By Michelle Key
Publisher

The Opelika City Council approved an agreement with the City of Auburn regarding the design and upkeep of the new skatepark which is slated to be built next year.
Upon completion, the City of Auburn will manage the day-to-day maintenance, but any maintenance expenses more than $1,000 will be split evenly between Auburn and Opelika.
The council also approved the city’s attorney Guy Gunter to draft engagement letters with the law firm of Baller Stokes and Lide and with CTC Technology in order to seek assistance with new legislation regarding 5G small cell towers. New legislations from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will change the way municipalities handle requests for these towers.
“Small cell technology is really an exciting development. It does not replace the large cell towers that we are familiar with, but small cells supplement the large towers to enhance the capacity,” Gunter said. “In September, the FCC passed new sweeping regulations that will apply to state and local governments. These regulations provide that cities cannot prohibit small cell facilities within the public right of way.”
These new regulations will require that the city may need to adopt new ordinances in order to meet all the requirements as they are stated in the new FCC legislation which will go in effect in January 2019.
Baller Stokes and Lide of Washington, D.C. and CTC Technology are considered to be some the best experts in this field and their assistance is needed to ensure that the city is prepared to face the challenges of the new regulations.
In other business, the council:
• approved Sneak and Dawdle LLC for an alcohol beverage license
• approved Remedy Enterprises LLC dba Resting Pulse Brewing Co. for a brewpub license
• approved a second amendment to the power services contract with AMEA
• approved the purchase of ITRON TPM controllers for Opelika Power Services
• approved the purchase of ITRON Meters and related equipment for Opelika Power Services
• approved a software and service agreement with Active Network to be used by the swimming program
• approved several weed abatements
• approved a request by Lisa Thrift with the CDBG to reclassify unused funds from a previous year in order to be able to use those funds for current projects
• approved expense reports from various departments
• approved the designation of city personal property items as surplus and approved the disposal of those items.