[0:12] just
[0:51] I sure
[1:04] I'm ready.
[1:12] I saw her.
[1:18] Yeah.
[1:45] I had a little bit.
[1:54] probably makes sense to you right.
[2:11] » Welcome everybody. We're going to
kick off our work session for tonight.
[2:19] First uh item that we have on the work
session, Katherine Sledge, Thomas'
[2:24] Legacy of Love nonprofit.
[2:39] » Good evening, Mayor.
>> Good evening, council members and staff.
[2:44] My name is Katherine Sledge and I'm
representing Thomas's Legacy of Love
[2:49] Incorporated of Tusc.
have attended the council meeting to
[2:55] share our nonprofit and to request a
financial donation of $2500 to support
[3:03] scholarships for Sheffield High School
seniors and to support two hygiene
[3:09] project sponsored by Thomas's legacy at
Sheffield High School and Sheffield
[3:15] Junior High School.
The mission of Thomas's legacy is to
[3:19] empower and to enrich the community
through education and faithbased
[3:25] initiatives. Our vision is to be the
best positive difference in the lives of
[3:30] people and the shows.
I will begin with a brief history of
[3:36] Thomas's legacy,
move into the scholarships, the hygiene
[3:40] posit, and then complete my
presentation.
[3:45] Thomas's legacy over 501c3
attends the community
[3:52] of his name
Thomas 19 to 19 to 2022
[4:00] after surviving a near fatal motorcycle
accident
[4:06] sled began an almost 50 year record of
service to the show
[4:11] his family Catherine Rashad
Faith and Haley have chosen to focus on
[4:19] three areas that were of utmost
important to Thomas. Education, faith,
[4:25] and community. We're reaching out
because we believe that you share the
[4:29] importance of his vision.
For over 26 years, Thomas assisted Jerry
[4:35] Mills to Sheffield High School Council
to secure scholarships for any graduate
[4:40] student wanted to attend a technical
two-year or fouryear institution.
[4:47] In preserving Thomas's legacy of
commitment to education,
[4:52] Thomas's legacy has to continue awarding
two $1,000 scholarships as he did in
[4:59] 2023,
2024, and 2025.
[5:04] I would like to share that we have a 67%
success rate for the students who
[5:11] receive the first six scholarships.
Look it on to the hygienic father. The
[5:17] board developed a plan aimed at
improving high school graduation rates,
[5:22] retention, self-esteem, and overall
student success. Through Thomas' care
[5:28] closet, we will provide essential
hygiene products, undergarment, socks,
[5:34] and belts to support students. A limited
number of co items casual and
[5:39] professional will be accessible to
enhance student success for interviews
[5:45] of civic engagement
as shown by the attached letter from
[5:51] superintendent Dr. Carlos Nelson. She c
students has expressed full support for
[5:57] the vision and work of Thomas of love.
The board endorsed the partnership
[6:02] between Shepard High School and the
organization that we anticipate will
[6:08] benefit the broader community.
Approximately
[6:12] 71% of students at Sheffield Junior High
and Sheffield High School fit within
[6:20] I do not have the exact number, but I'm
going to uh guesstimate from my most
[6:26] recent inquiry that's around 375
students. Our board is working closely
[6:32] with the school mental health
coordinator and uh who is Morgan Smith
[6:38] and the community engagement leader
Major Atkins
[6:42] through a holistic approach of
addressing each individual student and
[6:47] by providing the necessary items we
anticipate improvement in the quality of
[6:52] life of the disenfranchised students.
The potential impact and outcomes of
[6:59] Thomas's causes will be a positive for
the students, school, family, and the
[7:04] community.
Today, Thomas Legacy Love is facing
[7:09] substantial
physical challenges. We will benefit
[7:14] from a gift from 2500
[7:19] donation as we continue to support the
show's period. We believe that like
[7:23] Charles said, you ought to invest in the
future of our students and are committed
[7:27] to meeting people where they are and
leaving them at a better place,
[7:32] especially those who are in need. Your
kindness and financial support will
[7:38] allow us to continue programs that honor
Thomas's life and make a positive impact
[7:44] in our
we extend our deepest gratitude in
[7:48] advance for your support and enriching.
Thank you for allowing to be here and
[7:55] thank you for allowing our president.
Thank you. Thank you. Thanks.
[8:17] We'll talk about
running town. You know, I was going to
[8:21] ask at least it wasn't me this time.
[8:33] It's approximately three grand I think
that we have left in the fiscal year.
[8:36] Approximately 3 I think it's $3,06
somewhere up there. Miss Sledge, when
[8:41] were you uh requesting the money be
given? Is it urgent quick turn?
[8:46] » Urgent school has already begun and I
have already
[8:51] u taken things up twice since school has
started.
[8:56] Okay.
[8:59] Got the feedback.
[9:03] » I'm sorry. Feedback
feedback.
[9:34] Check, check, check, check. Okay, there
we go.
[9:39] » Yeah, there you go. All right.
[9:44] Um, if this is something we we can get
through the month, it would be on the
[9:47] next fiscal year. I don't know if the
council wants to discuss that at all.
[9:51] any any thoughts?
>> Um I think it's a it yeah it's a worthy
[9:57] program. It goes directly to
our kids schools
[10:03] » uh in the form of scholarships
and the uh
[10:09] the care as well for
[10:16] giving out money. We always said that
we wanted to directly affect kids in our
[10:21] schools.
>> Yeah. So,
[10:24] » okay. So, we want to put this on the
agenda as a resolution.
[10:28] » Any other comment on
[10:37] » course?
Yeah. Yeah. We have one more, you know,
[10:40] we have one more council meeting before
the next fiscal year begins. So, yeah.
[10:47] Yeah.
[10:53] » Okay. Carol says
>> all right.
[10:57] All right.
[11:01] » 14 resolutions.
[11:07] 2500. Yep.
[11:14] and music ledge. I also have an
organization that will partner with
[11:21] [clears throat]
[11:34] Yeah, pretty good.
[11:59] We have number two,
Miss Alli Lee, director of attention
[12:04] homes requested.
[12:12] » I walked out of my office today and I
left all my notes on my desk. So, I made
[12:16] a few notes on my phone. Uh, so I don't
go too far off topic. Uh, but my name is
[12:22] Ally Lee and I'm the director of the
Attention Homes of Northwest Alabama.
[12:26] Uh, I stepped into this role in January.
Um, following the footsteps of Terresa
[12:32] Robertson who was in this position for
42 years. Uh, so I have quite the big
[12:37] shoes to fill. Um, but I thought I would
take this opportunity this year to
[12:41] attend all of the meetings and introduce
myself and a face to the name. Um, and
[12:46] then also if you're not familiar with
the Attention Homes, explain a little
[12:50] bit about what we do and impact that we
have on the community. Um, so the
[12:55] Attention Homes has been serving youth
in Northwest Alabama since 1973.
[13:00] Uh, we have two homes as residential
facility. Uh we have our girls home
[13:05] which is located over in Florence and
then our boys home is located here in
[13:09] Sheffield. So y'all are extra special to
us. Um and our homes are for kids that
[13:15] are involved in the juvenile court
system. Um so all of the kids that enter
[13:19] our home are aged 10 to 18 um boys and
girls and they are on juvenile probation
[13:25] of some sort whether that's for truency
or whether they have domestic violence
[13:30] charges um family altercation substance
abuse they're involved in the court
[13:34] systems and the judges have ordered them
to um stay with us. Um our homes give
[13:41] the kids an alternative to detention.
