August 20, 2021
Jennifer Haynes
Piedmont city water, gas and sewage are asking for a new John Deere lawn mower for $10,000. The current mower is in need of costly repairs. The mower is 6 years old, and runs 5 days a week most of the year. Ag Pro has allowed the city to borrow a mower while the city decides what to do about the current situation. Mayor Baker thanked Ag Pro for their generosity. Quotes are needed to replace the mower.
Fire Chief Ledbetter asked for an adjustment of pay for the firemen. Other than the council recently giving the night shift $1 an hour raise, the last adjustment was made in 2017. He asked that their pay match the police department range of $13.50 to $15.50 per hour. $27,586 is yearly pay for a full time employee per year.
He also discussed the money allocated for the training tower. $50,000 was the initial request. This was was granted by the city. The current budget has $8,000 remaining after extensive preparation for the large training tower. It is ready for the concrete pad to be poured and utilities to be added. Chief Ledbetter asked for an additional $50,000 for the project. Ledbetter also mentioned many people have chipped in with several donations and they are thankful to all that have helped.
Councilman Pope asked why the initial $50,000 didn’t hit the mark to finish the project. Ledbetter explained due to COVID, supplies and labor tripled throwing the initial request far from what was needed. Greg South said he didn’t know if it was possible at the moment, but if it was, would $50,000 get it done? Ledbetter explained they needed $34,000 for concrete and utilities, and probably wouldn’t use that entire amount. Receiving the $50,000 would save him having to nickel and dime the council every meeting. Ledbetter also explained they would need $24,000 for a six foot fence with three strands of razor wire to surround the tower to keep out intruders and ensure the public’s safety during training.
The next thing Ledbetter addressed was the purchase of the console and radios needed for the fire department and police department. City Clerk Michelle Franklin asked Police Chief Johnson what his thoughts were on the subject. He said there were still issues with the current system, including dead spots. He doesn’t know what’s creating the static issues; however feels the new receiver has helped, but they are still not where they need to be. Johnson said it’s ultimately up to the council and how much they want to pay, but he believes upgrading to the new technology would substantially assist both departments especially where 911 calls are related. The new system would also help 911 coordinate ambulances, helicopters, and many other services required to keep the citizens safe and help the police do a better job at responding. Ledbetter said upgrading the systems is like adding a third dispatcher for the responders. Johnson spoke on the GPS option as a way to see where their guys were, in case something were to go wrong while they were out on a call. Mayor Baker considered taking Pandemic money to assist in the purchase. Ledbetter explained to the council if they paid half the asking price the other half could be financed over several years. Johnson reminded the council the upgraded radios came with a $34 dollar a month service fee. Ledbetter explained that the fee covers full maintenance of the towers, radios, consoles, and programming upgrades which the city has been paying for. Councilman Feazell said the problem with financing is that we leave the next group of councilmen with a debt. Ledbetter stated that the 1960/1970 technology was just outdated. The problem wasn’t created overnight, and the issues won’t be fixed overnight, but the council has a great opportunity to fix the issues with new technology for years to come. Feazell asked if the council agreed to help purchase a new console today, could the fire department split the cost. $70,000 from the city, and $70,000 from the fire tax fund. Ledbetter said that would leave $130,000 in the emergency fund and would be the largest chunk ever removed from the account. The purchase was approved by all. Feazell asked the council to also approve the utilities cost on the tower. The cost was $15,300 and the council offered $16,000. A new quote was needed before approving the concrete work.
Two promotions were given during the meeting to Interim Chief Nathan Johnson now Chief, and city project manager Carl Hinton was approved as interim city clerk. Michelle Franklin and Mayor Baker both applauded what a great job Chief Johnson had been doing as Interim Chief and knew he would continue. Caleb Pope said his only opposition in either promotion was not on the people personally, but that there was no listing ever posted for anyone else to apply for the position. The procedure has been commonplace for years that Interim be promoted up to the next position, and that was good for the person working below, but there was a real opportunity to employ someone with more knowledge, experience, and an option to hire an applicant that can help grow and prosper the community. Baker suggested Hinton’s interim city clerk position be for three months. “I want to congratulate Carl. I think he’s going to do a good job as interim,” Baker said. “We’ll see how he does and if this works out. If it doesn’t, then we’ll move in a different direction. I appreciate the council taking that step.” Baker suggested taking the utility duties from Hinton and splitting them between Water, Gas and Sewer Manager Brian Watts and Electrical Supervisor Corey Horton.
Four abatement resolutions for mowing grass were approved. 1 resolution for a public transportation program from the East Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission was also approved. The Wee Kare Day Care on Sterling Street is experiencing parking issues. The property size isn’t adequate to provide the staff parking space per Department of Human Resources regulations, and they have to have a loop for the business. Chief Johnson spoke to the surrounding neighbors and offered a resolution to provide the day care with two designated parking spots on each side of the loop to allow employees to park during business hours. Baker suggested the resolution be brought back up for a vote in two weeks.
