By MARY BAILEY The Reporter
The first 15 minutes of the Boaz City Council work session were spent in Executive Session to discuss future economic development and then the council got right to business discussing October city reports and the 2024-2025 approved budget.
Parks and Recreation Director Sonja Hard discussed before the council prices of kitchen equipment for the Baseball and Softball Sportsplex.
“Just has a small little packet. The first two, I can go ahead and cover that. Those are the two quotes on the two tractors, I went ahead and put that in, so you are aware of that. Both of the tractors have been sent to be fixed at this point. The back page is the quote on the equipment for the concessions,” Hard spoke.
“At this point I would ask what questions or concerns we would have using this company and moving forward so I can try to answer those questions.”
Mayor David Dyar said some of the questions were the cost of some of the equipment that was looked at and if local vendors were checked with.
“We did not check with local vendors on equipment when we reached out and started looking at equipment. Some of the prices, yes, they are listed high, but they give a 50% and that’s your total on the page. This company has worked with our architects and the contractors that are on board now that have won the bid and make sure the racks and wire shelving is imputed into the layout of the concession. We are also changing from electric to gas. This company will make the wire racks and the wiring to fit in the places that the architects have drawn out for those to be placed.”
October 2024 City Reports:
Boaz Fire Department:
Fire: 6
EMS: 114
Service Call: 23
Series: 4
False Alarm: 9
Special Incident: 1
Boaz Senior Center:
Meals Served: 1,677
Home delivered: 849
At center: 828
Passenger Trips: 715
Vehicle Miles: 2,651
Passenger Miles: 2,613
Boaz Public Library:
Total items checked out, including print and digital: 10,893
Internet uses: 4,194
New registered patrons: 83
In person/virtual/recorded programs: 23 with 850 in attendance
Passive Programs: 12 with 665 participating
Total library visits: 4,934
Boaz Parks and Rec:
Water Aerobics:
Morning Class: 48 participants
Yoga:
Morning Class: 18 participants
Reservations:
Conference rooms: 4
Old Mill Park: 3
Pickleball: 13
Boaz Police Department:
Arrests: 114
Response Calls: 3,025
Incident Reports: 150
Traffic Citations: 274
Accidents: 43
Private Property Accidents: 7
Fatalities: 1
Animal Control:
Response Calls: 46
Animals Picked up: 25
Boaz Street Department:
Leaves/Grass: 65 loads
loads
Limbs: 109 loads
junk/rubbish: 74 loads
Litter: 132 bags
Sweeper: 32
Notes:
The sweeper truck was put back in service on October 24 after being down for over two months.
The new boom truck (S-21) that was delivered in late September has been out of service since the day after delivery. It is currently in the shop with no known date of return.
S-15 has been down since October 6. Those drivers have been working with S-13, which has also been intermittently down, repaired, and returned to service.
Public Hearings:
Prior to applying to the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) for park improvements, the City of Boaz
is requesting citizen input concerning the City’s recreational needs. To provide a forum
for discussion, an open meeting is being held to discuss the potential application for grant funding for recreational improvements at the Boaz City Sportsplex.
The hearing was voted to be opened.
“My name is Leslie and I’m with the Top of Alabama Regional Council of Governments and we are the ones putting this application together for y’all. I just wanted to provide a little information about it and see if you had any questions. The project is to rehabilitate the baseball field sportsplex tower. It is not meeting capacity and safety needs anymore. The proposed project will update that. Total costs are expected to be $1,899,262.00, with 50/50 cost share of construction that will be $1,399,262.00 out of pocket.”
There were no other public comments for or against the grant application and the public hearing was closed.
New Business
Accounts Payable - Approve the accounts payable voucher dated October 25, 2024; through November 6, 2024, totaling $173,151.20.
Adopt Resolution No. 2024-1138 authorizing and approving the application to the State of Alabama’s Land Water Conservation Program.
Adopt Resolution No. 2024-1839 to declare all items listed on Schedule A be deemed as surplus property and authorizing the City Clerk/ Treasurer to sale and/or dispose of the surplus property.
Adopt Resolution No. 2024-1840 to remove the Kubota tractor with front loader from surplus property and add back to inventory for the Boaz Parks and Recreation department to repair and use.
Adopt Fiscal Year 2024-2025 General Fund Budget:
2024-2025 Budget General Fund:
Revenue:
General Fund Revenue: $17,971,262.66
Ambulance Revenue: $180,000.00
Total Revenue: $18,151,262.66
Expenses:
General Government: $4,368,363.37
Administration: $878,125.00
Court: $306,000.00
Police: $3,592,050.00
Fire: $2,164,650.00
Street: $2,262,015.00
Senior Center: $333,175.00
Parks & Recreation: $2,262,015.00
Library: $703,346.00
Total Department Expenses: $16,667,824.37
Transfers:
Reserve Account: $320,000.00
Street Improvements: $350,000.00
Capital Projects: $800,000.00
Total Transfers to Other Funds: $1,470,000.00
Budget Surplus: $13,438.29
Mayor’s Comments:
Lynn Holsonback has been named the Street Superintendent.
Austin Hartline has been named the Assistant Street Superintendent.
“Lynn has been working under an interim title for three months and after observing from the HR department’s vantage point, along with gathering feedback from other internal as well as external sources that he interacts with on the job, we found that he had exceeded the expectations we had set forth and we made the decision to remove the interim tag and name him Street Dept Superintendent,” said Personnel Director Jeff Sims.
“We feel confident Lynn can continue to lead the Street Department in a positive direction and look forward to seeing his success,” said Assistant Personnel Director Crystal Buchanan. “Austin is an up-and-coming leader within the city. His working skills and leadership abilities easily made him the most qualified candidate for the Street Department’s Assistant Superintendent position,” added Sims.
The next Boaz City Council meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 25.