Um, so the kids that we're serving are
[13:46] kind of at the point where a judge is
looking at them and they're saying,
[13:49] "Hey, this kid really needs we have to
take them out of the home. We're going
[13:53] to put them in a juvenile detention
center." Um, and that's kind of where
[13:57] the attention homes came into play was
let's give an alternative or maybe a
[14:01] step down um in a cell um and put these
kids in a stable environment and see if
[14:06] we can really work on the behavioral and
issues in that way instead of just
[14:11] putting them in detention center for
months off. Um so we're a step down from
[14:15] the juvenile detention center and we are
a diversion program through the state of
[14:18] Alabama. Uh while they're with us they
have a safe place to live. They have
[14:23] structured meals, transportation to
schools. Uh we enroll them in mental
[14:28] health services. So we get a lot of them
enrolled in counseling. We get their
[14:31] medications looked at. Uh they attend
group with us as well as our girls are
[14:37] involved in a community action girls
program. And our boys are starting to go
[14:41] to the jump program. So we're trying to
keep them as involved in the community
[14:44] as we can. Um, which is another
alternative to why the extension is so
[14:50] important is we're keeping Scholes area
kids in the Scholes. Uh, so if you look
[14:55] at other diversion programs or programs
that operate like we do, most
[14:59] [clears throat] of them are going to be
in South Alabama. Um, and so really
[15:03] without the attention homes, we're
looking at shipping these kids down to
[15:08] do Mobile and that's where they're going
to stay for three to four months
[15:11] completely away from family in the
community that they're in. Um, so we're
[15:15] able to keep them here locally. Uh, last
year we served 54 kids and provided more
[15:22] than 2,300 nights of care. Uh, this year
we're already at 66 kids. So we've
[15:27] already um exceeded that number this
year. U, however, last year 89% of our
[15:32] kids successfully completed our program.
So whenever they come to our program,
[15:35] they stay anywhere from three to nine
weeks just depending on what the judge
[15:40] orders. Um, and they have to maintain a
level system. So, they have to show good
[15:44] behavior, do their chores, and stay out
of trouble um for three to nine weeks
[15:50] based on what the judge orders. And we
did have 89% of the kids that were able
[15:54] to that. Um our kids stay with us on
average for 51 nights. Um so, they're
[15:59] with us for a good amount of time. And
that's something that we're really proud
[16:03] of. Um we try to the kids that come in,
they can normally the first week or two
[16:07] is usually the hardest. Um, but once we
can get them in that structure and that
[16:11] routine, we're proud to be able to keep
them for a while. Um, until we're able
[16:15] to kind of reintegrate them back into
their home and work with their parents
[16:18] or their family or whoever their
guardian is, but try to reintegrate them
[16:22] slowly, um, so that they don't end up
coming back to us. Um, so that's a
[16:29] little bit of an overview of what we do.
Um, again, I just kind of wanted to
[16:33] explain what we do, introduce myself. um
we are here in Sheffield. So, I'm trying
[16:39] to be as involved in the communities
that we operate as I can be. Um so, I'm
[16:44] grateful for y'all and all that y'all do
um for allowing us to be here, but I'd
[16:49] love to answer any questions.
>> Where's the bulk of your funding?
[16:55] » Our funding. So, a large portion of our
funding comes from UIS, Department of
[17:00] Services of Alabama. um we receive a
large diversion grant from them and then
[17:05] other than that it's mostly city and
county funded. Um and the reason behind
[17:09] that is especially counties um the kids
that we serve are not in detention beds
[17:16] whereas if those kids were being put in
a detention bed the county would be
[17:20] paying that nightly rate $138 a night to
keep a kid. Um so we're kind of an
[17:26] alternative to that. Um we keep those
costs.
[17:30] So
[17:35] » it is. Yes. All of our kids are court
ordered by um the juvenile judge. We
[17:39] operate in Lauderdale, uh Coart, and
Franklin County. And then we actually
[17:44] starting October 1st, we're expanding
into Lawrence County as well. So we'll
[17:47] have four counties um that the judges
will use as a resource.
[17:57] went to what matter you ask.
>> So, historically, um I don't know what
[18:03] we've asked for because I just started
in January. Um but historically, I went
[18:07] through the past couple years. Um and
for the past five years, we've received
[18:11] $1,000. I'm asking for 5,000 this year
for this next year's budget. Um just due
[18:18] to raised cost just, you know,
everywhere else. Um we've had a loss of
[18:23] a couple grants. Um the grant world is a
little crazy right now. Um so we've lost
[18:28] two of our grants this year and that's
that's not us. That's just everybody.
[18:32] All the nonprofits um have been losing
them. So um and then of course just
[18:37] rising cost, groceries, staffing,
>> right? So
[18:42] historically
[18:57] wait till October.
>> Oh yeah, actually this is for next
[18:59] year's budget. Yes, it was
forget next year's budget.
[19:06] » Thank thank you for doing what you do.
[19:13] You don't think that?
>> Oh, yeah.
[19:16] You don't even know. You didn't know
where it was.
[19:19] » You really wouldn't. Um, that's
something, too. If y'all have never been
[19:22] to the home, um, I would love to have
y'all come see it. Um, we're located
[19:27] just right over on Shville Drive. And
like he said, if you didn't know what it
[19:31] was, you would never It's It looks just
like mine in your house. We walk inside
[19:35] and it looks like our inside, too. It's
a couple bedrooms. Um, we try to make it
[19:39] as cozy as we can. So, we try to make it
seem as normal of a life as possible.
[19:48] » Great notes.
>> Thank you. To be
[19:55] » to be transparent, this is my eighth or
ninth of city council meeting, so I it's
[20:01] coming out.
>> Thanks.
[20:05] » Thank you for your time. I appreciate
Thank you.
[20:11] » [clears throat]
[20:14] » Uh the next three items are u
new introductions um be pretty quick.
[20:27] The item of neo gov platform
it's about modernizing some of the most
[20:33] basic administrative functions that we
perform every day. are payroll, employee
[20:38] time and attendance, benefits
administration, core HR, onboarding new
[20:43] employees, and the related year-end
payroll.
[20:47] Right now, too much of this work is
fragmented and requires a manual process
[20:52] that costs staff time. It creates
duplicate work, makes routine personnel
[20:57] and payroll administration harder than
it needs to be. The NEOGV proposal
[21:03] brings those functions into a more
integrated system. Quoded package
[21:07] includes
benefits, core HR, payroll,
[21:12] time and attendance,
onboard and payroll services along with
[21:17] the associated implementation and setup.
First year cost a little over $53,000 at
[21:24] 5341
and40. the quoted second year incurred.
[21:29] It's a little less minus the
implementation of $49,14945.
[21:36] So I don't look at this as buying
software simply because we'd like newer
[21:40] software. The question is whether we can
make payroll timekeeping and benefits
[21:46] and [clears throat] employee
administration more efficient, more
[21:48] consistent, and less dependent on manual
work.
[21:52] This also matters as we move into fiscal
year 2027.
[21:57] We're serious about modernizing the way
the city operates internally. Our
[22:01] administrative systems have to be a part
of that effort. My recommendation is
[22:05] that we move it forward the first year
implementation evaluate the platform and
[22:10] based on actual performance and staff
experience and continue the subject
[22:16] to subject future uh expenditures to our
normal budgeting and authorization
[22:20] process.
