Tuesday evening was the last City Council of Mayor Bill Baker’s term. He did not seek reelection during Municipal Election in August. Baker has been Mayor for 13 years. He gave the Council Members a letter stating he had enjoyed serving the City for the past 34 years as Mayor and before that as City Councilman. In his letter, he stated he was ready to start a new chapter in his life and do things he had postponed due to commitments to the City.
In addition to Baker’s last meeting serving the City, six Council Members ended their Careers of service. Councilman John Lawrence was recognized by the Mayor and Council for his 25 years of service in District 1. Mayor Baker presented Lawrence with a Plaque recognizing his service. Lawrence did not seek reelection.
Also, Richard Williams, Jubal Feazell, Caleb Pope, David Ivey and Terry Kiser thanked the citizens of Piedmont for allowing them to serve as Council Members.
The Mayor and Council recognized Dr. Ben Ingram for his years of Dedicated Community Service with City Clerk, Carl Hinton, presenting him with a Plaque honoring him for his contributions to the City.
City Clerk, Carl “Bubba” Hinton, announced he would be retiring on November 1st. He read a letter to the Mayor and Council about his 40 years of service with the City with the last four in his current position. He said he would take the month of November off before starting the next chapter in his life.
The newly elected Mayor and Council will be sworn in on November 3rd at 6PM at the Piedmont High School.
During the Piedmont City Council meeting Tuesday evening, the Council approved bills for payment in the amount of $547,765.28 and two weeks of payroll in the amount of $155,053.83 for a total of $702,879.11.
Ordinance number 42 was adopted dealing with franchise license and the use of the Public Rights-of-Way by Uniti Fiber GULFCO LLC to install fiber optic lines. The Company will pay the City 5% of revenues. The term of the agreement is 10 years.
Police Chief Nathan Johnson gave the Police Report for the Month of September with 40 arrests. There were 36 misdemeanor charges with 7 felony charges. Officers had a total of 956 contacts with the public with 618 being officer initiated. A total of 33 traffic citations were issued with 4 traffic accidents worked and patrolled 8,138 miles. Officers were dispatched on 284 calls for service with reports being filed on 79. The Dispatch Office received 1757 calls, dispatched 365 Rescue Calls, 72 Fire Calls, and 15 after hour utility calls. Court collections were $17,700 with the City retaining $6,364.
Fire Chief Todd Kirkland gave the Fire Department report with a total of 68 calls with 32 being medical calls with Rescue and EMS Services, 7 for fire, 3 hazardous conditions with no fire, 12 good intent calls, 8 false alarms, 1 weather related, and 1 special incident call.
The next Piedmont City Council meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 4th at 5:30 PM in the Council Chambers.
