Weaver, AL – The Weaver work session started with the opening of bids for sanitation pickup. The two bidders were Waste Management and Arrow Disposal Services. Both company’s had representatives present. The lowest bidder was Waste Management. The company’s bid will still result in an increase in cost of approximately $9 more than residents are currently paying for monthly rates. Arrow representative, Gentry Shows, explained that their higher bid reflected the need to distribute containers and get trucks started on a new route. Mayor Willis explained that there was not a quorum present so no vote could be taken. He imagined that the council would want to stay with Waste Management because they are already in place and they were the lowest bidder, but stressed that he could not confirm this. This matter will be voted on at the next City Council meeting. Mr. Shows, from Arrow congratulated the Waste Management representative, Mike Mitchell, and they both thanked the city for their time and the ability to bid. When voted on, this will be a three year contract.
The second issue discussed was brought up by Public Works Directer, Joey Conger. The day prior to the work session a driver working on the Alabama Power substation project on Russell Drive approached with a concern. Starting on Monday, May 16th loads will begin to arrive for the project. There will be approximately 200 loads each weighing 90,000+ lbs. The sheer weight of these loads are expected to do extensive damage to Russell Dr. There is possible damage to be expected on Jacksonville and Main Street as well. These are public roads so there is no way to prevent the work from being done at this time. The driver explained that typically the company involved, Alabama Power, will contribute to repair costs. They city will be documenting the roadways along the route prior to the work beginning and will also be speaking to the city attorney about options available prior to work bringing as well as after it has been started.
The third issue discussed was Buckhorn Lake. After speaking with the city attorney several points have been cleared up. The city can keep, sell, or lease the lake. The city can also return the lake to the donor. If the lake is sold it would have to be sold at fair market value (FMV) and would have to be listed publicly as available for sale. The party that donated the lake to the city originally spoke to the Mayor about a willingness to take the lake back and keep it public or donate to a Buckhorn Association. According to council-members, he has also been in talks with the Lee family who own NoAlan Event Center, to sell the lake to them for private ownership. The issue before the city, is if they keep the lake maintenance has to be done to maintain not only the lake itself, but also the docks. Public parking would have to be established as well. A possible option is to move the playground to the park and make that area public parking. This would most likely not resolve the issues with the business owners. If the lake is listed and sold at FMV then the new owner may still have issues with access, but it would be a private matter and not a city matter. If the lake is leased it is revenue for the city, but would not resolve the issues of public usage. No action was taken at this meeting. The lake will be placed on the next agenda for discussion. At the suggestions of many council members, no vote will be taken prior to a public forum/hearing. A public forum may be set at the next meeting. The public forum has not been set at this time and again, no action was taken.
The next item discussed was how to pay for the 911 radio system. The County 911 board needs to know the city’s intention to either pay for the cost in a lump sum or to finance the expense. The city has decided to finance and the cost will be roughly $36,000 a year.
Chief Bush asked to place an order for a new vehicle for the next fiscal year. The ordering window starts on 5/18. If an order is not placed then, no vehicle will be available during the next fiscal year. This is a new issue that has come up across the nation due to low supply. Chief Bush wanted to stress this will not be for this fiscal year, and if the vehicle was not approved for the next budget they could choose to not purchase the vehicle once it became available.
No city council meeting was held due to lack of a quorum. Members present were Councilman Nick Bowles, Councilman Clint Burns, and Mayor Willis.