During the comments portion of the meeting, local resident Cody Spoon had this to say regarding former police Chief Freddie Norton. “I think it spoke volumes when the council remained silent on Tuesday, July 20 after Chief Norton made his statement .” Spoon said. “All of you had the opportunity to address his years of service to this city and none of you chose to say a word. Chief Norton dedicated over 26 years of his life to the service of the citizens of this city. He had opportunities to leave. I’m certain those opportunities offered more pay and better benefits, yet he chose to stay. He chose to continue to protect and serve the town he loves. I stand here today disappointed in the lack of leadership in this city and heartbroken for the citizens of this city due to the lack of leadership. A great man was forced out. He had plans to retire, but not in this manner. Make no mistake about it, Chief Norton is not corrupt. He did not break the law. He did not commit acts of misconduct. He did not do anything immoral or unethical. Let’s make that clear on the record. After being treated with such disrespect, dishonesty and deceitful practices, no one in Chief Norton’s position would want to return and work for a group who treats some of their employees this way. You pay your taxes and you pay for municipal services. The police department is a municipal service. You have every right to know why a dedicated and loyal city employee was forced to retire or be fired,” Spoon said. “I want to thank Chief Norton for his service, and I also want to say congratulations to the new chief, Nathan Johnson, who was appointed tonight.”
Spoon asked the council when they planned on making a full statement regarding the investigation against Norton. “Personally, I’m not going to discuss any personnel issues involving any employee,” Mayor Bill Baker said. We don’t discuss what happens when somebody …” Spoon interrupted with, “That’s fine Bill, but why are councilmen doing it when they’re not on the record? I know that for a fact. I have proof of that if we want to go that far.” Baker said he would hope that any and all information regarding this matter would be confidential. “It’s not. It’s being talked about,” Spoon responded. “If councilmen are going to go out and insinuate things, or they’re going to say some of the stuff in those letters is borderline illegal, you can’t say stuff like that. You can’t send messages to people and insinuate things.”
“What happened in the council with the chief, that should be a private matter. That shouldn’t be discussed publicly. I don’t know about that. I’m not hearing it. If you say it’s happening, I’m not disputing you. I’m saying I’m not going to give a statement. I wish him the best of luck.”
Spoon, visibly upset, offered that Norton was pushed out. Mayor Baker disagreed. “He was forced out,” Spoon continued. “That’s why there was backtracking a week later and we went through the whole dog and pony show about we’ve got to go into an emergency meeting in executive session.” The council held firm they would not publicly discuss this personnel matter. Mayor Baker asked if any other councilman had anything to say. “There’s been a whole lot of lying going on, I can tell you that much.” Spoon said. Williams responded, “If you can tell me what I lied about, then tell me.”
“Things like that have to be kept confidential,” District 6 councilman David Ivey said. “When you talk about people’s personal lives, whatever, it’s our duty to keep it confidential.” “There are laws that keep that confidential,” District 4 councilman Caleb Pope added. Spoon then began talking about the city employee handbook. “There’s a lot of things in there that were bypassed in order to get to the point where Chief Norton was forced out. Anyone have any comment on that?” “You keep using that word forced out. He retired,” Baker said. “He’s retired. That’s what he says. He chose to retire,” Pope responded. “The steps in the city handbook weren’t followed because he chose to retire.” Spoon asked the council how had things progressed to this point. “There has to be steps to get to the point for there to be a disciplinary action,” Spoon said. “He chose to retire,” Pope said again. “Had he chose not to retire, then …” Spoon interjected with “There wasn’t a disciplinary action? So he wasn’t put on administrative leave?,” “That’s not a disciplinary action. He never lost a dime. He was still the police chief,” Pope replied. “He was put on administrative leave,” Spoon countered. “There’s nothing in that? There’s no disciplinary action? Not being able to step foot in the police department, not being able to do his job, that’s not disciplinary at all.” “Nope,” Pope replied. “It’s in the book that it is,” Spoon said. “It’s actually in the employee handbook. It’s one of those things as a city council you probably want to read it every now and then. It’s in black and white.” Spoon then left the podium.
Local resident Misty Shell was the next to speak regarding a dog that has been on the loose since last November. The owner moved leaving the dog behind. The dog is feral and killed Mrs. Shell’s dog. She asked what was the next step in capturing the animal that was last seen in her yard Monday evening. Johnson said they have a tranquilizer gun on loan until the one they ordered has been delivered. “He has outwitted our ACO, and Calhoun County ACO,” Johnson said.” They come up weekly, sometimes multiple times in the week. This dog knows who we are. He knows we’re still trying to get him. It’s just fast and elusive. It won’t go into a trap,” Johnson said. “I know I have counted up to four or five animal control officers, who don’t work here in Piedmont, to be up here with our animal control. They’re setting perimeters trying to get this dog into an area to try and contain it and trap it or tranquilize it, whichever we can get.” “I wish I could tell you we’re going to catch it tomorrow, we’re going to catch it next week. We’re just going to have to make it happen somehow. I think what needs to be done is being done. We want to catch this dog. We want to make it happen. All I can do is tell you these guys are doing the best they can. I understand your frustration. We want this dog captured. We don’t want any other animal or person being hurt. We’ve got to be able to catch it and tranquilize it the proper way. We’ve got to be in the right spot at the right time. We’re going to keep trying.” Baker said.
The city’s budget committee meeting will be Aug. 26 at 5:00 pm. Among topics to be decided upon are pay raises for city employees and approving next year’s city budget.
In other news, Terry Batey of the Piedmont Arts and Entertainment committee will also be heading up a fall festival on Oct. 30. More information will be given as plans are concreted.
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