[1:50] We all ready.
[1:54] I will call this March 3rd meeting of
the Andalusia City Council to order. Uh
[2:00] just a couple of housekeeping things. Uh
our mayor is at the power south trustee
[2:08] update which is an annual meeting. He is
the chairman of the power south board.
[2:15] So uh he is missing the meeting here
tonight. Uh Councilman Boswell
[2:21] is u not feeling well. Uh he had
intended to be here. uh so would
[2:28] appreciate it if you would keep him in
your prayers uh tonight. If you would
[2:34] join me, I will lead us in the prayer
and the pledge.
[2:39] Almighty God, we thank you for your love
and for your mercy.
[2:44] We thank you for the blessings that you
have bestowed upon both this council,
[2:49] this city, and the residents of the city
of Andalusia.
[2:54] Father, as our world is at war, we pray
that you would touch the hearts and
[3:03] minds of coolheaded men, that they could
make decisions that would bring peace
[3:10] and that the killing could stop.
As we conduct this meeting, we pray for
[3:16] wisdom and insight to make good
decisions for both our citizens and our
[3:23] town in Jesus name. Amen.
>> Amen.
[3:28] » Attention, salute, pledge. I pledge
algiance to the flag of the United
[3:35] States of America and to the republic
for which it stands. One nation under
[3:41] God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
[3:46] » All right.
[3:51] » I'd like to welcome our guest. We have
some that are special here tonight. Uh
[3:57] we're going to recognize some uh young
men that
[4:03] have been involved in wrestling. So
before we conduct any other business, I
[4:09] will come down to the podium and if the
young wrestlers will come and join me up
[4:14] there, I will read the resolution and
present them to you.
[4:34] She's tough.
>> All right.
[4:38] And there is a young lady.
So let me not miss that.
[4:46] So this resolution is being presented to
each of you.
[4:51] Whereas the Andalusia Youth Wrestling
Club is a nonprofit organization
[4:57] focused on teaching competitive
wrestling. And whereas the group
[5:01] recently was reorganized and rebranded
to compete as Andalusia Bulldogs.
[5:07] And whereas parents say that the team
members had improved behavior,
[5:12] confidence, and discipline.
And whereas every member of the 2526
[5:18] team qualified to participate in
regionals for their individual ages and
[5:24] weight classes through team Alabama US
wrestling. And whereas the Bulldogs
[5:31] Railen Stacks did win the 12 and under
64 pound girls state championship.
[5:40] And whereas Jaden Lockheart did win the
8 and under 98B boys state championship.
[5:48] And whereas Ronan Staxs did win the 8
and under 78B
[5:54] state boys championship.
And whereas Ace Ace George did win the
[6:01] six and under 56PB boys state
championship.
[6:06] And whereas they represented Andelusia
with class, learning valuable life
[6:12] lessons about the rewards of hard work.
Now therefore be it resolved that I,
[6:18] Major Earl V. Johnson, on behalf of the
city council of Andalusia, Alabama, and
[6:25] all of its citizens, do hereby recognize
Railen Stacks.
[6:30] Raise your hand.
Jaden Lockheart,
[6:36] Ronan Stacks,
and Ace George and their coaches, and
[6:42] extend to them our congratulations for
their success and for representing our
[6:48] community so well. Adopted and approved
this the third day of March, 2026.
[6:56] And congratulations to each of you.
>> Let me see if I can get one for
[7:00] » Are these
[7:04] Where is Michelle?
>> I'll get a picture for Michelle.
[7:06] » Are these individualized?
[7:11] » No.
All right. One, two, three, four. Here
[7:17] we go.
Congratulations.
[7:28] Congratulations.
[7:44] One, two, three.
[7:59] These are the kind of young people we
want growing up in our town. One day you
[8:06] will be where I am and we want you to
lead our town very well, just like you
[8:12] wrestle. Okay.
[8:32] It's always really good to see uh our
young people rewarded for hard work.
[8:39] Hard work and discipline will take you
long ways.
[8:44] All right. Uh you're more than welcome
to stay. It's a brief meeting. We won't
[8:49] be very long. Uh or you can go ahead and
and go, whichever you prefer.
