PIEDMONT – In its Tuesday work session, Piedmont City Projects Manager Carl Hinton approached the Piedmont City Council concerning a purchasing opportunity for used garbage cans from the City of Lincoln.
Hinton said Lincoln wants to sell approximately 2,200 cans at a discounted rate after their city decided to go into the garbage pickup business for themselves. They have already ordered new cans and have an excess they would like to dispose.
“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,” Hinton said.
The council agreed for Hinton to check with the City of Lincoln to see what their best price on purchasing 300 of the cans would be.
In its regular session, the council approved minutes from the previous meeting and bills for payment totaling $698,974.12. The council also unanimously voted to re-appoint Lin Latta to the Piedmont City School Board.
After hearing a presentation from Piedmont Police Chief Freddie Norton, the council approved the purchase of three 2021 Dodge Charger police cars. The cost of each equipped car is $34,000.
The council then went into executive session under a motion made by District 3 councilman Jubal Feazell to discuss filling the electrical department superintendent vacancy left by Casey Ponder. Ponder recently retired from the superintendent post.
Following the executive session, the council approved an amended grass cutting contract for M & T Lawn Care, pending the addition of a monthly time frame. The contract is for cutting Highland Cemetery and the Ladiga Trail.
Norton then gave reports for his department, abatement, and animal control for the month of March.
In police activities, Norton reported a total of 54 arrests were made on 103 charges, with 26 of those arrests being felonies. Eighty-six traffic citations were issued. Seven traffic accidents were worked. A total of 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.
In abatement for the month, there were 27 total cases, 11 new yard cases, and no new cases on structures or houses. Eighteen cases were processed and 10 were completed or compliant for the month. There were two contracts on structures, one court appearance and one verbal contract.
In animal control, 10 calls for service were made with one court case. A total of 21 animals were picked up with nine taken to the shelter and 12 were reclaimed by the owner.
The council then heard from Piedmont Arts and Entertainment Committee representative Ashlee Jones, who updated the council on a Memorial Day downtown event being planned for May 29.
Each council member offered their best wishes to Piedmont Police Captain Don Glover in his retirement in their closing remarks. Glover has set May 1 as his retirement date after more than 25 years of service.
Also in his closing comments, Mayor Bill Baker invited the public to support a Shakespeare in the Park production this Sunday at Veteran’s Memorial Park at 2 p.m. The production is being handled by the Jacksonville State University Department of Theater and Film.
The next council meeting is scheduled for May 4.