Hal Kirby Park, RPD actions on long Russellville City Council agenda
There were 19 items on the agenda when the Russellville City Council convened at city hall on Monday night. There were 16 items on the original agenda, but the council approved the addition of three more items during the work session.
One of the first items on the agenda concerned a change order for the Hal Kirby Park improvement project. The order added $2,000 in wage rate, but a change to the roof and warranty deducted $5,000 from the price, reducing the total contract price with Hovater’s Metal Works to $296,943. The council unanimously approved the action, authorizing mayor David Grissom to sign the necessary documents.
The construction crews are currently working on the new Hal Kirby press box building. Grissom lauded the chance to save money, but he noted that renovations to the ballpark are behind schedule.
“Right now they’re working on the roof, but we still have the fences and the fields to get done,” he said. “The weather we’ve had has slowed us down. We hoped to be done by March, but that’s not going to happen.”
Grissom and the council also approved the solicitation of bids for six 2017 Ford Police Interceptor Explorer vehicles for the Russellville Police Department.
“Last year we purchased eight vehicles and we’re purchasing six vehicles this time that will replace the rest of the 2005 car fleet that we have,” Russellville Police Chief Chris Hargett said. “They’re worn out and costing a lot in maintenance and repair. Sometimes we don’t even know if our officers will be able to make it out to a call because of the shape the cars are in. The six new vehicles will provide more reliability and cut down our maintenance costs from year to year.”
Finally, the council approved and signed a resolution in support of ATRIP-2. The Alabama Transportation Rehabilitation and Improvement Program in 2012 issued bonds to the city of Russellville, allowing for a number of road and infrastructure projects to be completed.
“ATRIP is what gave us the money to repave and work on the roads a few years ago. If this passed in legislation it would give us more money for road projects,” Grissom said. “This isn’t something that we can pass. It was proposed at the Association of County Commissions convention a few weeks back. It has to be passed by the legislature to go into affect.”
According to the resolution, if ATRIP-2 is passed by the state legislature, the city of Russellville would receive approximately $1,643,954 for road and bridge improvements.
Other actions taken by the city council include:
Approved declaration of a vacancy for the Street Superintendent in the Russellville Street Department.
Approved recommended hire of firefighter Jared Crittenden at the Russellville Fire Department.
Accepted the resignation of firefighter Ronnie Rose from the RFD.
Authorized solicitation of bids for vehicle extrication equipment for the RFD.
Approved the request from the Reedtown Roundup Committee to waive the rental fee for the A.W. Todd Centre on July 3, 2017.
Approved a $1.50 per hour pay raise for one full-time and two part-time Russellville Public Library employees.
Approved abatement of a nuisance on St. Clair Street.
Approved a Russellville Park and Recreation Department sports contract.