Clif Knight

Hartselle Enquirer

After meeting with officials of Volkert Inc. at a Tues., Dec. 29, work session, Falkville Town Council committed  $33,250 to pay for upfront design work on the Buster Road improvement project.

Mayor Bob Ramey and council members viewed proposed changes to an earlier preliminary drawing of the project work site and expressed pleasure with what they saw after learning that the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) had agreed to pick up a larger amount of the estimated cost than what was expected.

Volkert engineer Rob Vermillion said ALDOT officials have indicated they would be willing to help fund a revised plan that could cost as much at $3 million. The change provides for the construction of three roundabouts on State Highway 55 instead of one. In November, the council approved a contract with Volkert to design the improvement project with the estimated total cost being $1.2 million. Of that amount, the town’s cost share was estimated at about $600,000.

Vermillion pointed out that the town’s share of the cost would be less under the revised plan.

“The only problem is the amount of time it normally takes to expedite a project when ALDOT is involved,” Vermillion said. “By putting up the money needed to get through the planning phase, you can get the project moving at a faster pace.”

“I’m tickled to death,” said council member Alton Hill. “I don’t know of anybody else in the state that has roundabouts to help move incoming and outgoing traffic on an interstate highway.”

“My hope is we can get construction started on this project started in 2016,” said Mayor Bob Ramey. “But it probably won’t be completed until 2017.
The council discussed other matter as follows:

• The status of a $10,734 donation from State Senator Arthur Orr to build a basketball court in Jack McCaig Park was questioned. In response, a balance of $4,684 was reported and $4,500 in TVA payments in lieu of taxes is expected to be available.  District 3 Commissioner Don Stisher indicated it would take that amount to construct with asphalt and stripe a half-court. He was given the go-ahead to start the project at his convenience.

•At the request of coach Billy Evans, the council agreed to make a donation of $500 to the Falkville High softball program.

•Mayor Bob Ramey reported having a roofer inspect the town hall’s leaking roof and learning that most of the water is coming in around the edges of the roof, and also that its gutters are not the right size. He said the roof deck was rubberized three years ago. Councilman David Carroll suggested preparing specifications and putting the roof’s replacement out for bids. “I know the initial investment will be expensive, but if it’s done right it will pay off in the end,” he said.

•Whether or not to increase the current pay of the mayor and council members, which would not become effective until the next administration assumes office, was talked about briefly. City Clerk Dawn Estes reminded the council it has until the February meeting to make a decision, after which it was agreed that the matter needed more thought and consideration. The mayor’s salary is $500 per month plus $93.44 bi-weekly as superintendent of utilities. Council members receive $250 monthly.

•A proposed resolution supporting remote sellers legislation was approved for consideration at the next regular council meeting on January 5. The Marketplace Fairness Act. S.698, and the Remote Transactions Parity Act, HR. 2775 are currently being considered by the United States Congress. This legislation would give states the authority  to enforce local and state taxes that are already in place and owed by out-of-state online retailers by requiring retailers to collect and remit sales taxes to states and local governments for out-of-state online sales. It is estimated at the State of Alabama land local governments lost $350 million worth of uncollected sales and use taxes in 2015.

• $1 million line of credit proposals for Falkville construction projects were revealed as follows: Cadence Bank, 2.8% variable interest rate for two years; Bank Independent, not less than 3% for three years; and Renasant Bank, 3.12% fixed rate for four years. A consensus was reached in favor of Cadence, a local bank.

•It was announced that an ordinance to amend and update a personnel policy would be an agenda item for consideration at the next regular council meeting.

• Three bids for the cleaning, stripping, re-waxing and buffing floors at town hall were reviewed.

Alabama Cleaning Service submitted the preferred bid for $1,840 to strip and wax the floors once per year. There is also a $150 per month charge for buffing the floors each month.