By Sherri Blevins
It will soon be easier for fire trucks and emergency vehicles to enter Highway 35 from Circle Drive. On March 20, during the council meeting, the Rainsville City Council approved purchasing and installing emergency beacons at the corner of Circle Drive and Hwy 35.
Rainsville Fire Chief Willimac Wright explained the need for the lights. Wright stated, “Emergency beacons will be a huge benefit for us. You know the amount of traffic we have on Highway 35 at different times of the day. Sometimes it’s a struggle to get out, even running emergency lights and sirens. This addition will help indicate to traffic in both directions that an emergency vehicle is trying to enter the highway. I think a lot of times, people think the fire truck is just sitting there, so they just keep going. This will indicate to the drivers that there is a truck trying to come out. When the lights are activated, they will run for two minutes, and then they will shut off.” Councilman Byrum stated that the lights and installation costs should be less than $15,000.00.
The Council approved several other items during the meeting, including:
• Resolution 03-20-2023(A) declaring a 2006 Dodge Truck as surplus
• Resolution 03-20-2023(B) declaring a 2005 Mack Garbage Truck – Public Works Dept. as surplus
• Resolution 03-20-2023 (C) declaring a Leer Camper Shell and Kohler Generator with Ford 6 Cylinder Engine as surplus
• Resolution 03-20-2023(D) awarding the bid of $1,595.00 for a 2006 Chevrolet Silverado to Joe Pankey
• Rejecting bids for (2) 2021 Chevrolet Tahoes (These vehicles will be put out for sale to the public.)
• Resignation of Cameron Gass from the Public Works Dept./CDL Sanitation Driver
• Hiring Kevin Smith as a full-time Parks and Recreation Maintenance and Mowing Employee at $15.13 per hour
• Hiring Johnny Brown as a full-time Rainsville Police Officer at $17.05 per hour
• $10,882.90 to Tapo Electric for emergency beacons
• Bidding out the 2023 street paving list to pave Three Grands Estate Road, Short Ave., Skaggs Road, Deer Street, Robin Lane, Keef Ave., and Wells Street, in addition to Marshall Road
• Empowering the Mayor to set the bid dates for the paving, sign necessary papers, and arrange financing with First Southern State Bank for the project
• $2,200.00 to Boozer Construction for headwalls on Maple Ave.
• $3,000.00 to Boozer Construction for headwalls on Rainbow Ave. South
• $500.00 sponsorship for Skills USA to attend State Competition
• $300.00 to DeKalb County Board of Education for sponsorship of the Plainview Baseball Team
The next Rainsville City Council meeting is on April 3, 2023.