Hartselle Mayor Randy Garrison, right, repeats the Oath of Office while City Attorney Larry Madison presides. | Lauren Thornton Tobin

Lauren Thornton Tobin | Hartselle Enquirer

Hartselle residents and city administrators met on Nov. 7 to swear in Mayor Randy Garrison and new board members Matt Broom, Virginia Alexander and Dr. Chuck Gill.

After the meeting started, everyone voted to keep Kenny Thompson as council president, Ron Puckett as Hartselle Police Chief, Daryl Fox as Fire Chief and Rita Lee as City Clerk.

Toward the end of the meeting, everyone on the council said how excited they were to see what’s to come for the City of Hartselle.

When it was Garrison’s turn to comment, he expressed gratitude and hope for the future.

“I’m excited to be here and I look forward to the things we can accomplish,” he said. “We campaigned on ‘Together We Can’ and that’s what we want to make Hartselle.”

Gill said he too was looking forward to the coming years and followed in close suit with Garrison’s slogan.

“Great things can be done by working together,” he said.

In other business, council members:

• Approved the introduction of an ordinance that annexes and zones a single family residence and lot on Barkley Bridge Road into city limits.

• Approved the application of state matching funds for an airport improvement project for the Hartselle-Morgan County Regional Airport during fiscal year 2017. Director of the Department of Development Jeff Johnson said this project will eliminate tree obstructions other obstacles that cause taxation on utility workers and their equipment  whenever the area is serviced.

“It’s 90 percent grant money and the resolution allows the mayor to sign for the pre application,” he said, explaining that the grant funds $121,500 of the estimated $135,000 project. The Alabama Department of Transportation is expected to pay $6,750 and the city will match $6,750.

• Authorized the mayor to sign an Employee Assistant Program with Eagle Consulting Counseling Division for city employees’ mental health needs.

The five sessions comes with a co-pay of $15 for employees and the city pays $50.

Melee Laney, Human Resources Administrator told council members that the program has already been factored into the city budget.

Some of the services offered to employees extends to their dependents, such as individual and family sessions. Included in the package are five other counseling services.