CITY OF CREOLA P.0.BOX490 CREOLA, AL36525-0490 Phone: 251-675-8142 FAX: 251-679-8203  William Criswell Lee Anne Greene Harold Martin Avis Walker Tonya Moss Kendal Hadaway  Mayor Carolyn Sue Cain City Clerk  City Council  Lindal Hoiles Court Clerk  Doug Kirkland Chief of] Police  Jeff Reeves Fire Chief  Minutes of the City of Creola City Council Meeting  Held at Creola City Hall on April 13, 2017  Mayor Criswell called the meeting to order. Rev. John White gave the invocation.  Pledge of Allegiance  Upon the call of roll, the following were found to be present with the exception of  Harold Martin, home recovering from accident:  Mayor Criswell Councilwoman Greene Councilman Walker Councilwoman Moss Councilman Hadaway City Clerk- Carolyn Sue Cain City Attorney = Danny Mims Exception: Councilman Martin  Councilwoman Moss made a motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of March 23, 2017. Councilman Walker seconded, all favored, none opposed, motion  carried.  CITIZENS ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL  Mayor Criswell asked for a list of citizens to address the council  1.  Lizzetta McConnell, newly elected President of NAACP -She read the Constitution & Mission of the Association and explained her goals. She gave a  brief summary of what NAACP stands for.  2.  Peggy Litton 1179 Ellison Ave.  1    Ms. Litton reported that she has had two break-ins recently. Mayor Criswell asked ifi it was reported to Creola PD and investigated. Her reply was "Yes". Ms. Litton has two potholes in her driveway. The Council will check it out & make the  necessary repairs. 3. James Lambert 9098 Bentley Rd. S.  Mr. Lambert asked if his residence is in Creola. Been told by his neighbors, he is in the County. He was told by Council that his address, 9098 Bentley Rd. S.i is in the City. Former Councilman Howell explained how part of Bentley Rd. is in the County and part in the City. Mr. Lambert presented another concern to the Council...His neighbor has put lots of dirt and rocks in her yard and water sits on his yard. Mayor Criswell will go by and look at it. Mr. Lambert also stated that his neighbor has put up "No Trespassing" signs. This is a problem for him, as his medications are delivered by UPS and the driver can't get to his yard. The City Attorney explained there is nothing we can do if he is not in the City. Mr. Lambert expressed an interest to be a part of the City. The Council will get the necessary  paperwork for Mr. Lambert to sign to be a part of the City.  4.  Mark Howell, former Councilman  Mr. Howell asked the Mayor, "Did you make a statement at the last meeting that this City had not had a budget in 9 years? Mayor Criswell said, "Yes, that is correct". Mr. Howell explained that they had budgets, he had them in his hand. Mr. Howell said, "Stop trying to lay blame on the former Mayor and Council. He asked if they remembered meeting with Cathy Bush on 11/10/15 and brought current the $2,150.00 that was due at that time. The Mayor and Council tried to explain to Mr. Howell that we have $10,000. In penalties and a $60,000. Debt with the IRS for failure to file IRS taxes and failure to file W2s. Mayor Criswell explained we are working with Mr. William Barfield with the IRS and the Alabama State Dept. of Revenue for failure to file State withholdings for 2016.  5. Joan Stringfellow  Mrs. Stringfellow asked "How many minority employees do we have?" Mrs. Stringfellow then stated that Kim Green had 15 years experience. Now we have someone kin to Ms. Moss. Does she have any experience as a City Clerk? Mayor Criswell stated that the new City Clerk does not have experience as a City Clerk but was qualified by the Mobile County Personnel Board. Mrs. Stringfellow then asked, "Are ya'll having to get a bookkeeper to help her? Mayor Criswell replied,"No!" We have Mr. Betancourt our CPA who conducts our audits.  Mayor Criswell replied, "At least 2...Angelique & Mary Hazzard  2    RESOLUTIONS, ORDINANCES & OTHER BUSINESS  Councilwoman Greene stated that Pastor Ellen Lesley asked to borrow our chairs from City Hall for the Good Friday service at the park. Councilwoman Greene said she would get the chairs for the service and see that they are returned to City Hall  after the event.  