Minutes for the City of Creola City Council Meeting  Held at Creola City Hall on March 23, 2017 @ 6PM  Mayor Criswell called the meeting to order. Bro Don Turberville gave the invocation.  Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Criswell Councilwoman Greene Councilman Martin Councilman Walker Councilwoman Moss Councilman Hadaway City Clerk-Carolyn Sue Cain City Attorney- Danny Mims  Upon the call of roll, the following were found to be present:  There were 19 residents attending the meeting including Mark Kent w/ Citronelle  Call News.  Counciwoman Moss made a motion to accept the minutes from the meeting of 3/9/2017. Councilman Martin seconded, all favored, none opposed, motion  carried.  CITIZENS ADDRESSING THE COUNCIL  Rev.John White, pastor of Creola Assembly gave a detailed report on the Creola/Axis Ministerial Assn. Bro. White stated a lot of things are happening in  March and April within the City. 1) 3/25/2017 2) 4/2/2017 3) 4/8/2017 4) 4/14/2017  Car Show 9a.m.-2p.m. on grounds of Creola Assembly Blood Drive - Life South will be on site @ Creola Assembly 9am-1pm w/ Creola First Baptist Church New Beginning Christian Center will have their Annual Good Friday "Good News Friday" w/ St. Andrews Chapel  Prayer Walk 8am in the Park putting a lot of this together.    5) 4 4/15/2017 Annual Egg Hunt/Pancake Breakfast 9am-1pm sponsored 6) 4/16/2017 "Sonrise" Service @ Pavilion -Easter Sunday 7am-8am  by Creola Development Organization.  Sponsored by the Creola-Axis Ministerial Assn.  RESOLUTIONS, ORDINANCES OTHER BUSINESS  City Attorney Mims has two revisions on paperwork, and needs an ordinance  number but will need more time to work on these.  Councilwoman Greene introduced Chase Nelson w/ Cytranet. Mr. Nelson gave a preview of their company at the last meeting and is presenting his quote to the Mayor and Council for an upgraded phone service for city hall. Cytranet provides more services and are cheaper than Windstream. Mr. Nelson gave the details on the quote. Each council member was given a copy of the quote for their review.  Quote: 20m fiber we now have 1.5 m.  The 20m fiber will provide 20x's what we have now.  Reliable 99.9% 20m download/upload  Voice- -9 lines for City Hall & Police Dept.  They will provide additional equipment, no upfront cost  Internet Hosting  499.99 314.91  399.00 One Time Fee for set-up & installation  This is a 36-month contract.  They will supply all equipment, replace equipment and phones at no extra charge, ifr needed. This will be Voice VS. Analog. Councilman Hadaway commented that this equipment will be a lot faster, more reliable & cheaper. Councilman Hadaway made a motion to accept this quote and go with the new phone system. Councilwoman Moss seconded, all favored, none opposed, motion carried. Mayor Criswell stated that the State of Alabama requires bridge inspections every 2 years, previously it was every 5) years. These inspections will start April 1St    throughout the State and are to be completed by May 315t. This is required by the Federal Government to inspect all bridges. The Alabama Dept. ofTransportation is dedicated on this being accomplished. So we pay the bill and have 5 bridges inspected in the City of Creola. Gunnison Creek, Hall's Branch, Hatter Pond on Radcliff and 2 more. The lowest bidder for this project is Safe Span, LLC from Silverhill, Alabama with a price of $7,800. A citizen attending the meeting asked was this high. Mayor Criswell answered all questions in detail. Yes, this is $2,500. More than last time but that was 2 years ago. This was not done in 2016so we have to complete this inspection for 2017. This has to be completed by a qualified engineering firm approved by the State Hwy. Dept. Mayor Criswell stated that every day we get mail we didn't know about, whether it be the State,  County or Government, of things we have to do.  Mayor Criswell stated that we need a resolution for SARPC to sign and send back to them. No money involved for us. This was last done in January 2015, was not done in 2016 sO we need this for 2017. Attorney Danny Mims asked for the minutes. What is this? Mayor Criswell read the Resolution about this. Itis for transportation for Urban areas between cities, Bayou La Batre, Chickasaw, Creola, Prichard, Saraland, Satsuma, and Semmes. This allows them to get grant money.  