officers Blake Habyan and Jagger Nance are promoted to Sergeant on A and B shifts, respectively in an effort to provide structure and accountability on the night shifts. They will report to Captain Johnson and Lieutenant Patty. Don Steward made a motion to amend the budget to allow for the pay raise connected to the promotion process. Joseph Hutchins made the second. Roll Call Vote was ALL AYES. The motion passed, Mayor Snyder welcomed the new officers, and congratulated the ones promoted.

Next on the agenda was a proposed agreement with Rent.Fun to provide Kayak Rentals at Southside Landing. Mayor Snyder explained that the agreement was for four kayaks and storage lockers at Southside Landing for 5 years, for $14,900, of which Buck’s Island would sponsor $5000. Mayor Snyder stated that the rental service would be app-based, and to rent the kayak, all renters would be signing a digital liability waiver before the rental would be allowed. The expected turn around on the installation is 120 days, which should enable kayak rentals at Southside Landing in the spring of 2024. Don Steward made a motion to approve the agreement, Joseph Hutchins provided the second. The roll call vote was ALL AYES. The motion passed.

The next item on the agenda was a Resolution to approve the City of Southside to purchase and equip a 2016 ambulance from Cahaba Fire. In the work session, Fire Chief, Wade Buckner presented the proposal to the council, citing the fact that the city has certified personnel on staff to man an ambulance, and if needed, transport residents in emergency situations. Chief Buckner cited the recent trend toward private ambulance services having issues with staffing and long response times for service to residents. Keith Clay asked Chief Buckner if he would do a brief explanation about the purchase for the live stream audience, which Chief Buckner did. Don Steward made a motion to approve the purchase, Joseph Hutchins added the second. The roll call vote was ALL AYES, the motion passed.

The next item was a resolution to approve a proposal for equipment and internet service at the new Fire Station One, submitted by Access Wireless Data Solutions in the amount of 2,055.40 for the equipment, which the city’s IT will install, with a monthly fee for internet service of $80.00 to follow. Don Steward made a motion to approve the agreement, Danny Garnett provided a second. The roll-call vote was ALL AYES. The motion passed.

Next was an addition to the agenda from the work session for a one-time pay raise for city staff of $300.00 for full time employees and $150.00 for part time employees. Joseph Hutchins made a motion to approve the proposal, Danny Garnett seconded the motion. The roll call Vote was ALL AYES. The motion carried.

The next item of business was also added from the work session. The council had voted to accept the award of the 2024 TAP Grant for a sidewalk from ALDOT at the November 28,2023 meeting. ALDOT has provided a list of engineering firms approved to contract for Design Service on the project. In the work session, Councilman Hutchins had explained that the city has an established working relationship with GMC, who is on the approved list. GMC has already done some of the preliminary groundwork for this project, including providing free of charge grant-writing assistance. Councilman Hutchins made a motion to enter an agreement with GMC for Design service on the project. Don Steward seconded the motion. The roll call vote was ALL AYES. The motion passed.

Next was the approval to apply for the 2024 RAISE Grant, which would provide eighteen million dollars toward the replacement of the north bound bridge across the Coosa River.The City has applied for this grant previously. The grant writer would be Karl Kalbacher for this grant. Joseph Hutchins made a motion to approve the application, Don Steward seconded the motion. The roll call vote was ALL AYES. The motion passed.

The next item was a resolution to commit to a local match of up to one million dollars to the bridge replacement project, which is a stipulation to the RAISE Grant being awarded. Joseph Hutchins made a motion to approve the commitment, Don Steward provided the second.
The roll call vote was ALL AYES. The motion carried.

The next item was also added from the work session. Finance Director, Nickie Pylant, had presented an opportunity, due to promotional interest rates on C.D.’s currently available, that she had discovered, to move approximately 2.7 million dollars from specifically earmarked accounts to the higher-yield (5.5%) promotional C.D.s in order to make more money in interest for the accounts. Don Steward made a motion to approve Director Pylant to move the funds. Keith Clay provided the second. Roll Call Vote was ALL AYES. The motion passed.

Next Keith Clay made a motion to commit $500.00 to the CED Mental Health Youth Prevention Conference 2024, which was presented in the work session by Ms. Laura Durbin of CED Mental Health. Joseph Hutchins provided the second. The roll call vote was ALL AYES. The motion carried.

Mayor Snyder then stated that the council would be entering executive session in order to discuss a personnel matter, but asked if there were any comments from the audience on non-agenda items at this time.

Resident Dan Childs was recognized and expressed concerns about a future need for signage alerting traffic on Hwy 77 to emergency vehicles entering the roadway once the new Fire Station One is operational. Chief Buckner responded, and stated that the city is currently exploring options for this, and there was discussion of some of the options.

There was also discussion of concerns about changing speed limits at a location on Hwy 77 at Leota Rd. and Chief Williams was asked to look into it, and committed to do so.

Mayor Snyder Recognized Parks and Recreation Director, Michael Weldon, who wished to thank Southside Elementary Principal: Ms. Carrie Yancey for allowing the Christmas Village move to the Elementary gym on Saturday, December 9, due to inclement weather. Director Weldon then thanked the staff and vendors, and stated that the event was a great success.

At this time, Mayor Snyder made the following announcements:

 Next Planning Commission Meeting is scheduled for January 8 at 6:00 p.m.11,2024 in council chambers at City Hall
 Next Council Meeting has been changed, due to Christmas Closure to December 28,2023 in council chambers at City Hall
 Basketball games at the competition gym tonight
 The Christmas Choir concert is going on at Southside High School tonight at 6:00 P.M.
 The Trey Downey Foundation is selling Raffle Tickets to give scholarships to tennis team members at Southside High School and possible future partnership with the city for pickleball courts. Get in touch with Chirs Snyder or Chad Jones. There are several guns being raffled.
 All council members wished everyone a Merry Christmas.

AT this time, the council agreed to take a vote on going into executive session, and by the open meetings act, they must state that it is in regard to job performance of an employee and that they will not reconvene the Council Meeting after the session. The roll call vote was ALL AYES

With no further business to conduct, Don Steward made a motion to adjourn, Joseph Hutchins provided a second. The meeting was adjourned at 5:51p.m.

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Dana Snyder, Mayor
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Cindy Beshears, Acting City Clerk