Uh the uh the good news is we received a
[22:29] refund from a 2010
project grant. Um and so we actually
[22:39] have um the funds additional funds to
pay for this platform uh as well as the
[22:48] vast majority of the next platform that
I'm going to introduce. So those funds
[22:52] did come in. So it won't be a matter of
do do we have those? Yes, we do. Because
[22:58] we after 16 years, we finally got a
refund.
[23:06] And uh so that's uh that that's where
that's where the funds would be coming
[23:10] from to uh support this first year of uh
of this plan.
[23:17] And that cuts off dozens and several
more dozen hours of uh manual
[23:24] time cards. Uh especially when it gets
to the year end with the W2s
[23:30] and things like that. Is that correct?
Yeah. And
[23:34] let's see. So are the subscriptions
two-year subscriptions. Is that what it
[23:39] like mean after we get to year three if
we were to go through with this would we
[23:43] still have we'd be on for the same?
>> Okay. Yeah, similar cost.
[23:48] » It was just point it's pointing out uh
the first year includes an
[23:52] implementation and onboarding fee uh to
get the system set up because they go
[23:57] through and do an awful lot training and
things like that and then second pos.
[24:06] » No, no, next year it'll go down and then
uh either remain the same or go up.
[24:11] Nothing's going down anyway.
>> Probably stay. Yeah, pretty much. And um
[24:17] as I understand it and they do they've
got some legal ease in there that does
[24:22] it does cap how much that would go up if
they did go up like it's like less 5%.
[24:30] » For clarification, mayor, did you say
that the refund covers the first year?
[24:34] » Yeah.
>> Okay. The first year.
[24:36] » Yeah. We got uh roughly 55 a little over
55,000 back in that refund.
[24:47] Which carries us into number four. So
the city plus doc access city's
[24:54] municipal and police department websites
including document accessibility
[24:58] implementation recurring service
and proposed authorization. So we're
[25:04] modernizing the city's website.
uh that is uh that's taking a back seat
[25:10] to some other development which I'll
introduce here in a minute uh for our
[25:16] fiscal year 2027 budget which is taking
a primary role in my time as far as any
[25:22] development goes. Uh so one of the
things we have to address is
[25:26] accessibility uh even by state law. We
publish a tremendous number of PDF
[25:31] documents online, agendas, minutes,
budgets, audits, ordinances, forms,
[25:37] reports, and other documents. Simply
putting a PDF on a website does not
[25:41] necessarily make that document
accessible to someone using a screen
[25:44] reader or other assisted technology.
That's what that doc addresses.
[25:51] scans, converts, and monitors PDF
documents on our website to support our
[25:56] ADA and section 508 accessibility
efforts. Uh the proposal covers both
[26:01] cheffield.gov.net
[26:05] and cheff police.org.
Uh the first year cost is $6,361
[26:12] including implementation cost for the
first year. Uh then current annual
[26:17] recurring service after that uh is
$4,861.
[26:22] Uh so that's roughly $100 over the
implementation fee on the first year. I
[26:29] also want to make one distinction clear.
It's not a public records request
[26:32] system. So it does not mean we're
putting every [clears throat] city
[26:36] record online, but it does not change
how we handle records request or any
[26:40] fees associated with those requests.
This deals with documents we have
[26:44] already chosen to publish publicly. It
makes those documents more accessible.
[26:50] Alternative is either putting the
remediation bing burden on city staff
[26:54] i.e. me document by document or leaving
the accessibility issue addressed
[27:00] completely. I don't think either one of
those is a good option. We are we're
[27:05] already investing in a better city
website. So it doesn't make much sense
[27:09] to build a modern website then fill it
with documents that some of our
[27:13] residents can't properly access or in
violation of state ordinances uh for us
[27:19] to maintain that accessibility
for the cost involved particularly for
[27:24] both websites covered. I think it's a
reasonable investment
[27:29] which leads me to item number three. Uh
both of those uh we
[27:37] both of those so far are on our general
feed to vote on as resolutions tonight.
[27:43] Uh as is [clears throat]
number five.
[27:48] Um it's temporary authorization
for an additional open AI chat GPT and
[27:54] codeex uh development environment
capacity. I want to be clear what we're
[27:59] paying for with this. This is not simply
an upgrade to my chat GPT account. Uh
[28:05] we're we're using these tools as
development capacity uh for the
[28:10] Sheffield municipal operating system and
for the fiscal year 2027 budget
[28:16] development process. Uh Sheffield
Municipal Operating System is the
[28:21] internal financial and executive
management platform that I'm developing
[28:25] to and through budgeting financial
analysis, reporting scenario analysis,
[28:31] and the way we uh the way we present
municipal financial information. Right
[28:37] now, I'm in an accelerated development
period since uh we're trying to get our
[28:43] fiscal year 2027 budget out on time uh
for the first time, I think, in reported
[28:50] history. And and uh that means sustained
coding, debugging, testing, and working
[28:55] with large amounts of financial data and
repeatedly refining the system as I
[29:01] build out the uh 2027 budget. that type
of development work uh can consume the
[29:08] included chat GPT and codeex usage
capacity which I already have a beta
[29:13] account um and I end up hitting the
usage limits on a daily basis now
[29:18] because of the amount of data and the
progress I'm more than halfway through
[29:22] with that development and insert uh but
now every evening I have to put it off
[29:28] until the next day because uh the usage
limits on the account that I have uh
[29:35] shut the process down until the next day
and of course it's a 24-hour reset
[29:40] waiting period before those uh those
credits reset.
[29:44] Uh so right now uh so the type of
development
[29:48] uh
yeah so there there it is when the type
[29:52] of development work that uh consume the
included with by included package and
[29:57] usage capacity and they hit those limits
it stops until it resets. Uh, so I'm
[30:03] asking for a very narrow authorization,
not more than $1,000 total. Uh, it
[30:09] probably won't even be that much. Uh,
and not more than three months. Uh, that
[30:15] gives us enough flexibility to keep
development moving during this intensive
[30:20] budget period without creating an
open-ended expense. Um, if we reach that
[30:26] thousand cap, that's it. Uh, anything
beyond that comes back to the council.
[30:31] Uh the relevant question isn't whether
the city needs a more expensive AI
[30:35] subscription. The question is whether a
temporary CAT development expense is
[30:40] justified to keep a city software
project and our fiscal year 2027 budget
[30:46] work moving forward given the amount
involved and the work we're getting from
[30:51] it. I believe it is
[30:55] um any questions on that?
>> So this could be less than $1,000.
[30:59] » It's it's Yeah. So, I'm upgrading uh I I
have a 20 $20 a month uh subscription
[31:06] now. Uh this upgrades it to a $200 a
month subscription for the next three
[31:11] months. So,
realistically relationship more
[31:15] [clears throat] like $600 than a,000.
And uh
[31:20] but it's also just for the purpose of
getting to this uh fiscal year 2027 mark
[31:28] and a usable uh publishable uh budget
from that and then the additional work
[31:35] that comes after that I can go back to
uh at my own expense uh to the previous
[31:43] my previous uh subscription tier.
