Chairman of the Arts and Entertainment Committee, Terry Batey kicked off the planning session of the Tuesday Piedmont City Council Meeting. He discussed the “Independence Day Celebration” that will take place on July 2nd and how they are focused on children, incorporating a petting zoo, as well as horse rides. The total estimated cost for this event is $4,180.00. The Arts and Entertainment Committee has put up $1,000 of its own money and they have raised around $500 in sponsorships. The fireworks show alone costs approximately $2,000, and the council voted to put the $500 in sponsorships towards the cost of the fireworks.
For full details on this event, you can visit their Facebook page here.
The regular meeting began at 6:00pm with the call to order, invocation, and pledge of allegiance.
The minutes from the previous meeting were approved, as well as bills for payment.
Expenses for the month of May totaled $636,239, payroll was $207,758.48, giving a grand total of $843,997.48
The Piedmont Police Department had a total of 46 arrests on 56 charges for the month with 11 of those arrests being felony arrest with 13 felony charges. Officers issued 47 traffic citations during the month and worked 6 Traffic Accidents. Officers were dispatched on 312 calls for service and of those calls 103 resulted in a report being filed. Officers patrolled a total of 9,978 miles during the month and had 996 total contacts with the public. The Dispatch Office received 1,990 phone calls, dispatched 417 Rescue calls (203 in Piedmont, 214 Outside of Piedmont), 47 Piedmont Fire Calls, and 15 after hours utility calls. Court collections for the month of May was $15,755.40.
May 2022 Abatement Report:
Total Cases – 36
Yard Cases – 12
House Calls – 0
New Cases – 12
Old Cases Being Worked On – 23
Completed – 21
Contract on A Structure – 1
Court Appearance – 3
Verbal Contact – 4
Contact for Business License – 0
Contact for Building Permit – 4
May 2022 Animal Control:
Calls for Service – 10
Investigations/Court Cases – 0
Animals Picked Up – 12
Taken to Shelter – 4
Reclaimed by Owner – 8
Much like Centre Police Chief Kirk Blankenship expressed in the recent Centre City Council Meeting, Chief Johnson also made mention that Piedmont would undergo smaller more focused training in lieu of the Texas School Shootings.
During the visitor comments, a resident brought up concerns about a pothole located on Mack Alexander Rd. where a new pipe was installed. Mayor Bill Baker stated that they are awaiting an extension to be put in before patching the hole with blacktop. Council members stated that it could be 6 to 8 weeks before the supplies to finish the job would come in. It was then decided that they would come up with other means to take care of the issue in the interim, making the drive through there safer for residents.
The next meeting of the Piedmont City Council will be on Tuesday July 5th.