By Rebekah Martin
Associate Editor

Mayor Gary Fuller reappointed Henrietta Snipes to the Opelika Housing Authority Board of Commissioners at last Tuesday’s city council meeting. Snipes’s new term will expire Oct. 18, 2021.
Snipes was first appointed to the housing authority in 1996 by Mayor Bobby Freeman and has been reappointed by Mayor Barbara Patton and Fuller multiple times.
“I think most of you will agree that Henrietta’s hard work and dedication are very much appreciated by our community,” Fuller said. “… Mayor Freeman, Mayor Patton and I all share a great deal of respect and admiration for you and your leadership and what you’ve done for the housing authority,” Fuller said.
Snipes received the 2016 Outstanding Commissioner Award from the Alabama Association of Housing and Redevelopment Authority at the annual conference, and was recently re-elected as vice-chair of the Opelika Housing Authority.
Fuller also read a proclamation recognizing the Lee County Bar Association’s “Pro Bono Month,” acknowledging Lee County Circuit Clerk Mary Roberson, Samantha Copelan and Kim Dean. “1 in 4 of the 899,000 Alabamians living in poverty experience legal problems, with the majority of these problems being civil consumer issues, bankruptcy … family and housing issues. Each year, the low-income citizens of Alabama lack access to legal assistance to help with their problems, which are often critical to their safety and independence, forcing them to resolve complex legal problems on their own,” Fuller read. “The need for civil legal aid in Alabama is dire, because unlike in the civil defense system, funding for low-income Alabamians who need civil, legal assistance has not yet been met.”
With fewer than 60 attorneys who serve the low-income Alabamians, Fuller said the need is great. The Lee County Bar Association “Pro Bono Month” will feature a legal aid clinic throughout the state that will assist Alabamians with legal trouble, as well as service projects that will connect lawyers to those underserved Alabamians.
In other business, the council:
– approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of a 2016 Ford F150 Super Cab 4×4 pickup truck for the engineering department.
– approved a resolution authorizing the purchase of a 2017 Ford Explorer 4×2 for Opelika Environmental Services.
– approved the annual appropriation contract with East Alabama Medical Center for ambulance services.
– passed an ordinance approving a rights-of-way use agreement with Southern Light, LLC.