[8:58] » Okay.
[9:03] Understand? All right.
>> Good.
[9:05] » Okay. Good deal. We'll be glad to have
you.
[9:09] » All right. We have our minutes from the
previous meeting to be approved. Uh I
[9:14] would entertain a motion to approve
the
[9:19] uh February 17th me minutes.
>> Mr. Mayor Pro Tim, I move for approval
[9:24] of the said minutes uh from the uh
meeting of February 17, 2026.
[9:31] » All right, we have a motion to approve.
Do we have a second?
[9:33] » I second the motion.
>> All right, is there any further
[9:36] discussion regarding the minutes?
If not, all in favor raise your right
[9:42] hand and say I.
>> I.
[9:45] » Any oppose the same privilege? And it
carries.
[9:50] We have no unfinished business. Under
new business, we have the Andalusia City
[9:58] Schools education sales tax request. Uh
it was presented to us last August.
[10:06] Uh and we had agreed. We held off
approving that, waiting for them to get
[10:11] the pricing for uh an addition to the
new elementary school
[10:17] that came in under the price that they
had anticipated
[10:23] and the the board of education, Dr.
Shakespeare has agreed
[10:28] that we will uh approve everything but
the request for the elementary school
[10:35] edition pending him getting the price to
redo old Maine at the high school. It
[10:43] badly needs to be redone. So once they
have that number, they will bring a new
[10:49] price to us and and we will consider
that then. But for now, we will uh
[10:56] approve instead of the
let me find my page. Instead of 4,620,
[11:04] we will approve 1,120,000.
[11:08] So, do I hear a motion to approve that
amount?
[11:11] » Mayor Pro Tim, I'll make a motion to
approve the Andalusia City Schools
[11:15] education sales tax request for 2627.
>> Okay. and and it is for 2526.
[11:24] They they misprinted in in here. I
forgot to tell you that correct.
[11:27] » So, all right, we have a motion to
approve. Do we have a second?
[11:31] » A second. Motion.
>> All right, we have a second. Is there
[11:34] any further discussion? Any questions?
If not, all in favor of approving the
[11:40] request as presented, let it be known by
raising your right hand and saying I. I.
[11:46] » Any opposed? the same privilege and it
carries.
[11:52] The last
uh item of business tonight is a
[11:57] franchise agreement with Ceasepire
[12:03] item B.
>> Oh, I'm sorry. I missed the resurface.
[12:07] Uh,
we have a resolution 2026-02
[12:13] to appropriate $85,000
from the capital account to be
[12:20] appropriated to cover the cost of
resurfacing Third Avenue. The Third
[12:26] Avenue project has been approved.
However, the the funding was not in the
[12:33] grant to pay for the resurfacing. It
paid for everything else, but uh uh the
[12:40] resurfacing is on the city and we have a
resolution here to pay for it out of our
[12:47] capital funds. So I would entertain a
motion to resurface 3 avenue. Mayor
[12:54] Prom, I make a motion that we approve
resolution 20 26-02
[13:01] resurfacing
third avenue and the reservicing cost
[13:06] not to exceed $85,000
and will come from capital.
[13:11] » Okay, you heard have heard Councilman
Mount's uh motion. Do we have a second?
[13:17] » Mayor Pro. I'll second that motion.
>> All right, we have a motion and a
[13:21] second. Is there any further discussion?
[13:26] All right. If not, then all in favor,
let it be known by saying I and raising
[13:30] your right hand.
>> I.
[13:32] » Any oppose the same privilege? And it
carries.
[13:37] All right. Now we are to the point of
the uh franchise agreement and I'm going
[13:45] to ask uh Jake Cowan who is a senior
vice president uh who happens to live in
[13:52] Covington County to come and tell us
about this franchise agreement if you
[13:57] can use the microphone here at the
podium.