PLANNING COMMITTEE  Bro. Chambers commented that he was well pleased with the workshop/ planning and zoning meeting Tuesday, March 21st held at the SAIL Center. He stated that we have several businesses that are building buildings in our city. He commented that we like citizens input. The highlight of the night was the new booklet on the 20-year plan, prepared by Nicole from South Alabama Regional Planning Commission (SARPC). Bro Chambers stated that the book is beautiful. He gave a recap of the meeting. He stated that we want to thank SARPC & Nicole for the work they have done on this. We had a grant to do this. Itis these kinds of things that draw people to our City. Bro. Chambers said that any changes will be made at next month's meeting. Mayor Criswell that that we have the 5 charts made by SARPC. The 5 charts will be going to Axis First Baptist Church on April 29th for our 2nd meeting with the Axis residents. We will purchase 5 easels to. display the charts. After the meeting in Axis, the charts will be on display at the Creola SAIL  Center.    We have Superior Trucking located at 1998 Radcliff Rd. and Donald Faggard will build 2 upscale homes on Lister Dairy Rd. Preliminary drawings were presented for 24-3 bedroom nice townhouses costing approximately $200,000. Per condo. They will be meeting with Don.Moss, Bro. Chambers and the Zoning & Planning  Commission.  PARKS AND RECREATION  Councilwoman Moss stated that the City needs to purchase a 12' gate and a 10' gate at the cost of $194.to secure the dumpsters and keep residents from putting their household garbage in these dumpsters. This would provide gates at both ends. The police dept. will lock the gates at night and open them in the morning. Councilwoman Moss made the motion, Councilman Walker seconded, all favored, none opposed, motion carried. Mayor Criswell stated that the new bathrooms at the park will be dedicated soon. They are really nice..al! stainless steel. These were received from the $267,000 grant from Mobile County Commissioner  Merceria Ludgood.  UTILITIES AND SENIOR CITIZEN  Counciwoman Moss stated that Freida Whisenhunt, Manager of the Creola SAIL Center submitted the financial report from the SAIL center. $1,875.82 is the balance in the bank account. A copy was given to all council members. Councilwoman Greene spoke with Amy King of Five Rivers about the $15,000. We will bill Five Rivers for $15,000. SARPC will invoice the City of Creola for $15,000. Once we receive the $15,000. from Five Rivers, we will mail the check for $15,000.  to SARPC. FINANCE  Councilwoman Greene gave the financial report for the City:  Payroll today totaled. $16,399.81 w/ the Mayor and Council Members payroll totaling $1,900.00 making a total of $18,299.81. The Fire Account has $3,332.58; the General Fund is $95,539.95 & the Police account is $6,857.13. The 4-cent account is $4,509.07; The 7-cent tax is $4,504.67, which is Street Fund money and can only be used for streets. We get very little from the 3 courtfunds. We pay the State, the court downtown and that leaves a small amount for the City to    keep. We only receive $10.-$10.50 from each ticket. Councilwoman Greene has been working diligently with Councilwoman Moss to create a projected budget. The projected budget is $944,110,01. We still have a few items to be added to the budget. It will be approximately $1.1 M by the time we are finished with the budget. Mayor Criswell stated thatthe City has not had a budget in 9 years. The Mayor also stated that this budget allows us to pay non-paid items, negotiating with the vendors on a quarterly and monthly basis. We are at a good start but have a few more things to add. A copy was given to all council members. In this budget, we have guidelines to follow. We have curbed several big expenses, like $300,000. in overtime. The City hasn't had a budget in 9 years. We need money in there to pay past due balances that were not paid either quarterly or monthly. Mayor Criswell stated that it is difficult to create a budget when you get a bill from the IRS for $60,000 past due since 2013, That you didn't know was coming. We have also received a $21,000. Past due bill from Mobile County Health Dept., $55.000: past-due bill from Mobile County Personnel Board and several more, but we are negotiating with all vendors with past due balances. Mayor Criswell states "No accolades to me or the council but if someone had not sat in theirs chairs, we wouldn't be here in June. This Council has fought off people putting liens on our  property. We need everyone's help and support.  