Because of the shelter in place order issued by Governor Ivey, city councils across the state are being temporarily allowed to meet remotely via video or telephone, without public access. The Centreville City Council met two weeks ago via Zoom meeting software, having posted a link for the public to join on their Facebook page shortly before the meeting began. Tuesday evening they repeated the process, having all members except Kenny Hicks joining the Zoom chat.

Centreville City Councilman Matthew Thomas stands for the Pledge of Allegiance during the remote Zoom meeting.

The meeting began with Don Mack giving the invocation, followed by all members standing at their individual locations for the Pledge of Allegiance. Then it was down to business as usual, with Mayor Terry Morton giving an update on the COVID-19 situation in Bibb. The Governor should be announcing a plan for re-opening from the shelter-in-place order on April 28th. Despite the confirmed 32 cases of COVID-19 in Bibb County at the time of the meeting, many people in town are eagerly awaiting the possibility of re-opening, as several businesses in town are hurting, according to the Mayor’s report.

Mayor Morton also thanked our first-responders, and specifically Centreville Fire Chief Mickey Barton for help cleaning up after recent storms. He also mentioned the forecast of strong storms Thursday and urged everyone to keep a sharp eye on the weather.

Drive-Thru City Hall

Piggy-backing the proclamation of a state of emergency and rules in place by state directive to enable a quicker process of getting things done, Mayor Morton has plans to install a drive-thru on City Hall. Announced at the beginning of April, the City has taken two bids for the work, and voted during the meeting to proceed with the lower of the two. The approved bid is similar to the other, but additional items were included for improvements besides simply building on the new drive-thru window.

Since the temporary rules do not require the usual five bids and advertising time, after some discussion about the situation the Council voted  to move forward with the project as bid, utilizing money from the un-used Capital Improvement Fund. The additional work includes new energy efficient windows and replacing rotting columns on the front entry.

Discussion followed concerning how to utilize grants and other emergency funding from state or federal sources to help recover some costs of this and other projects related to COVID-19 adjustments.

Street Lights Changed?

Councilman Matthew Thomas mentioned the need for reports of any remaining street lights in the city limits that have not been changed out to LED’s yet. According to Thomas, Alabama Power believes they are finished, but the City needs to be sure everywhere has been covered. If you know of one that hasn’t been changed please contact your Council representative.

A City Street Repair

Councilman Don Mack asked if everyone had read the information about street repairs that he sent to council members. After some confusion of where exactly these repairs would be done, it was stated that besides Edwards Street, a section of Aldine Street near Mack’s home needed repair. Street & Water Superintendent Larry Oikle said the city was waiting on water to drain before grading and rock application was done. It appears these areas were brought to the Council’s attention by the Post Master, due to reports from U.S. Postal carriers.

You can watch the entire meeting as posted on the Centreville City Hall Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/CentrevilleCityHall/videos/658134674965744/

 

SOURCEThe Bibb Voice
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A father, creative professional, and an alumnus of Bibb County High School, Jeremy has found his way back to Centreville after many years away. He studied Finance and Economics at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and almost a decade ago left the "normal" business world for audio and video production. A freelance writer, photographer, sound engineer, and film and video producer/director/editor, his work has appeared online for Southern Living, People, Health, Food & Wine, Sports Illustrated, Cooking Light, It's a Southern Thing, and This Is Alabama, as well as for independent musicians and filmmakers across Alabama.