[14:03] Thank you mayor pro team council
opportunity and u speak on this. So uh
[14:10] ceasefire we have a a grant from the uh
federal government to deploy a 677
[14:17] milei uh fiber optic middle mile network
which is just a a highcapacity uh fiber
[14:24] network. Um it'll uh covers 27 counties
in South Alabama. Of course, it includes
[14:30] Andalusia and Covenant County. Um, uh,
in Andalusia, we would deploy, uh, a
[14:36] high-capacity cabinet, which would be
the electronics that serve fiber to the
[14:39] home, um, and the underlying, uh, the
network. Um, in in Andalusia, we would
[14:45] have three routes out. So, we would have
multiple redundancy where if, uh, one
[14:50] fiber path got cut, uh, or up to two
fiber paths got cut, we could still uh,
[14:54] maintain um, a network service. Um and
so as part of the grant with the federal
[15:01] government, phase one would be complete
the 677 mile project by July of 27. Um
[15:09] and then phase two uh as soon as that's
complete, we move into market expansion.
[15:13] Um and as part of uh as part of the
grant and taking the federal dollars, we
[15:18] will operate open access and
non-discriminatory network, which just
[15:22] means uh we will provide service at at
uh non-discriminatory rates. uh to any
[15:28] other provider whether it's another
telecom provider that competes with us,
[15:31] a cell phone provider, another phone
company locally. So, they could also use
[15:35] the network to increase their um
reliability and redundancy.
[15:40] » Um Mayor Pro Tim, anything else you want
me to cover?
[15:43] » Uh I think that pretty well covers it.
Um, and just for general information,
[15:51] uh, the charges that Ceasefire will
incur are consistent with all of the
[15:58] other internet providers that have a
franchise agreement with the city of
[16:03] Andalusia.
Um, before you start moving to homes,
[16:08] we're looking at at least a year.
>> Yes, sir.
[16:11] » Or or a little longer.
>> Yes, sir. But for businesses that are
[16:15] along the state right of way, you'll be
able they'll be able to get service much
[16:21] faster.
>> Yeah, we hope before the end of the
[16:23] year.
>> Okay.
[16:25] So, so this project is ex or or service
is expected to start sometime by the
[16:32] fourth quarter or a little earlier.
>> Yes, sir. So, and and the city is hoping
[16:39] that by having an additional internet
provider that it will make the other
[16:45] internet providers
um make their service uh more
[16:51] dependable.
The biggest thing that I hear is that
[16:56] people uh can't use it. uh businesses
have to have it to bill uh to get my car
[17:04] tuned up. If the internet doesn't work,
they can't do it. Uh if they get it
[17:09] tuned up and then it goes down, they
can't bill me. So, all these things are
[17:14] important to businesses and particularly
to individuals who work from home with
[17:20] the requirement of high-speed internet.
So, this will make it even better for
[17:25] them. they'll have more choices and and
we're hoping by having multiple
[17:31] providers
uh a person can get redundancy and never
[17:38] be without internet. It's not likely
that two providers would be down at the
[17:44] same time. So that's the thinking of the
city as we enter into this agreement.
[17:51] Okay.
>> Does does the council have any questions
[17:53] for Mr. Cowan?
Okay. He answered most of our questions
[17:58] upstairs in the workshop. So, all right.
You have before you the resolution
[18:05] uh for telecommunication services and
redundancies in the city of Andalusia.
[18:12] Do I hear a motion that we approve the
franchise agreement?
[18:17] » Mr. Mayor Prom, I so move.
>> All right. We have a motion from
[18:21] Councilman Nicks. Do we have a second?
>> A second. A motion. All right, we have a
[18:25] second from Councilman Mau. Is there any
further discussion?
[18:30] If not, then all in favor of the
agreement, let it be known by raising
[18:34] your right hand and saying I.
>> I.
[18:37] » Any oppose the same privilege?
And it carries.
[18:43] Let me uh that's all of the business
unless someone has something. Uh let me
[18:49] again say to you young people, uh we're
proud of you. And uh keep in mind we're
[18:56] going to need you to take a seat up here
one day. Somebody will have to run this
[19:00] city because
we're we're going to get old.
[19:05] So you guys give that a lot of thought.
All right. If there is no further
[19:11] business, then we will be adjourned.