[31:55] Uh and then in tonight's meeting, we're
also going to uh we're going to end up
[32:00] discussing a 2.5% utilities rate
increase and we're going to have a
[32:05] public uh public input period. So, we're
going to do that in our a regular
[32:11] meeting, not a work session. So, and
we're going to do that. So we're not
[32:15] waiting there making everybody wait.
[32:21] And on tonight's regular meeting,
uh we'll announce the yard of the month
[32:28] for August 2026.
Uh we'll have a public input period for
[32:33] the proposed 2 and a half% Sheffield
utilities electric rate increase. I will
[32:39] uh reconsider the adoption of ordinance
2026-0817.
[32:46] It's an ordinance providing for the
refill of the resolution creating the
[32:50] Sheffield Recreation Board. Uh and then
consider Sheffield utility rate
[32:56] increase. will consider approval for
Mayor Van Deander to execute the
[33:02] contract with NACOG fiscal year 2027 for
the senior center and consider
[33:07] authorizing Mayor Van Deander to let
bids for garbage services city of
[33:13] Sheffield
uh and consider approval of 2027 severe
[33:18] weather preparedness tax holiday
February 26 through 28th of 2027.
[33:24] I will consider hearing Jeffrey
Mckendle and Andre Gala Day as police
[33:33] officers to fill the vacancies in the
police department. We'll consider
[33:37] declaring the following vehicle surplus
in the parks and recreation department.
[33:41] A 2002 Ford F-150 and a 1997 Ford F150.
I will consider approval in the expenses
[33:50] of $634 for Scholes Autoglass to repair
a windshield for a 2024 GMC Yukon
[33:57] damaged by the street Sheffield Street
Department. Consider approval of
[34:03] reimbursement in the amount of $85
to Rodney Ruby for mailed lab work and
[34:08] consider approval of reimbursement in
the amount of $9.99
[34:12] to Evalu Richardson for DreamHost
Software at the library.
[34:17] We'll consider approval of expense in
the amount of $2,000 for eight employees
[34:22] to attend the EMR medical emergency
medical responder training. We'll
[34:27] consider adoption of a resolution
authorizing the city of Sheffield to
[34:31] enter an agreement with Civic Plus for
doc access services for
[34:34] chefalabama.net.gov
and police.org at an initial term cost
[34:42] of $636140.
[34:45] will consider authorization for
temporary
[34:49] temporary
open AI check GPT codeex development
[34:54] services for Sheffield municipal
operating system and fiscal year 2027
[34:58] budget preparation and an amount not to
exceed $1,000 for period not to exceed
[35:04] three months. will consider adoption of
a resolution authorizing the city of
[35:08] Sheffield to enter into an agreement
with neo gov/powers
[35:14] EMS for payroll benefits court HR time
and attendance on boarding and payroll
[35:18] services
and then we have an announcement of
[35:23] rescheduling for the city of Sheffield.
We'll start taking the bids um
[35:30] for the property located at 1616 shop
pipe starting September 8th today until
[35:37] Monday, September 21st. And that's on me
because I didn't get the bid package out
[35:41] last time. So, we basically have just
delayed that process. So, nobody's
[35:45] missed out on anything. We haven't
accepted any bids. Uh we haven't seen
[35:49] any bids. And u yours truly is the uh
result of that delay.
[36:00] » It's it's on me. Uh and then uh of
course we'll vote on Thomas legacy of
[36:06] love donation of contribution of $2500.
>> And so mayor just point clarity. So a
[36:14] lot of these things we'll discuss during
the
[36:16] » Yes.
>> Okay. All right.
[36:19] those resolutions.
[36:22] » All right. So, that concludes our work
session. We're gonna get into uh
[36:29] I'll call our general meeting into
order. And you guys will join me in the
[36:34] pledge of allegiance
[36:43] of
the republic for which it stands. One
[36:48] nation under God, indivisice, liberty,
and justice for all.
[36:53] » Let's pray.
Dear God, we come to you uh with
[36:58] grateful hearts full of gratitude. Um
Lord, I thank you for all the blessings
[37:02] that you've given us here in this city.
Uh I pray not only for our future, but
[37:06] for the present. Um God, I pray over our
discussion tonight and our decision-
[37:10] making. Lord, I pray that you give us
wisdom and understanding to discuss even
[37:15] with those who we may disagree that we
work together to acch achieve a common
[37:20] goal and moving the city forward. Uh
God, as always, I pray that we love each
[37:24] other the way that you love us. Guide us
in our discussion tonight. Your name I
[37:28] pray. Amen.
[37:36] » I have a motion to adopt the agenda as
amended.
[37:40] Second.
>> Second.
[37:44] » All in favor say I. I.
>> All oppos same.
[37:49] » Approval of the minutes from the council
meeting from August 17, 2026. Do I have
[37:54] a motion?
>> No move.
[37:58] » Second.
>> Second.
[38:02] » All in favor say I.
>> I.
[38:04] » All post same.
All right. You want to talk to this one?
[38:10] » Yeah, I can. Uh, so we want to make a an
announcement. The beautifification of
[38:13] Tree Board um has announced their yard
of the month or maybe it's the lawn of
[38:17] the month, one of the two. Um, for the
it's actually for September for this
[38:21] month. Um, and so the yard of the month
goes to James and Constance Hooks on 801
[38:26] South Nashville, so over in district 4.
Um, and they they told me the uh the
[38:31] grandson over there gave them a good
show and they were putting a sign up.
[38:34] So, I want to congratulate them. Uh if
you have any yards that you would
[38:38] recommend for the month of October, um
we'll we'll get those uh in the next uh
[38:42] in the next beautifification tree board
meeting on Monday. So
[38:59] there we go.
[39:04] So tonight before we begin this public
input period on the proposed ship of
[39:08] utilities rate adjustment I want to
explain how we're going to conduct this
[39:13] so that uh everyone who wants to be
heard has a fair opportunity to speak
[39:18] every speaker
have three minutes and please state your
[39:23] name before the beginning after our
minutes so we'll be able to record that.
[39:27] Uh those three minutes are yours. You
may tell us whether you support or
[39:32] oppose the proposal, explain how it
would affect you, raise concerns,
[39:37] provide information, or ask questions.
Simply ask that your comments remain
[39:41] focused on the proposed rate adjustment.
If you have questions, please state them
[39:47] during your three minutes. We will log
those questions as you speak and address
[39:51] them after uh everyone else has had an
opportunity to be heard. Uh now we're
[39:58] going to uh we're not going to have uh
back to back and forth discussion
[40:02] between individual speakers and
Sheffield utilities or members of the
[40:05] council during your three minutes. If I
need to clarify a question to make sure
[40:10] we have not that we have recorded it
correctly, I may ask you to clarify it.
[40:14] Otherwise, once your three minutes are
complete, we'll move on to the next
[40:18] speaker. Uh after everyone has spoken,
we'll go back through the questions that
[40:24] were raised. Technical and factual
questions will be directed to the
[40:28] Sheffield utilities personnel that are
here and policy questions are questions
[40:33] for the governing body. This will allow
everyone in the room to hear the same
[40:37] questions and the same answers. I also
ask that we avoid unnecessary
[40:42] repetition. So, someone before you has
already made the same point you intend
[40:47] to make, you're welcome to tell us that
you share that concern and then use the
[40:51] remainder of your time for anything
additional you would like for us to
[40:55] consider. So, please keep the discussion
respectful. You're welcome to disagree
[41:00] with this proposal, criticize a
question, or tell us why you believe we
[41:05] should vote against it. Personal attacks
will not help us make this decision and
[41:10] will not be permitted. Uh when your
three minutes have expired, I'll ask you
[41:15] to conclude so that we can provide the
same opportunity for the next speaker.
