By Sherri Blevins
On September 7, 2021, the Fort Payne City Council approved a $25 million budget ahead of schedule. Council President Watson highlighted the components of the 2022 budget and some other accomplishments of the Council over the last nine months. The 2022 budget includes an additional 1.3 million to give pay raises to most City employees bringing the pay scale in line with the state average. Another advantage for Fort Payne City employees is the new budget requires the City to absorb the 7% health care costs normally charged to the employees. The City has also entered the Fleet Purchasing Program for many City vehicles providing new vehicles routinely at potential savings for the City. Watson said that the Council has purchased several pieces of equipment during the last nine months, including roll-off trucks, brush trucks, sanitation trucks, and a new mower for the Public Works Department.
Watson stated that the budget item he was most excited about was the $600,000.00 the City is allocating to a rainy-day fund. According to Watson, besides putting aside this additional money, the City is in the “Black” $30,000.00. A few other actions the City approved that Watson felt were important were the upcoming hospital demolition, increased appropriations for the Chamber of Commerce, Main Street, and the DeKalb Tourism Association to recruit more businesses to Fort Payne.
Mayor Baine credited successfully creating the new budget to the Department Heads for devising a lean budget within each department, allowing the City to add needed items. Both Watson and Baine thanked all the employees responsible for creating the budget in a timely manner. Councilman Eberhart stated that this was the first time he could remember that the budget had been completed early.
During the business portion of the meeting, the Council approved the following actions:
• Resolution 2021-29 accepting the low bid of $559,265.00 for the demolition of the old hospital to occur over the winter
• FY2022 Budget
• Sewer line on Gault Avenue South in the vicinity of Contech, Inc. (Gil Graham has informed James Payton that if the City installed the line, he would pay for all the materials.)
• $8,000.00 to Stephen Smith as the Production Manager for the upcoming “Boom Days” event
• Set September 21, 2021, as the date of a hearing to receive public comments on the proposed vacation of a portion of an alleyway behind the former Jenni’s Department store located at Gault Avenue and 2nd Street North to accommodate a drive-through window for the planned Mater’s Pizza operation
• Set September 21, 2021, as the date of a hearing to receive public comments on the proposed re-zoning of property located at 311 10th Street N.W. from C-4 (Commercial Business District) to R-1 (Low-Density Residential District) to conform with the adjoining properties and allow its use as a single-family dwelling
During the Mayor’s report, Mayor Baine invited everyone out to Boom Days on September 17 & 18 to see exciting entertainment and various vendors. Baine also said he had discussed the use of the Williams Avenue School building with Superintendent Jett. The school system plans to locate the Pre-K Program there, and talks are underway to see if the Child Development Center can be located there. Finally, Mayor Baine said he had spoken with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) about installing a traffic light at Highway 11 and Airport Road intersection and a turn arrow light at 5th Street onto Hwy 35. ALDOT turned down both requests because it said the data does not merit honoring those requests. The Mayor said he would keep asking.
The next meeting will be on September 21, 2021, at 12:30 pm.