Kellyton Council approves animal shelter donation
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
In addition to being the first community in the county to have an established official Safer Place for inclement weather, the Town of Kellyton is once again coming in first.
Following action taken during Tuesday evening’s Town Council meeting, Kellyton is now the first in the county to donate to the Coosa County Animal Shelter.
Following discussion from last month’s meeting, Mayor Johnny Sharpe asked the council if any thought had been given regarding what the town would like to do to support the animal shelter. After some discussion it was mentioned that the County Commission was going to give some money toward the shelter, but that at the time the county’s other two municipalities had not yet determined an amount for support.
During discussion it was suggested that the council give an amount and then once it sees how the shelter is doing and how it is functioning then the town could potentially approve a higher amount at that time to show its support.
Councilmember Donna Keel made a motion to give a one-time donation of $5,000 to the Coosa County Animal Shelter with the agreement to revisit this donation at a later time. The council unanimously approved the donation, with Councilmember Gwen Rich unable to be present for the meeting.
Also regarding old business, Town Clerk Karen Keel reported that the first payment of $23,535.05 from the American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, funds had been deposited in March, and the council previously approved using up to $20,000 of that money to purchase equipment for the Kellyton Volunteer Fire Department.
That amount was to include the purchase of an automated CPR machine and AED, backboards and other supplies not to exceed the allotted $20,000. Keel further reported that some of the ordered supplies had been delivered and that she had the invoices for that equipment, so far paying $13,642.75 for the delivered equipment.
That leaves $6,357.26 to pay for the remaining supplies that have not yet shipped. Once all the ordered equipment has been paid, she said that will still leave the town $3,535.05 from the first ARPA funds received.
Keel also explained that last month the town received the second installment of ARPA funds in the amount of $23,535.05. That leaves the town with an ARPA fund balance of $27,070.10, with the council having until 2024 to designate or use the funds on things approved by the ARPA plan.
In other business, with preparations for the town’s Christmas Celebration ongoing, Keel had asked the council if anyone had suggestions on possibly changing some things to make the event a little different so that it would not be the same thing every year.
She mentioned that she had checked pricing on a bouncy house for the youth instead of setting up multiple games for children to play. She said she also asked a church about possibly attending to sell popcorn and cotton candy, utilizing the concession stand area for that purpose if so.
Following further discussion pertaining to the event, Keel asked the council to continue thinking about ideas that the town could use for the Christmas event.
In other new business, Mayor Sharpe mentioned that there are some streets in the town with numerous limbs hanging over the roads, noting that drivers have to try to dodge those areas to avoid scratching their vehicles.
He explained that he had contacted the Coosa County Highway Department regarding cutting those limbs, but was told by County Engineer Tad Eason that the department does not have a pole saw to cut those limbs.
Therefore, Sharpe presented the council with pricing he received from Satterfield’s in Alexander City for a pole saw, stating that if the town had a pole saw he would cut the limbs himself.
Pricing he provided included $590.99 for a 134 Stihl pole saw and $649.99 for a 250 Stihl pole saw. He said he believed the smaller saw would be all the town would need to perform the work he had described.
The council unanimously approved the purchase of the smaller pole saw from Satterfield’s for $590.99.
Sharpe also asked the council to take into consideration the possible later purchase of a side-arm Bush Hog that folds up so that it can reach areas on the sides that the regular Bush Hog cannot reach. He said he would proceed with trying to get pricing to present at a future meeting.
Sharpe also stated that he would be meeting with Rick Jones, a contractor, the following day to try to get a price on fixing the remaining portion of the old school building so that the council can begin considering when it might want to begin work on that side of the building.
Sharpe said that he would like to see the old office repaired so that it can be utilized as an officer for the town clerk so that all the town paperwork and filing cabinets can be housed there. He said Clerk Keel would then have a designated place to secure all of the town’s records and conduct business for the town.
In other business, Sharpe stated that he would like to propose a pay raise for Keel. At that time she was making $750 per month, and he stated that some make that in a week.
After discussion it was suggested to give Keel a $150 raise, which would make her monthly salary $900. The council unanimously approved the raise to her monthly pay, with Sharpe stating that he appreciated the council’s action on the matter.
The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Kellyton Town Council will be held at 6 p.m. September 6.