[41:20] The purpose of this public input period
is straightforward. Before the council
[41:24] makes a decision, you have the
opportunity to be heard. We will listen.
[41:28] We will record your questions and after
everyone has spoken, we'll address those
[41:32] questions before moving forward. Uh and
also after this public input period uh
[41:39] we will move directly to that item on
our general uh uh our general meeting
[41:46] and the council will have
opportunity uh for input.
[41:53] Uh with that we'll begin. Does anybody
anybody have anything they'd like to say
[41:58] about the proposed 2 and a half% rate
increase utilities electric rate?
[42:07] Okay,
[42:10] » I wasn't expecting that.
>> That's good. Um,
[42:20] so now, oh, I messed that up. We're
going uh to reread this uh ordinance for
[42:28] the regular
first and then go into the rate
[42:35] adjustment resolution.
[42:48] You have
[42:52] got it. I got it.
So, some ordinance providing for the
[42:57] rebuild of the resolution creating the
Sheffield Recreation Board. It's an
[43:01] ordinance uh authorized uh authorized by
act 350 general acts of Alabama in 1945
[43:09] creating the Sheffield Recreation Board
and to include the parks and recreation
[43:13] department in the city of Sheffield
general fund. Uh be it ordained by the
[43:19] city council of the city of Sheffield,
Alabama as follows. Section one readal
[43:25] of the uh the resolution by the board of
commissioners of the city of Sheffield,
[43:30] Alabama, authorized by act 350, general
acts of Alabama 1945 creating the
[43:36] Sheffield Recreation Board is hereby
repealed. Section two, personnel. The
[43:42] director and staff of the Sheffield
Parks and Recreation Department will
[43:45] become employees of the city of
Sheffield and the director of the parks
[43:50] and recreation department will report
administratively to the mayor. The
[43:54] director will supervise the staff of the
parks and recreation department. The
[43:58] position of director of parks and
recreation and staff positions created
[44:02] by the Sheffield recreation board be
transferred to the city of Sheffield and
[44:07] included in the city of Sheffield
personnel system governing the
[44:11] appointment, removal, salaries, tenure,
and official conduct of employees.
[44:15] Section three, funds. Funds appropriated
to the Sheffield Recreation Board be
[44:21] transferred to the city of Sheffield
general fund to allow for the sums
[44:25] necessary
uh for the sums necessary for
[44:29] expenditures of the parks and recreation
department. Expenditures for the parks
[44:34] and recreation department will be
included in the city of Sheffield
[44:37] general fund budget and paid from the
city of Sheffield general fund. Section
[44:42] four, assets, control over lands,
buildings, equipment, and such other
[44:46] facilities assigned to the Sheffield
Recreation Board will be transferred to
[44:50] the city of Sheffield. Section five,
abolished. The Sheffield Recreation
[44:56] Board created by the board of
commissioners. The city of Sheffield is
[44:59] hereby abolished and all resolutions
ordinances relating to the Sheffield
[45:03] Recreation Board are hereby repealed.
Uh and we have this is a a customary
[45:13] reread of this and we voted on this last
last time as a formal what was it called
[45:19] formal the first reading and this is the
second reading of that order right
[45:26] [clears throat]
and
[45:31] do we have
do we have a motion to
[45:39] that
>> make
[45:43] second
[46:02] or just voting right now.
Yeah. What was
[46:18] » Yes.
>> Yes.
[46:37] ordinance does not pass.
[46:42] All right.
[46:48] So,
uh, before we vote tonight on the
[46:53] proposed rate adjustment for Sheffield
Utilities, I want to explain where I
[46:57] stand, what I believe this council owes,
the people we represent. Uh, over the
[47:03] past several weeks,
I tried to put more information about
[47:07] Shelard Utilities in front of the public
than has traditionally accompanied
[47:12] a rate discussion. I did that because if
we're going to ask people to pay more,
[47:17] even a relatively small amount, we have
an obligation to explain why. I have
[47:23] asked questions. I've reviewed the
numbers. I've looked at staffing, wages,
[47:28] operating expenses, capital needs,
infrastructure, surrounding utility
[47:32] rates, system size, reliability, and the
demands that are coming down the road.
[47:38] What the information shows is that
Sheffield Utilities operates a very
[47:42] large system with relatively few
customers spread across. While the cost
[47:46] of maintaining and replacing that
infrastructure has increased
[47:50] dramatically,
we are maintaining approximately 1,730
[47:55] miles of electric line and 18
substations.
[47:59] At major substation transformers have
failed unexpectedly. Other substations
[48:04] require testing and upgrades. poles,
wires, transformers, vehicles, breakers,
[48:08] relays, regulators, and other essential
equipment to have to be maintained and
[48:13] replaced. At the same time, we are not
simply maintaining yesterday's system.
[48:19] We are preparing for tomorrow's demand.
Virginia Transformer is beginning
[48:23] operations within Sheffield Utility
Service Territory, requiring utility
[48:28] infrastructure upgrades. Uh Adrienne's
development to the west of us in Barton
[48:32] requires us to begin preparing existing
infrastructure for significant new
[48:37] industrial demand and the additional
development we hope will follow along
[48:41] with it. Those are the industries
investments and higher paying jobs that
[48:45] we've spent years saying that we want
but economic development does not happen
[48:51] without infrastructure and
infrastructure cannot be built after we
[48:55] need it. I also recognize
uh that $4 matters to some households.
[49:03] Uh groceries cost more, medicine costs
more, insurance costs more, nearly
[49:09] everything costs more. I'm not
dismissing any of that. Uh neither
[49:15] should anyone else.
That's exactly why I wanted another
[49:20] question answered before supporting the
name.
[49:23] What has Sheffield Utilities done to
control its own costs? We asked those
[49:28] questions,
sent a list of 28 questions to Sheffield
[49:33] Utilities and they responded and
answered all of them which I included in
[49:38] the information that I sent out to all
of you earlier in the weekend.
[49:43] Uh, so I looked at staffing, payroll,
vehicles, travel, tree trimming,
[49:50] equipment operations, and other areas
where savings might be possible. Every
[49:55] organization should continue continually
look for efficiencies, and Sheffield
[50:00] utilities should be no exception. But
efficiencies do not make the underlying
[50:04] infrastructure obligations disappear.
And that's the central point tonight. A
[50:10] no vote does not eliminate a transformer
that needs to be replaced. It does not
[50:16] eliminate substation work. It does not
reduce the cost of poles, wire or
[50:21] equipment. It does not eliminate the
infrastructure needed to serve new
[50:25] industry. It does not eliminate future
water system requirements. And it does
[50:30] not make
inflation go backwards. Those
[50:34] obligations will still be be there
tomorrow morning. And so earlier this
[50:38] year, I proposed allowing Sheffield
Utilities Board to handle ordinary rate
[50:43] adjustments within defined limits. And
this council considered that proposal
[50:48] and chose to retain the authority here.
I respect the council's authority to
[50:53] make that decision. But retaining
authority also means accepting
[50:56] responsibility for the decisions that
come with it.