Mayor Criswell stated that every two years the Federal Government and AL DOT inspects all the bridges in our City; come back with repair recommendations and we are to make the necessary repairs. Repairs were not made before when the inspections were done. We are required to keep a copy of each individual bridge and what changes have been done. The repairs will be extra and don't know what that cost will be. Mayor Criswell asked for a resolution to accept the bid from Safe Span in Silverhill, AL to proceed with this project. Councilwoman Moss made a motion to accept the bid from Safe Span. Councilman Walker seconded  Mayor Criswell asked for roll call for vote.  Mayor Criswell Yes Councilwoman Greene Yes Councilman Walker Yes Councilwoman Moss Yes Councilman Hadaway Yes  All favored, none opposed, motion carried. extra." We will get this resolution to Safe Span  Mayor Criswell stated, "This quote does not include the repairs. That will be  Councilman Walker asked why didn't the other Mayor and Council handle this? Councilwoman Greene read that they would bring results back to the Council but nothing was found in the minutes of the finding of the results. Councilwoman Greene read that on 8/13/2015 the Council & Mayor were getting estimates on  some bridge repairs. No record of them being completed.  PLANNING COMMITTEE  Mr. Chambers was absent from tonight's meeting. Councilwoman Greene gave a report of the last planning/zoning meeting: The lady from SARPC is correcting the book and will bring back to next meeting on May gth. We have a Car Wash coming to Creola. Permits are in place and ready to start construction. Same with  Superior Trucking on Radcliff Rd.  3    PARKS AND RECREATION  Councilwoman Moss stated that the swings in the park need to be repaired. We have 6 new seats but need 6 sets of brackets & chains. We will have to order  these. The ones we can buy local are not heavy enough.  Councilwoman Moss announced that the new awning at the Senior Center was installed Tuesday. Last Saturday the new restrooms in the park was dedicated. Mobile County Commissioner Ludgood was on hand for the dedication. Vandalism occurred that night sO the bathrooms will not be in use until the gates  and locks are repaired.  UTILITIES AND SENIOR CITIZENS  Councilwoman Moss stated that everything is good.  FINANCE  Councilwoman Greene reported that we have $69,136.00 in the General Fund. Will get a list of the bills from the City Clerk and bring back to the next meeting.  POLICE AND FIRE  Chief Kirkland that they are weeding out the older vehicles in the Police Dept. We have had 3 donated by City of Mobile. We have 2 new dispatchers with lots of  experience, approved thru Mobile County Personnel Board.  Councilman Hadaway w/ Fire Dept. gave the financial report for the department totaling $1,969.00. Doesn't have a complete total on bills. Will bring balance back to next meeting. Councilwoman Greene reported the balance for the Fire Dept. is  $1,338.64. STREETS  Councilman Walker stated that Hall Rd. coming up to Bell Drive needs another load of rocks. We have a federal grant to design this street, run elevations on street and found it flat. A federal watershed study is being done.  The last council meeting we voted to have the County grader to fix Ducey Rd, which is in fairly decent shape now considering we had a washing rain the night  4    of the grading. Councilman Walker said "We will check out the pothole on Ellison  Ave.  COMMUNITY GROUP  Councilwoman Green asked everyone to not forget the FREE Pancake Breakfast at Creola Assembly this Saturday, April 15th 9am-10:30am Egg Hunt will be at 11am. Pastor John White said there will be games & skits inside sO they can hide the 2,000 eggs. Councilman Greene gave a big "Thank You" to McDonald'sin Mayor Criswell stated that the City of Creola will be going back to Axis on Saturday, April 29th to provide more information to them & answer more questions on the annexation. Some residents said they did not receive the flyer about the first meeting. We sent flyers to the 36505 zip code SO if they get their mail in Creola, they did not receive one. We have 5 posters from SARPC about the  Satsuma for donation the pancakes for the breakfast.  growth plan for the next 20 years to take with us to the meeting  Councilwoman Moss stated that the LeMoyne Water Service Annual Meeting will be Tuesday April 24th at 6PM 11246 Old Hwy 43. This meeting is to elect a new  board member for LeMoyne Water.  ADDITIONAL NOTES None  ADJOURNMENT  Councilwoman Greene made motion to adjourn; Councilwoman Moss seconded,  all favored, none opposed. Motion carried  Respectiulysubmites,  Carolyn Sue Cain City Clerk  c.m.4.13.17  5