Grayville is getting a new police officer. Monday evening, after emerging from a 10 minute executive session, leaders voted unanimously to hire Zach Coale to join the force effective May 1st. Coale will presumably be filling a role left following the firing of officer Carlton Valiant in early February. Grayville leaders held a special meeting last Thursday, March 20th with only an executive session on the agenda. That was to discuss and settle with the union which included a Non-Disclosure Agreement on the matter.
In new business, leaders agreed to purchase a 2025 Dodge truck for the Sewer Department. Jansen Ford provided the winning bid at $45,446. That purchase is budgeted as is a salt box and blade, if deemed necessary for the new truck which is expected to arrive in a few months.
Two requests for assistance were tabled. They included a request from the Grayville Moose Lodge following electrical issues as well as a request from First Christian Church which is in need of a $92,000 roof. Rick and Sandra Irvine, past president and trustee respectively, from the Moose were in attendance and described the need. The Moose Lodge is celebrating its 65th anniversary in Grayville this April.
One of the major things is that in the upstairs we had I think three different old fuse boxes plus one downstairs that was actually covered up by paneling. He’s wanting to replace those with a regular breaker box. The other thing that I’m sure Mayor Thompson and Commissioner Baldwin will be aware of is that the lodge has no external shutoffs. He’s wanting to put shutoffs outside so first responders, in case there is an emergency, can kill the electricity.
The expected cost is around $8,000-$10,000. Irvine says the lodge operates on a slim budget and detailed the philanthropic work Moose Lodge 1960 does.
Former Commissioner David Jordan, who wasn’t there to speak on it, but as an elder with First Christian Church explained their request.
About 6 years ago, we put a new roof on and have found out that the roof is totally inferior. There’s been all sorts of workmanship issues. It’s leaking terrible. It’s destroying the structure of the building with the amount of leaks that we have. Honest Abe is the company that we’ve currently contacted to put the new roof on. With the problems with the workmanship on the previous roof, they can’t go back over it. It’s gotta be stripped. To save the integrity of the building, we’re going to have to put a new roof and they want to go back with metal because of the quality of fiberglass or asphalt anymore. They’re looking at a price of $92,000 to strip and re-roof it with the metal roofing which is going to of course get us a lot more life than with the asphalt and new commercial guttering to get the water away from it.
Jordan says the church has about half of the necessary funds, but is requesting TIF assistance prompting City Attorney Jay Walden to express his concern on the matter.
The difficulty, and you’ve been on the council and we’ve made TIF agreements with the church…the issue and something I’ve sat back with as city attorney and I want to make it very clear…when you’ve got an entity that actually doesn’t pay real estate taxes, I think that’s a real problem with the TIF funding. So I just want you to know that’s caused me a lot of concern over the years. And as the amount of money requested goes up, I want you to know you guys do fantastic work, but as city attorney, I don’t know that I can sit here and say, ‘ya know do it’. So if there’s any problem, it’s not because of who, what, why, or how because you know I think the church is fantastic. But that concerns the heck out of me and I think we’re going to have to look into it before we approve it. I just want everybody to know up front that that’s a real concern for me.
Council tabled the request to give them time to visit with their TIF consultant from Moran Economic Development.
Trash rates have been set for the next year which will go into effect April 1st. In December, the municipality agreed to a new contract with Sunrise Sanitation which included rate increases. Read more at Grayville Renews Agreement with Sunrise Sanitation for 5 Years; Amends Traffic Code; More – WRUL-FM.
Rather than set rates for the next 5 years, council agreed to set a rate of $21.25 per month for 1 year and re-evaluate. The new rate is an increase of about $4.50 per month.
In early February, council agreed to purchase sewer pumps. Read more at Reason for Grayville Police Officer Dismissal Revealed after Monday Council Meeting – WRUL-FM. Since then, the specs have changed. Mayor Travis Thompson explains.
So the first pump they pulled out they got the specs of and then the second pump went bad and they got those out and it was different specs…much bigger specs. They think the smaller pump was bought to save money to try to get by and that’s why it didn’t last long. So your new quote for each pump is $78,895. We need two…that’s up from like $63,000 previously. I need a motion to be able to go with two pumps at $78,895.
Council agreed.
Monday’s meeting also included reports from Rex Gower of Milano and Grunloh Engineering as well as Scott Irvine with Grayville Utilities. In Commissioner reports, only Finance Commissioner Andi Ford provided a narrative saying she was looking into grants and FEMA funding hoping to one day be able to construct a storm shelter.
Council adjourned at 7:55pm.
