Kellyton Christmas Celebration plans underway
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
As the year seems to be quickly passing by, the Town of Kellyton is busy making plans and preparations for its annual Christmas Celebration.
The celebration is held the first Saturday of December, so this year’s event will be held Saturday, December 3, from 5 to 8 p.m. It is a free event with various activities and refreshments for visitors to enjoy.
During Tuesday evening’s Town Council meeting Town Clerk Karen Keel stated that she would begin decorating for the event the Monday after Thanksgiving. She added that any volunteers would be appreciated, especially for the night of the celebration.
She said that they would need someone to pass out tickets at the front door, as well as someone to help oversee the game zone for the youth. Mayor Johnny Sharpe said that he would get volunteers together to assist in the cafeteria to hand out food, keep things cleaned up and refill beverages as needed throughout the night.
As of Tuesday’s meeting, Keel said that she had 23 vendors registered to participate, adding that they can still take a few more vendors.
The Christmas Celebration will include a gift shop with vendors selling Christmas gifts and crafts, candles, T-shirts, and other various items; as well as a sweet shop with vendors offering homemade fried apple pies, banana nut bread, fudge, cake, and cupcakes.
Additionally, there will be a “kid zone” with games for the youth and small prizes they can win, as well as a bouncy house for them to enjoy. The town will also utilize the concession stand this year to sell popcorn and cotton candy.
The “Gingerbread Cafe” will have free hot chocolate, coffee and apple cider for guests. Additionally, each attendee will be given a ticket that entitles them to a free hot dog, chips and a soda.
Amid the festivities, Santa will arrive at Santa’s Workshop at 6 p.m. to greet the children and take photos with them.
The celebration will be held at the Kellyton Civic Complex, located at 145 Church Street. Those interested in registering to be vendors or volunteering to help can contact Keel at 256-786-1703.
Also during the meeting Sharpe stated that Keel had made him aware that the state had changed its guidelines for municipal audits. In years past the town did was not required to have an annual audit completed since its expenditures remained below the threshold of what was required.
However, the town will now be required to have an annual report completed by a certified accountant. Keel said that Dunlap Accounting in Alexander City has looked over the town’s books in the past to ensure things were complete.
Sharpe said that in order to comply with the new requirements outlined by the State of Alabama that he was calling for an annual report to be conducted by a certified accountant and for Keel to gather and present any records that might be needed to complete the report.
Following brief discussion, the council unanimously approved a motion to allow Keel to prepare records and obtain an annual report of the town’s financial records.
In other business, Glenn Forbes, an area resident in attendance for the meeting, stated that where he lives along Alabama Highway 9 they have no internet access. He said that he is on Alabama Power and has reached out to Spectrum about establishing service in the area, but that he had not had any luck so far.
Forbes said he also reached out to state representatives and others to try to resolve the matter. He expressed that he wanted to know if the Town of Kellyton would consider trying to reach out to help internet service be established in this area.
Forbes was advised that since the area is not within the actual town limits of Kellyton there was not much the council could do aside from speaking to someone on their behalf. However, it was stated that legally the town would not be able to do anything else to help with the situation.
Sharpe told Forbes that he would try to contact someone in Montgomery to see if there was anything that could be done.
Forbes shared that there are school-aged children living in the area that could also benefit from having the internet to assist them with their school studies. Forbes added that he appreciated any assistance the town may be able to give.
In other business, Sharpe reported that Jones Construction had begun work to the new clerk’s office with renovations to a portion of the old school facility. He said that most of the supplies have already been purchased, and the HVAC system has been installed.
Sharpe added that they were able to salvage two of the doors to use, which helped reduce some of the cost of the remodel project. Councilmember George Camp said that he had been over a couple of times to monitor the work being done, and it was reported that the office is already looking good and that work is continuing smoothly.
Additionally, Sharpe said that the 1004-22 resolution stating that the Town of Kellyton will participate in the Severe Weather Sales Tax Holiday has been sent in to the Alabama Department of Revenue. That sales tax holiday will be held February 24-26, 2023.
In other business, it was mentioned that the council is still considering the possibility of adopting a noise ordinance. Town Clerk Keel said that she has been gathering information for the proper wording of such an ordinance, and once those details are together it will come back before the council for possible adoption at that time.
The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Kellyton Town Council will be held at 6 p.m. December 6.