[50:59] Every member of this council has the
right to vote yes or no tonight, but I
[51:03] believe the public deserves more than
six votes without explanation. If you
[51:08] vote yes, explain why. Uh if you vote
no, explain why. And more importantly,
[51:13] explain what you believe the alternative
should be. If this adjustment is not the
[51:17] answer, then what is? How do we pay for
the maintenance? How do we replace aging
[51:22] infrastructure? How do we prepare the
system for a new industrial load? How do
[51:28] we meet the obligations that are coming
without providing the revenue necessary
[51:31] to do it? The no vote is a legitimate
vote, but no by itself is not an
[51:36] alternative plan. Not asking any member
of this council to agree with me. I'm
[51:41] asking every member to own the
responsibility this council chose to
[51:45] retain and tell the public what you
believe we should do. I've studied this
[51:50] issue. I've challenged the numbers. I've
listened to Sheffield Utilities. I've
[51:54] listened to our residents. And
[clears throat] based on the information
[51:56] before us, I believe this adjustment is
necessary and justified, I will vote
[52:02] yes. If the majority of this council
reaches a different conclusion tonight,
[52:06] then tomorrow morning, I will still be
mayor. Chev utilities will still have
[52:10] the same infrastructure responsibilities
and every one of the costs we have
[52:14] discussed will still exist. So the
answer from this council is no, then the
[52:18] next question cannot be ignored. What is
the plan instead?
[52:33] So, do you guys have any any input on
on this rate increase?
[52:43] » I'll hop in there. So, you know, as
anyone else in this room, nobody wants
[52:47] to pay more in the rates, including
myself. Um but we sat down at a utility
[52:52] board meeting and they walked us through
the complexity of their system um and
[52:56] the fact that you know it's the
inflation how that's increased over the
[53:00] years but the rates haven't. Um
[clears throat] so uh my vote for yes
[53:04] will be um because of the capital
investments that are coming and
[53:08] everything that you outlined in your
statement itself.
[53:12] And one additional is the fact of the
future of our ability to borrow money in
[53:20] the bond market. Uh and the operating at
a negative budget at the utility level
[53:28] would negatively impact the rate that we
will get on that going to end up costing
[53:32] us millions of dollars over the next
decade. So that's also under
[53:36] consideration in this vote as well.
[53:50] I'll be voting no. And the reason I got
no further is there a lot of the
[53:56] questions I've got with accountability
that I don't seek and I'm going to get
[54:03] with you Steve and Tyler that we need to
talk about. There's
[54:08] some questions I need answered before I
can vote yes.
[54:12] And the questions have to be answered
before I even change my mind. Right now,
[54:18] I don't see
I put it this way. [clears throat] I see
[54:22] too much.
I'm not going to drag everything. This
[54:26] is going to be between me and you and
Tyler when I bring this up. Some of the
[54:31] things that I've seen
has kind of bothered me.
[54:36] I just and I've had a lot of people in
my district and other district tell me
[54:41] they just can't afford a rate increase
at this time and I understand the
[54:46] expense as well as anybody of how to
operate that place but right now I
[54:53] cannot in good conscience yes and like I
said when I get time I'm going to sit
[54:59] down with you two
and we'll hash out
[55:05] what
But I'm not going to do any vote. That's
[55:08] just between us three right now.
>> Why? Why wait? Why wait? Why wait till
[55:15] the night of the vote to say that you're
going to wait?
[55:20] » I've been saying no all along. I mean,
this ain't nothing new to every one of
[55:24] y'all sitting up here. You could ask
this question last month, two months
[55:27] ago. We talked about this story, but
this is the first time I've seen them
[55:31] face to face. been too much. We can talk
about that.
[55:34] » Can I approach?
>> Sure.
[55:37] » So, yeah, I appreciate I appreciate all
of you and I'm not going to be
[55:41] campaigning tonight for it, but so for
everybody for everybody's information,
[55:46] uh we had the meeting uh we had the
meeting with all of y'all to see how we
[55:50] run our business, you know, and it's not
uh it's it's a complex system. It's an
[55:55] $80 million operation. Uh and we take it
very seriously. All my board members are
[56:02] here and uh they take it very seriously.
But so I just want everybody to know we
[56:06] have tried to set up a meeting with
John.
[56:11] » So four four board meetings. We've had
four board meetings. So we've tried to
[56:16] set up Tyler has called numerous of
times in your in your work. But so we
[56:22] have tried we have tried to set up
meeting to explain it hadn't happened.
[56:27] So, so
>> it's on me. I mean, I've been busy and
[56:30] that's just my my style, my lifestyle
right now.
[56:33] » So, and my last statement would be this
because I think the mayor, you've done a
[56:37] good job. The count's done a good job
putting on social med.
[56:41] We know that. Uh, and believe me, we're
conservative. My board is conservative
[56:47] board. My board don't come up with a
rate increase. We've got a consultant
[56:51] that serves 90 other local utilities in
the seven state region. They look at our
[56:57] data on a monthly basis. They we have uh
monthly or bimonthly uh meeting with
[57:04] them. They tell us what we should be
doing. So it's not my board that says or
[57:07] none of the management team. But you
know the fact is I'll stop there because
[57:12] you explained it mayor pretty good. Uh
and I've been there 14 years. When I
[57:16] walked the door 14 years ago I only took
the job those that don't know I took the
[57:20] job for 90 days. The reason I took the
job 90 days before I took it permanent
[57:25] because I looked at the balance sheets.
Fred's here, he was the CFO. There's
[57:30] some things going on, but we was at our
numbers. We was borrowing money to make
[57:35] payroll was borrowing money. And it took
us six years, 2012,
[57:40] six years later to get us out of that uh
TVA uh era that they they're saying you
[57:46] got to have a rating. So, it took us six
years to get there. We just now uh in
[57:50] the last four or five years got out of
that uh because inflation 47%
[57:56] 47% inflation over the last 14 years.
I've had four rate increases since I've
[58:02] been a general manager. Them rate
increases my four years there was 6.6%
[58:07] over the 14 years. I came in the month I
came in October they had just done the
[58:13] highest rate increase they've ever done
2.2%. So I walked in the door. They
[58:18] needed a rate increase then because they
was in in a bind. But so it wasn't in
[58:22] good shape and took us that long to get
us out of it. Uh the 47% rate increase
[58:28] 47%
uh inflation
[58:31] » inflation is eat our lunch. And I'm a
conservative. My board is conservative.
[58:37] And we thought transformers when when uh
when the when things started going up
[58:43] really high transformers dealt with. So,
okay, them transformers, they're going
[58:46] to come down. We waited 2022, they
didn't come down. 2023, we had a rate
[58:51] increase. 2024, they kept climbing. When
I say climbing, our transformers, so 15
[58:57] KB and a 25 KB, the ones we use the
most, increased over 100% a piece. And
[59:02] we're still buying them transformers
today. So, we're last year, we fill in
[59:08] that range of where we got to keep 8% on
reserve or $80 million operation. eight
[59:14] eight reserves. We hit that borderline
thing now. I don't want to see and it
[59:19] does like you said, mayor, it does
impact our bond rating and I'm going to
[59:23] go through the bond market within the
next 60 days to build a brand new
[59:27] substation for Virginia transformer
operation and also got to modify the
[59:32] submarine plant uh substation uh like
that. So, we're at some critical times.
