By Sherri Blevins
The City of Fort Payne and the Fort Payne City School System has a wonderful working relationship. During the February 7 Fort Payne City Council meeting, the Council announced it had presented Fort Payne City Schools’ Superintendent Brian Jett with a check for $100,000.00 for various programs across the school system. Superintendent Jett was present to thank the Council for the support and outlined the different programs that would benefit from the funds. Jett indicated that the additional funds would benefit a wide variety of students with varied interests.
The principals from each of the five schools in the system received $1,500 to use at their discretion in their school’s operations. The FBLA received $1,000, and the football program was given $2,500. Willis Valley, Little Ridge, Fort Payne Middle, and Fort Payne High School robotics programs received $3,000 each. $3,500 was given to each of the following programs: girls and boys basketball, baseball, girls and boys golf, girls and boys soccer, softball, tennis, wrestling, cheer, JROTC, band, track, cross country, FPTV, fishing, drone class, culinary art cooking, criminal justice, and nursing. In years past, the Council has supported the school system by purchasing school supplies for all students. The Council continues to give back to the children of Fort Payne.
Mayor Baine reported on the happenings in several City departments. Baine said that the Building and Maintenance Department had been very busy. The department is in the process of finishing the bathrooms at the sports complex. It has also replaced lights at the City jail. Road work is being done at Glenwood Cemetary to straighten the road leading to Grand Ave., enabling drivers to see better when entering the road. Traction is being added on some areas on 45th Street and Grand to keep cars from sliding during rainy days. The department has also added additional light poles downtown.
Mayor Baine complimented Parks and Recreation Director Brant Middlebrooks on his accomplishments over the past year. The Mayor said the Parks and Recreation Center membership had grown by 900 since March 2022 due to his efforts. Work on the softball and baseball fields is underway, and registration for those sports is now open. Four fields at the Rec Center are being made ready for play, complete with baseball diamonds, pitching mounds, bases, and backstops. Middlebrooks stated that all T-Ball and 8-U games would be played in the City, and 10 and 12 U would be played in the County. All teams should have fields available for practice times.
Mayor Baine added a few more announcements in his report. He said that the approved sewer project would start on March 6, and the workers would have 360 days to complete the project. The paperwork for rebidding the police department renovation was almost complete and should be ready soon. The City is working on meeting the compliance requirements of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) for the property where the old hospital was located. Storage tanks are buried below, and the site must be tested over the next year to ensure that it meets ADEM’s safety standards. Preparations for Boom Days 2023 are underway, and all acts have been booked. The City is ready to move the overhead lines downtown to prepare for the construction of the Boom Days stage. In March, an announcement should be made about the three headline acts booked for the event.
The Council passed three new ordinances that will impact Fort Payne residents. To make the sewer and sanitation departments self-sustaining, the Council voted three to one with one abstention to increase sewer and sanitation rates by 20%. The sanitation rate was increased by 3% in the last budget, and the new ordinance raised that by 17%, making the total a 20% increase. Ordinance 2023-02 amended the sewer rates, and Ordinance 2023-03 amended the sanitation rates. Ordinance 2023-04 amended the building and fire codes. The Council met earlier with area builders to discuss the codes, and Council President Watson said most builders were already going above and beyond the new codes.
The Council agreed to two new resolutions. Resolution 2023-02 authorized a line of credit with First State Bank to be used as needed, and Resolution 2023-03 approved $107,679.00 for a new swimming pool pump.
The next meeting will be on February 21, 2023.