Piedmont Work Session and City Council Meeting April 20, 2021

April 21, 2021 
Jennifer Haynes 

Work Session Agenda

1. Bills for payment in the amount of $689,974.12
2. Piedmont School Board Appointment. The vacancy needed to be filled by the next school board meeting in May.
3. Police Cars. Chief Norton explained the current state of the vehicles being driven by the police officers and detectives. The cars are getting too many hours too fast, and the police department needs more vehicles to put in rotation. Discussions were had on a quote given to the Chief for Dodge Chargers.
4. Discuss Electrical Superintendent vacancy.
5. Discuss Grass contract with M & T Lawn Care. the previous lawn care company ‘Total Lawn Care’ would no longer cut the trail and cemetery. Bids were opened for the job, and M & T Lawn Care came in with the lowest bid of $4,400.00 A contract was brought before the council to be discussed.
6. Police, Abatement, and ACO Reports
7. Visitors Comments.
8. Council Reports
9. Mayors comments

City Council Meeting

1. Call to order
2. Invocation
3. Pledge of Allegiance led by Mayor Baker,
4. Reading of the previous meetings minutes began the Piedmont City Council Meeting held in the courthouse on April 20, 2021.
5.  Piedmont City Projects Manager Carl Hinton proposed a purchase of garbage cans from the city of Lincoln for a discounted price. There are 2,200 green cans with blue lids four to five years old, and 300 blue cans a year old. Mayor Baker asked what our normal purchase is and the amount we pay. Hinton responded, “The last time we ordered cans, we paid $14,935 for 250 cans. Roughly $62 a can is what we’re paying for a can. If we can get these things for $10 a can, we’re saving a pretty good bit of money.” Council member Jubal Feazell asked how often the city makes this purchase. Hinton said every other year. Mayor Baker agreed it was a great deal, but as with the other members was concerned about the storage of the garbage bins. Feazell calculated there wouldn’t be a return on such a large investment for at least 3 years. The council delegated and asked Hinton to speak with the City of Lincoln about purchasing just the newer blue cans. This discussion will be revisited at the next meeting.
6. The payment of last month’s bills were agreed upon unanimously. Feazell had a question about the charge for a basketball goal. Mayor Baker explained there was a small incident where a basketball goal was damaged by a sanitation truck. It was replaced.
7. The mayor spoke on the importance of filling the School Board vacancy. Council member Kiser nominated Lin Latta. The council unanimously voted to re-appoint her.
8. In the work session, the purchase of new police cars were discussed. 3 Dodge Chargers or 2 Durangos were the choices. Council member South led with he believed the 3 over 2 made the wisest choice. Feazell agreed. Mayor Baker asked which Chief of Police Freddie Norton preferred. He stated both were excellent vehicles but he thought the Durangos would be better because of higher clearance. He also said most repairs on the current Chargers were front end rebuilds. In the council meeting the members chose the 3 Dodge Chargers if Chief Norton could still get them at the discussed price of $34,000 per car. This does not include the striping or radios. Chief Norton said he would contact the dealer to confirm the availability. There was also a discussion concerning rotation of a better vehicle to the investigator, and animal controls vehicle. Mayor Baker offered that they should look into state sales for another animal control vehicle.
9. Filling the electrical department superintendent vacancy was next on the agenda. Casey Ponder was the Superintendent before retiring. The council went into executive session under a motion made by District 3 councilman Jubal Feazel to discuss the candidates and the lawn care contract. They returned and spoke on an amendment to the M & T contract. Feazel stated the contract ran through November, but normally they stopped mowing in October. An ‘As Needed’ clause was added to the contract in any months after October. This was approved.
10. Chief Norton gave his reports on the department, animal control, and abatement. 54 arrests were made on 103 charges, with 26 of those arrests being felonies 86 traffic citations were issued and there were 7 traffic accidents. 396 calls for service were made, with 117 resulting in reports being filed. The dispatch office received 2,561 phone calls, with 376 of those being rescue calls and 40 were fire calls. Court collections for the month were in the amount of $24,278.14. Abatement had 27 total cases and 11 new yard cases. There were no new cases on structures or houses. 18 cases were processed and 10 complied. Animal control had 10 calls with one having a court case. 21 animals were picked up and taken to a shelter. 12 of the animals were claimed by their owners. Chief Norton also commented on the need for new officers. There was talk of current officers leaving the force and the retirement of Captain of Police Don Glover, leaving the force shy of a few officers. The mayor spoke of paper advertising to fill the position, and Feazell spoke on possibly using Indeed.com to offer positions. Council member Pope asked if there was enough in the finances to possibly offer sign on bonuses. Chief Norton gave a few ideas including a bonus for staying 3 years or better. “We should Invest back in those that invest in our community.” These discussions will continue next meeting.
11. Each of the council members from each district gave warmest wishes and sincere gratitude for retired Captain Don Glover’s dedicated service to the citizens of Piedmont.
12. There was a brief discussion on an ally near Kate Street possibly becoming a one way. To be discussed later. Discussions were also made on making it possible for golf carts to run on city streets with a speed limit of 25 and under. Other cities have implemented the change and are having positive feedback from the community. Chief Norton was asked if this would be possible and what rules would the golf cart enthusiasts need to adhere to and what modifications to the carts would be necessary to make them street legal. Further discussions will be had on the subject.
13. Visitor Ashley Jones came to speak on the Memorial Day Celebration downtown regarding the music. Terry Batey has several bands lined up and says the cost will be $1,800. The city of Jacksonville agreed to loan Piedmont the stage for free. Other festivities will be at Veterans Park.
14. Discussion on which photos to use on the city’s brochure were had. Discussions were also made on getting headstart trailers moved from their current location over to the school. Some cleanup will be required before they can be moved safely.
15. Mayor Baker concluded with the hope that Piedmont citizens would show up for Shakespeare in the Park. This event is FREE and put on by the JSU Art and Film department.