By Marla Jones, Managing Editor • marla@southerntorch.com

PHOTO: The Rainsville City Council held their regular meeting via teleconference on Monday evening. (Photo by Getty Images) 

RAINSVILLE, Ala. — (Full video on our Facebook) The Rainsville City Council held its first meeting of April via a teleconference call on Monday due to coronavirus.  

Councilmember Marshall Stiefel addressed the Council regarding the safety of the Rainsville City Employees. Stiefel stated that he had spoken with the mayor numerous times and had even tried to call a special meeting to address safety issues during the COVID-19 outbreak. He expressed his concern regarding the thumb-print time clock and the potential of contamination. Stiefel made a motion to suspend the use of the thumb-print time clock during this time. The motion failed due to a lack of a second. 

“I am not an alarmist; however, I do think there are simple proactive steps we should have already been taking to keep the virus from spreading,” said Stiefel. “Having the same 40 or 50 people touch a clock with their thumb seems like a bad idea.”

“Our sanitation department doesn’t just serve Rainsville. Many other communities depend on us too,” he continued. “While the employees’ health and overall well-being are the most important aspect in all of this, you do have to consider the implications that could arise if we are not proactive. If one employee gets sick, then we have to quarantine all of them and there goes your sanitation and sewer department. Imagine if all the garbage pickup and sewer treatment in Rainsville and the surrounding communities were halted. We would be in a big mess. I'm just glad I opened up the conversation for the Mayor to implement wiping down the time clock after each use. It’s just like everything else I try to do. If I made a motion to give a dollar to a hungry orphan; I’d probably still be waiting for a second.”

Rainsville Fire Chief, Willimac Wright addressed the Council regarding the need for a new thermal imaging camera. The expense to the City would only be $225 due to a grant from Walmart in the amount of $1375, reimbursement for the training of Tyler Phillips by Fort Payne in the amount of $2500 and a $100 donation. The motion was made to purchase the camera and passed by a unanimous vote. 

In other business, the Rainsville City Council:

• Closed the Imagination Library Account with First Fidelity Bank
• Transferred Imagination Library Balce to AMRV account
• Postponed upcoming paving projects
• Hired James Smart as part-time Sanitation Driver
• Will put out bids for the extension of sewer lines from Roy Sanderson Drive to Marshall Road for the new Medical Clinic on Hwy 35. Bids to be open on April 17, 2020. 
• Agreed to extend the sewer line on Rabbit Run Road, at a cost of approximately $3000
• Passed Resolution 04-05-2020 to surplus a 2005 Chevrolet Colorado

The next meeting of the Rainsville City Council will be held on Monday, April 20 with a workshop at 4:15 p.m. and the regular meeting immediately following at 5 p.m.