Council makes appointments, hears Culpepper update

The Daleville City Council appointed a new water board and city council member during its regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6.

It unanimously voted to appoint Jo Reese to the city council, filling the empty position left after former council member Marvin Wise was removed for missing meetings.

Reese is expected to be sworn in before the next city council meeting.

The council also appointed Patrick Sullen to the city's Water and Sewer Board with a 3-2 vote, filling another vacant position left by Wise.

Charlie Wigglesworth also asked to be considered for appointment.

Council members Alan Souders and Katheryn Horace voted in favor of appointing Sullen, and Council members Scott Moore and Bobby Hardrick voted against appointing him. Mayor Jayme Stayton cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of appointing Sullen to the water board.

In other business, the council received an update on the final aspects of Phase II projects for Culpepper Park, which included adding additional walking trails, lighting, a pavilion and more to the park.

Allen Killen, with Civil Southeast, said during the council's work session on Monday, Feb. 5, the original estimated cost of the Phase II project was around $988,000, but the final estimated cost of the project was around $940,000, a savings of around $48,000.

He also announced that the city received a grant for material to resurface the playgrounds at the park.

Killen told the council at the work session that the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) has previously issued violations for the mulch depth of the playgrounds.

During an October 2017 meeting, Killen provided the council with two options for playground surfacing materials, which were rubber mulch and pour-in-place materials.

During the October meeting, the council approved allowing Civil Southeast to apply for a grant to help cover the cost of the new materials.

Killen told the council during the Feb. 5 work session that the city received a grant for about $97,000.

"Congratulations," he said. "They only give out about $800,000; we don't know the exact number, but you all got close to $100,000 of it."

The original estimated cost of pour-in-place playground surface was around $230,000.

"You guys remember the purchasing cooperative that we bought the (new field) lights through and the pavilion through?" Killen asked the council. "There's one where we can buy all this through. So, this (new cost estimate) is $188,000, but it's more than just playground improvements. What it is, you guys, as part of the ADECA issues, you all have some broken playground equipment out there."

He said playground maintenance and warranty issues need to be fixed before surfacing can be installed. He said he contacted the playground equipment company, called GameTime, which would help the city fix the playground equipment and place it back under warranty.

With the new playground projects, Killen said the cost of the complete Phase II would be about $43,000 more than the original cost of the project.

"We've got $97,000 for the grant, we're saving about $48,000 on Phase II, so we're looking at roughly $43,000 over what you guys had budgeted for Phase II to get this solid rubber surfacing," he said. "That was within the range that (Parks and Recreation Director Brook Beasley) was going to do just to do the mulch for one year, one time.

"If we go ahead and get set up with the purchasing cooperative, we can make the purchase March 1. Hopefully, by the end of March, we're done."

During the Feb. 6 meeting, the council approved two resolutions with Civil Southeast engineering company. The first resolution approved hiring the company as the city's engineer for playground projects at Culpepper Park. The second resolution joined the city in a contract with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management for the project.

The council also approved a resolution, created by the League of Municipalities, that asked municipalities to support asking lawmakers to add three amendments to two bills focusing on the Simplified Seller's Use Tax (SSUT program). This program focuses on the collection of sales tax, especially for online sales transactions.

The council approved a request for the Daleville Chamber of Commerce to use the Daleville Cultural and Convention Center and rejected a request by the Mirage Moonshcein Foundation to use the center for a fundraising event.

During the Feb. 5 work session, Chamber Executive Director Nancy Garner requested funds from the city.

She said the chamber's current budget is around $9,000 short. She said the costs for the Little Miss and Miss Peanut Pageants have increased. She also said the chamber hosted the 60th Anniversary Luncheon for the Fort Rucker-Wiregrass Chapter of AUSA, and it is preparing for the upcoming Pow-Wow event, leading to more costs.

"I have billed out over $6,000 for membership dues," Garner said. "I have received, to date, about $1,600.

"We have done everything I know to cut spending, but I'm about $9,000 short as of this budget."

Chamber Director Shawntell Mitchell said several chamber board members have also provided their own funds to help the chamber hold events.

"We have done, and we have proven, to the town and to the city that we are here to make Daleville a better town," Mitchell said. "To do that, we need help from everybody. That means, right now, a little bit of financial help until we can get completely (independent)."

Garner asked, during the work session, that the council consider providing either $9,000 or increase the budget for Fiscal Year 2019.

The council voted to table the issue for more discussion during its Feb. 6 meeting.

The council approved a resolution allowing City Attorney Henry Steagall to represent Daleville in a class action lawsuit, led by the Beasley Allen Firm, against pharmaceutical companies "misrepresenting the degree of addiction of opioids," according to Steagall.

He said he wanted Daleville to receive any funds from any settlements that may occur from the lawsuit.

Steagall said he is not aware of any local physicians being named in the lawsuit.

The next council meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.