POLICE AND FIRE  Officer Kirkland introduced the new officers, Jason Meade, Tim Byrd, and Don Turberville & asked them to give a brief synopsis of their background. Officer Kirkland also stated that we have new Dispatchers, Mary Hazzard, a 16-year veteran with Creola PD is returning PT and Mandi Leverett will be ready for training when she works out her two-week notice with her present job. We are looking for more officers from the list, looking for the best officers sO to be fully staffed. We currently have 4 FT, 5 PT & 5 Reserve patrolmen. We have 4 fulltime- &1 part-time dispatchers. Mobile County Personnel Board has us listed with 12 total Dispatch & Patrolmen. Allocations are determined by the size of the  community.  Councilman Martin stated we have the vehicle from Mcintosh. Will be ready for the road soon. We have 2-2010 Crown Vics, 1- 2009 Crown Vics Will retire 2  Impalas and 1 city car. We are improving our fleet.    The Mayor stated that everyone is now coming thru Mobile County Personnel Board, tested and approved. We are headed down the road to a police department we can be proud of. One of the citizens attending, Venus Davis, questioned the Mayor's statement. After much discussion with Ms. Davis, the Mayor answered all questions presented concerning the former police officers VS. thé new officers. The Mayor stated we are proud of the police department that we have. He thanked Ms. Davis for her comments and making him aware of these things(why officers left, ethical rules, etc.) Mayor Criswell explained that each  officer has a different reason for leaving.  STREETS  Councilman Walker reported that on March 25, 2017 Ducey Road will be graded with a county road grader. We will pay the county employee for grading this road. The county is provided the grader & the fuel. We will pay the grader operator $300. For 8 hours at the end of the day. That's $25./hr. for 8 hours($300. total to grader operator). The Mobile County Road & Bridge Camp #3 will bring grader to us, the road will be graded and they will take it back when job is complete. Councilman Walker will take the check to the operator. A motion was made by Councilman Avis Walker, seconded by Councilwoman Greene; all favored, none  opposed, motion carried.  We need new wheels & replace the blades on the zero-turn mower. The cost for the new wheels will be approximately $100. Councilman Walker stated that the Kubota blades, approximately 4 sets will be needed for summer. These are a little more expensive but will be worth it in the long run. Mayor Criswell stated that Bobby wants to mow Hwy. 43 thru the City. The state has sprayed with a defoliating agent and won't cut it for at least another 60 days. We will ask. Judge Jay Ross for inmates to pick-up trash. We will furnish jumpsuits and their meals while they are housed here. We will be utilizing Mobile County for cutting Dead Lake Rd. It will cost $250.-$300. But they will be using a larger mower and can cut itin a day and it would take Bobby a week to cut. By the time, we buy diesel and  pay Bobby, this will be better in the long run.    COMMUNITY GROUP  Councilwoman Greene would. like to thank McDonald's in Satsuma for donating the pancakes for the breakfast. The breakfast is free to the children. McDonald's  has furnished at least 1 case for the past three years.  ADDITIONAL NOTES  The next meeting with the Axis residents will be held Saturday, April 29, 2017, 10a.m.-12 Noon at Axis First Baptist Church. There will be signup sheets for interested residents for the annexation with Creola. A citizen of Creola in the audience stated that she never received a flyer about the meeting on February 25th. Mayor Criswell replied that every Axis resident received a mailer + it was posted in 3 places. It was announced at the council meetings, as well.  ADJOURNMENT  City Attorney, Danny Mims, moved to adjourn for the purpose of conducting an executive session to discuss some employees, not to convene. Councilwoman Moss made a motion to adjourn; Councilman Avis Walker seconded, all favored,  none opposed, motion carried.  Mayor Criswell thanked everyone for attending the meeting.  Meeting adjourned at 6:50pm. Respectfullys submitted, ET  Caim  Sue Cain  City Clerk  c.m. 3.23.17