THE CROSS PLAINS CEMETERY HAS A NEW OWNER
During the Piedmont City Council work session, Dr. Ben Ingram and Gerald Whitton made a presentation about the Cemetery from its origin in 1868. They read a resolution and ask the City Council to adopt it officially accepting ownership of the Crossplains Cemetery. During the regular business meeting the City Council past the resolution agreeing to accept the Cemetery and the responsibility for maintaining it. The City was already performing maintenance on the property.
A Resolution dealing with the State Opioid settlement was adopted by the City Council. They also heard from the East Alabama Planning Commission about a resolution to adopt City Ordinance #635 dealing with the vacating right of ways and procedures. However, after carefully considering the wording, Council members decided to table the measure until next meeting in order to seek legal clarification from the City’s Attorney and also change some wording in the document.
Police Chief Nathan Johnson gave the Department’s report for July with 54 arrests resulting in 70 charges for the month. Of those, 55 were misdemeanor charges and 16 felonies. Officers issued 35 traffic citations and worked 11 traffic accidents. Officers were dispatched on 405 calls for service resulting in 111 reports filed. The department logged 6,853 patrol miles. The City Court collected $14,813.63 with 5043.63 being retained by the City.
Fire Chief Mike Ledbetter gave the Department’s report for July with 2 structure fires, 2 automatic alarm calls, 1 false alarm, 1 vehicle fire, 3 hazardous materials calls, worked 9 vehicle accidents, assisted on 12 ambulance calls, established landing zones 4 times and set up crews and worked the fireworks show.
Both Chief Johnson and Chief Ledbetter praised two City Officers and an off duty Jacksonville State Police officer for their heroic actions on Saturday morning by rushing into a burning house to find and remove the 71 year old occupant from the house. Chief Ledbetter said if it had not been for these officers taking the actions they did, the woman would have perished in the blaze. He told the council she remains in critical condition in a Gadsden Hospital. The Piedmont Officers were Josh Parker and Solomon Doss, and the JSU Officer is Steven Curvin. All were praised by the City Council during their remarks.
The Council approved the bills for payment in the amount of $340,549.97 with $151,586.59 in payroll for a total of $492,136.56.
The next Piedmont City Council meeting is set for September 6, with work session at 5:30 and Council meeting at 6.