During the Tuesday afternoon Piedmont City Work Session Mayor Baker brought up Piedmont Street and Sanitation Supervisor Tim Frost to discuss the situation with his department. First, Frost made it very clear to the Council he is in a bind in his job. He is running out of workers. Employees are leaving the Piedmont Street and Sanitation jobs for other cities and towns for higher pay. Frost, told the Council he needs help right now and has a candidate named Michael Hughes who wants to leave Piedmont Water, Gas, and Sewer to work with the Street and Sanitation Department. Mayor Baker addressed the Council on this serious matter and said we have to be proactive and get together and figure out a solution. So, during the Regular Meeting a motion was made to bring Hughes over immediately to work with Frost. This was approved unanimously by Council.
After, the Work Session the Regular meeting began with Mayor Baker informing the council the operational expenses for the past two weeks were $754,266.48 which included two weeks of payroll. The bills were approved for payment.
The Council discussed two Resolutions. Resolution 2024-09 which authorized the execution of a contract with Cadence equipment Finance, a Division Of Cadence Bank for the purpose for purchasing a new garbage truck. Next was Resolution 2024-10 Section 5311 for Non Urbanized Area Public Transportation with East Alabama. Both resolutions were approved by Council.
Clerk Hinton addressed the Council about the Civic Center Renovations. Painting will begin in June, the gym floor will be torn out and replaced with maple wood with an estimate of $91,000. This was approved.
Police Chief Nathan Johnson gave the Police Report for June. The Piedmont Police had a total of 26 arrests with 35 Misdemeanor charges and 7 Felony charges. He also stated there were 44 total Abatement cases.
Interim Fire Chief Cale Donaldson gave the Fire Report for June. There were 92 incidents.
Mayor Baker thanked all the City Employees for their dedication and hard work for the City of Piedmont.
The next City of Piedmont Meeting is August 6th.