[59:37] And I just want you to consider 47%
inflation, factual things that the mayor
[59:43] put out. And in 14 years since I've been
there, we've increased 6.6%.
[59:48] It just don't match up. I'll take blame
for part of that for not going up, but
[59:53] we thought things would come down and we
wouldn't wait for things to come down.
[59:57] And to be honest with you, things
haven't come down. We're we budget all
[1:00:00] the gasoline we buy for 68 vehicles uh
on the road and we basically $4 a gallon
[1:00:07] and it is uh and for diesel it went up.
Most of our equipment is diesel. So
[1:00:12] everything's just shot up. We don't want
to increase rates but
[1:00:18] uh the reality of the reality of it is
we're the second lowest utility. We're
[1:00:23] the second lowest utility around us. the
second lowest KWA second lowest. Our
[1:00:28] lowest is next door to us and they're
meeting tomorrow to go up a lot more
[1:00:33] than what we're going up. Uh and and and
because of that inflation. So I'm just
[1:00:39] saying inflation is eat our lunch. Uh
hopefully going forward we can look at
[1:00:44] inflation upfront and and have smaller
increases. But we don't I think we
[1:00:49] proved oursel in 14 years uh four rate
increases. We're not asking for a lot of
[1:00:55] rate increases, but when we need it, we
need it. So, have any question before I
[1:01:01] sit down?
>> Yeah, I do. Since you brought it up,
[1:01:04] you're talking about your fuel cost for
your trucks.
[1:01:08] How many of your trucks
and your guys on call live outside of
[1:01:14] Copper County? And what I'm getting at
is two weeks ago, and I wasn't going to
[1:01:19] bring this up in public, but since you
brought up the gas problem, I passed one
[1:01:22] of your trucks, your lingering trucks
way out in Florence. I was going to
[1:01:28] Florence. They were coming to Copper
County.
[1:01:31] Two and a half hours later, I was
leaving Florence, coming back to Copper
[1:01:35] County. He was coming back to Florence.
What I what I'm guess I'm getting at is
[1:01:42] that told me he lived somewhere out in
Lauderdale County. To me, if you live
[1:01:47] outside Yeah.
>> You know,
[1:01:52] » okay, here's what I'm getting at that
fuel cost for that guy to drive that
[1:01:56] truck and there's more than I'm sure one
that lives outside of Colorado.
[1:02:01] » No, I can think of one. I'll look at the
list because I'm not saying that you're
[1:02:05] wrong, but I think one out of
>> Okay, here's my thought. Here's what I
[1:02:11] We're going to bring this up in public.
I have now since we started.
[1:02:14] » Well, that's why we'd like to met with
the last four months. Yeah.
[1:02:18] » That guy on call. Can he Why can he not
leave that company truck at the shop,
[1:02:24] drive his personal car back and forth?
Because when he's on call, he's got to
[1:02:28] come to the shop and get the next
lineman or gramman that's on call, too.
[1:02:32] So our ground and line both drive a
vehicle home and they
[1:02:35] » Yes, sir.
>> Yeah. So, so they meet closer I'm sorry.
[1:02:40] » Yeah. Both of them drive a vehicle home.
So they meet closer to the average. So
[1:02:44] they don't come at the office. So the
reason we did that is to to decrease.
[1:02:48] » Yeah. I mean I know that I was on too,
>> right? So so they don't add to answer
[1:02:54] your question.
>> But what I'm getting at is that guy I
[1:02:58] don't know where he lives in Florence
and I don't care. But my thought process
[1:03:02] was he's driving that truck to and from
the office twice a day going to work and
[1:03:08] going home and then on call he's driving
every where the calls are.
[1:03:13] » You're correct.
>> And y'all are talking about your fuel
[1:03:16] cost is high.
>> You're talking about expense and I agree
[1:03:19] that is I think compared the numbers
that we're talking about.
[1:03:22] » I know that but I'm just saying that's
why I wanted to know how many of your
[1:03:25] how many your line that was.
>> Yeah. I say it's it's one and just so
[1:03:29] you know that our board did approve a uh
residential policy that allowed a
[1:03:34] certain radius because we were making
our bottom too small employees.
[1:03:37] » Yeah. But the radius the radius of
living in Lau County is
[1:03:42] » the radius of living in county is a lot
shorter than living out in a farway
[1:03:45] city.
>> A lot of rose trail you can luck in
[1:03:50] Florence to get here soon.
>> So I know your race has always changed
[1:03:55] understand. So, so that's how they
>> So, and all that's about John is about
[1:04:02] uh being able to serve customers quick
as we can. That's the reason they they
[1:04:06] get to take the vehicle,
you know,
[1:04:11] I know the process
was involved. Well, so we changed the
[1:04:15] residential policy because we made it a
mile radius. So we if you live in Cra
[1:04:20] County, you live in C
we anywhere in Copper County serve make
[1:04:26] a 20 mile radius but we got people we
got that one person is closer to him
[1:04:32] than a lot more employees in Copper
County 60 mile radius.
[1:04:37] » I got another question.
Last year,
[1:04:41] the other previous council mayor went up
on every meter or $2. It went into
[1:04:49] effect November the 25th.
So, is that did y'all consider is that
[1:04:55] considered a rate increase or just a
one? I mean, every meter in the system
[1:05:00] is charged $2 extra a month
>> customer charge. Yeah.
[1:05:04] » So, so that's a good point. So when I
came to Chef Utilities, customer charge
[1:05:09] was like $8 and we found out uh so well
you know proud of the board we have
[1:05:16] lowered kilowatt hour charges five
times. When I say lowered it in 14 years
[1:05:21] we lowered our kilowatt rating with what
we call revenue neutral. We lowered our
[1:05:26] kilowatt hour charge but raise our
customer charge. So when you raise that
[1:05:30] when you do that you lower kilowatt hour
charge and and have a fixed charge. What
[1:05:35] that does, we found out the high bills,
the low income people, the people that
[1:05:39] don't live in a house with high
inflation, their bills in the peak of
[1:05:43] wintertime, in the uh peak of
summertime, their power bills be six or
[1:05:48] $700. They come to our place complaining
about it. So we said, what can we do to
[1:05:53] lower their cost because they can't
afford it. So what we done, five tons,
[1:05:57] we didn't announce it to nobody. five
times. We've lowered our bill hour rate,
[1:06:02] lower raised our fe charge for that $2
so we don't get impacted. We're so we
[1:06:07] tried to cut the bills them high people
$200 a month. We was successful doing
[1:06:12] that. It cost Chef Utility money for
doing that, but we have the customers
[1:06:16] that we serve. That's why we're proud of
having one of the lowest kilowatt hour
[1:06:21] charge in this region here. But it's
it's it's biting us because of that. So,
[1:06:27] it's a good question, but and and nobody
probably on this board know that we done
[1:06:31] that that didn't we we didn't we didn't
advertise that. We just done it because
[1:06:34] it's a right thing to do. And let me
just share something else. Of all the
[1:06:38] utilities around here, we're connected
with all the charitable organization,
[1:06:43] United Way churches. Uh I guarantee you
that nobody gets you asked if they was
[1:06:49] here tonight. Nobody gets more calls
from our utility department than than
[1:06:53] us. They've also told me several times
they give us a warrant for that. Y'all
[1:06:58] go ask the uh y'all help the low-inccome
people to get through this. Uh or nobody
[1:07:03] the other ones don't do that. And we
don't advertise that either because
[1:07:06] guess what? We want to help the people
we serve. When that money runs out, we
[1:07:10] advertise that. When that money runs
out, then the money runs out. We like to
[1:07:14] make have a good connection, get a
relationship with all the people. And
[1:07:17] we've lost two of people. We've lost two
people. They both passed away that was
[1:07:22] big donors to that that all we got to do
is say listen we got a bill they gonna
[1:07:26] get cut off power and they say go ahead
with that we've lost two of them so
[1:07:30] that's hurt us in the last couple years
but we're serious uh we're serious about
[1:07:35] growing our community but I mean the
reality of this is 47%
[1:07:42] inflation 47% 14 years and we've
increased since I've been there 6.6 6.6
[1:07:48] six. That's less [clears throat] than
half a percent if you divide that half
[1:07:51] percent. We probably should have done it
more often. I've got board members in
[1:07:55] here uh who say, "Steve, we need to go
up on rates. We need to go up on rates."
