BY KENDYL HOLLINGSWORTH
KENDYLH@
OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
SMITHS STATION —
At its Nov. 22 meeting, the Smiths Station City Council approved two new placards to be added to the Historic Jones Store Museum Memorial Sidewalk.
The names of the late Bob and Bettie Jackson and Robert “Bob” Sawyer will grace the placards on the sidewalk for years to come.
“In front of The Jones Store, we have 12-inch-by-12-inch placards that we [use to] immortalize people that have created and made Smiths Station what it is,” said Mayor F. L. “Bubba” Copeland.
As they have in previous years, the council voted on the latest honorees out of four submissions from the city of Smiths Station’s Historical Commission.
At the same meeting, City Clerk Morgan Bryce read the monthly financial report for the October 2022 General Fund Budget and the quarterly financial report for the Environmental Fund Budget from July through September.
The total net income for the October General Fund Budget was a little over $73,400. The total income, the largest portion of which came from sales and use taxes (almost $66,700), was about $174,700. The expenses totaled almost $105,400.
The total net income for the Environmental Fund Budget was about $8,375. Total income came out to nearly $136,000, while expenses were almost $127,500.
Later in the meeting, the council held an executive session to discuss pending litigation. Following the session, Copeland said the city had received a letter from a law firm on behalf of a citizen who was seeking “conjunctive relief and other damages” because of “continuous flooding” allegedly caused by a pipe that was being poorly maintained by the city.
“I personally want to make the motion that the city of Smiths Station denies this claim, refuses this claim,” Copeland said. The council voiced unanimous support.
In other business, the council took the following actions in November:
• amended the master services agreement with ESG Operations Inc. for on-call public works ground maintenance and related services,
• amended the solid waste ordinance, Section XII, concerning rates, charges, billing and collection agent for solid waste services and
• enumerated the holidays for the city’s 2023 holiday calendar.
Concerning the agreement with ESG Operations, Copeland said the city’s small budget means having an on-call engineering firm — as opposed to a full-time one — is more suitable for Smiths Station.
“A city budget this small can’t handle some of the operations that we have to call on ESG to help us with, so they do this for us,” he explained. “… They also do several other cities in Alabama, one of them being Opelika, so they do all of Opelika’s operations and part of our operations.”
Copeland also called for the city’s annual audit, which the council supported.
“I believe every dime should be looked at, and everything should be looked over,” he said.
Robinson, Grimes & Company will handle the audit. The report will be given at a meeting in January.
The next council meeting is scheduled for Dec. 13 at 6 p.m. Eastern time. Meetings are held at the Smiths Station Government Center, located at 2336 Panther Parkway (Lee Road 430) in Smiths Station.