Kellyton planning for annual Christmas Celebration
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By Christa Jennings
Senior Staff Writer
With the arrival of fall and the holiday season around the corner, the Town of Kellyton is busily preparing for its annual Christmas Celebration.
Scheduled for the first Saturday in December each year, this year’s event will be held December 2, from 5 to 8 p.m. Town Clerk Karen Keel provided the council with an update regarding preparations during Tuesday evening’s Town Council meeting.
She reported that she already has 27 vendors who have signed up to participate in this year’s event. As was done in prior years, each one attending will receive a meal ticket for a free hot dog, chips and drink, as well as hot chocolate and coffee throughout the night.
Santa Claus will arrive at 6 p.m. to greet the children and participate in photo opportunities. Additionally, there will be a “children’s zone” which will include games and an inflatable bouncy house for children to enjoy while their parents shop with a wide variety of vendors for gifts, décor, baked goods, and more.
The Christmas Celebration will be held at the Kellyton Civic Complex, located at 145 Church Street. It is a free event and open to the public
Anyone interested in registering to be a vendor for the Kellyton Christmas Celebration can contact Keel at 256-786-1703 for more information.
In other business during the council meeting, Mayor Johnny Sharpe and the council reviewed two quotes received from Securite Device Company and Lake Martin Surveillance Company regarding a security system for the civic complex.
Sharpe and the council discussed the quotes provided, as well as the equipment and services that would be included with each. After openly discussing both quotes, the council voiced going forward with the quote provided by Lake Martin Surveillance Company for a total of $4,847.95, which would cover the equipment, labor and software, as well as a one-year equipment and labor warranty.
Following discussion, Councilmember George Camp made a motion to accept Lake Martin Surveillance Company’s quote and allow the company to install the camera system as discussed at the Kellyton Civic Complex. The motion was unanimously approved, with members Gwen Rich and Nancy Fuller not present for the meeting.
In related discussion, Clerk Keel stated that she had not yet secured an internet service provider because of wanting to first ensure the town had all that would be needed based on the camera system the council would vote to accept at Tuesday’s meeting.
With the council having approved the camera system provided in the quote by Lake Martin Surveillance, Keel said that she would move forward with contacting Charter to begin the process of installing internet at the town facility.
In other business, it was noted that Doc Baker was on the agenda to address Sharpe and the council regarding planting an oak tree at the intersection of County roads 50 and 85, where a landmark oak had stood for many years before suffering damage in a storm.
However, Baker was unable to attend Tuesday evening’s council meeting. It was stated that he will meet with Councilmember Camp to give him a quote that can be presented to the council at next month’s meeting for consideration.
Also during the meeting, Sharpe stated that the town had received a notice from the Alabama Department of Revenue regarding the town’s possible participation in the Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday, which will be held February 23-25, 2024.
Per the notice, if the town chooses to participate then a resolution would need to be drafted and adopted, then mailed to the Department of Revenue by January 23.
Participation in the sales tax holiday would allow covered items set forth in Act 2012-256 to be exempt from payment of municipal sales and use tax during the sales tax holiday from 12:01 a.m. February 23 to midnight February 25.
Following discussion, the council unanimously approved drafting Resolution 2023-2 to allow the Town of Kellyton to participate in the 2024 Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday.
Moving forward from that point, Resolution 2023-2 was drafted and read aloud by Clerk Keel. After reading the resolution aloud as drafted, Councilmember Missy Kohls made a motion to adopt Resolution 2023-2 as drafted.
The council unanimously approved adopting Resolution 2023-2 for the February sales tax holiday. Sharpe signed the resolution, and Keel stated that she would provide a copy of the resolution to the Alabama Department of Revenue for its records.
The next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of the Kellyton Town Council will be held at 6 p.m. November 7.
