Pay Increase Time
The subject came up that once every four year the Brent City Council and Mayor are eligible for pay raises, but only during February. It was suggested that Mayor White be given a raise, but Mayor White said she would not want one. The position pays roughly $2,100 per month. Following her lead, the rest of the Council also chose not to receive an increase and unanimously voted to not give themselves a raise.
Human Trafficking
Police Chief Terry Nichols gave his report to the Council, which concluded that January was a “pretty calm month.” He did, however, announce that all law enforcement agencies county-wide are invited to training the Brent PD is holding for Human Trafficking. An officer from a Northport PD unit that deals with the issue regularly will come to give about six hours of training to officers in Brent.
Trashy
Multiple residents have complained about one particular residence with garbage and chaos piled in their yard and on their porch. According to council members, Chief Nichols has already addressed the situation in recent months, but the individual has not yet complied.
Having not seen the need to deal with this particular city ordinance that applies, none were sure how to proceed with issuing $250 fine that is stated as the first penalty, to increase subsequently. The Council concluded that they would instead first have the City Attorney send a letter.
No Grant Awarded
The ReBuild Alabama grant, administered through the Alabama Department of Transportation, and associated with the distribution of the new fuel tax, was denied to the City of Brent. There is a certain portion of the tax that automatically goes to every municipality, but additional and larger portions of funds will be distributed to smaller towns as needed, based on grant applications. In this first wave of applications, Brent did not make the cut. They decided to re-apply sooner than later, hoping to be awarded from any surplus available at the end of the year.
Formalities
The Council had to “take note” that the county now has new electronic voting machines – which the City of Brent uses in its elections. According to the rules, since these are completely new devices, the city government must formally accept their usage.
The next Brent City Council meeting will be a joint meeting with the Water Board to hear their annual audit report. This meeting will be February 17 at 5:00 pm at Brent City Hall.