[1:08:01] We're conservative, but we want to see,
but we was conservative at the point
[1:08:04] that things are not coming down and
we're still down the paper. So to put
[1:08:09] and correct me if I'm wrong. So to put
this proposed rate increase in
[1:08:13] perspective uh at 2 and a half%
stands to over a year's period generate
[1:08:21] uh just under 1.3. So it's 1.2 two and
some change million dollars and which
[1:08:28] equates out to an average user rate or
increase on their monthly bill of uh a
[1:08:36] couple pennies over $4 like $45 or
something like that, right?
[1:08:40] » And that's and we don't
>> and that's so that that that's what
[1:08:44] we're ask John's question.
>> You asked about the customer. So yes,
[1:08:48] that was increase last year.
So this increase that we're proposing
[1:08:54] with $63
customer charge increase and a
[1:08:59] 016.
[1:09:03] So less than a ten
increase on my question I mean that's
[1:09:09] what I was asking. I wonder how many
citizens or people on the system knew
[1:09:13] that their bill went up $2
because I mean I I knew it because
[1:09:22] » Sheffield is different than the other
utility around here. A lot of utilities
[1:09:27] their board sets their rates and they'll
go to council. So I've been there. I've
[1:09:32] had since I've been there four rate
increases since I've been there. All
[1:09:36] four of my rate increase has been on the
front page of paper. everybody knew
[1:09:40] about.
I've never had a rate increase since
[1:09:43] I've been there 14 years. It been on the
front page of paper
[1:09:46] » and we don't want to be on the front
page of paper. That's why we try to do
[1:09:49] what we're doing to you know, nobody
wants it. And believe me, we don't want
[1:09:55] it either.
>> Well, I mean,
[1:09:57] » it's a necessary part of the business.
>> I know that, but I mean, I just think
[1:10:01] the time is bad because of how much
everything costs right now for y'all.
[1:10:07] for this to come down.
>> I totally agree with that.
[1:10:10] » I have a hard
>> What's a better time?
[1:10:12] » Yeah,
>> I don't know if there is a better time
[1:10:13] » if we But let me tell you what's going
to happen right now.
[1:10:16] » We wait.
>> I bet too many people.
[1:10:18] » If we wait though, what my two and a
half% if we wait my two and a half% will
[1:10:23] be and I can show you this. We've been
in the past by two and a half% it's
[1:10:27] going to be 4%. Then instead of $4 is
going to be six or seven dollars. Two
[1:10:32] two and a half the largest rate increase
I've asked since I've been here. still
[1:10:36] been the highest one's two then a couple
of them 1.70
[1:10:41] uh two and a half uh you you'll see uh
you'll see hopefully get ours pass and
[1:10:47] the other one it goes up well what they
going to go up it's going to be
[1:10:50] extremely high it's just the situation
that we in it's not it ain't it not we
[1:10:55] want it u and we've cut we've made cuts
we don't talk about the cuts we make we
[1:11:01] we the cuts we make most times based on
attrition and then we don't replace
[1:11:06] them. But when we don't replace
somebody's important, then we have to
[1:11:09] work somebody else at a different level
than we do. And so we're we're
[1:11:13] systematically doing the things that we
need to do. And I welcome any of you to
[1:11:17] come down there.
>> That's that's excuse me, Steve. That
[1:11:20] that's one of the things that I had
asked and I sent that out to you guys
[1:11:23] earlier uh in the weekend on the
questions that I did ask. And I've been
[1:11:27] pumping this information out to the
public for over a month now. And it's uh
[1:11:33] and and for no other reason than I mean
just like everybody else they find out
[1:11:39] about it from the paper the next day
after the fact. It's like suddenly you
[1:11:44] didn't know anything about it. Now it's
Sethville City Council voted to raise
[1:11:48] your rates and you didn't know about it.
I've been out there for a month pushing
[1:11:53] this out and asking these questions. Why
why why does everybody say we're the
[1:11:58] highest utility in the whole area when
effectively we're not uh and what what's
[1:12:05] been done to cut those costs and why are
we doing this now and all of those
[1:12:12] questions. I asked all those questions
and I've been talking about it for over
[1:12:15] a month now in in the public sphere and
uh sometimes getting my teeth kicked in
[1:12:20] sometimes not. Uh but it's uh it's been
there. It's been a discussion and it's
[1:12:25] the same uh all this information that I
sent I sent you guys uh out earlier this
[1:12:31] week and uh to uh to explain so that you
know the questions that I sent and I
[1:12:38] asked and uh they took took a day two
days and and got back I sent them an
[1:12:43] email with 28 questions on it and uh uh
and they answered every one of them and
[1:12:48] uh so some of them you know some of the
answers I you know I didn't care for a I
[1:12:53] don't want to pay I stuff my bills my
bills the same and of course I run my
[1:12:59] air at 68 degrees so it's always going
to be but it's uh but uh
[1:13:06] uh these questions that you're asking
I've already asked and I've already
[1:13:11] gotten the answers to and sent them out.
So it's u
[1:13:19] » well mayor as you asked earlier too and
you know John and you know I respect
[1:13:23] that you know your dension here but uh
what would your alternative be? Do you
[1:13:27] have a recommendation of how they make a
a budget without being in a deficit?
[1:13:32] » I don't have a budget.
>> You don't have to come up with a budget
[1:13:36] but I mean
>> I just all I all I'm one person I'm one
[1:13:40] person sitting up here making decision.
So
[1:13:43] » y'all that can make your decision.
>> So I mean
[1:13:47] » well it's just out of curiosity. I mean
is there an alternate solution? I mean
[1:13:52] » I don't know
>> that's another that's another question
[1:13:54] I've asked and uh I know some of the
more vocal folks that uh that responded
[1:14:00] to me in initially
uh seemed to they seem to know something
[1:14:05] that I I didn't or I wasn't I wasn't
seeing. and uh we called called in and
[1:14:10] had had a meeting up here at city hall
uh with one of our county commissioners
[1:14:15] that we thought uh maybe he'd have an
alternate solution and uh we listen we
[1:14:20] met with him for about two hours uh and
it turns out he he he did not have an
[1:14:25] alternate solution um but uh uh and
ended up agreeing with us uh as far as I
[1:14:32] mean we weren't trying to convince him
anything he pretty much didn't have an
[1:14:36] alternate solution and ended up agreeing
by his own perish
[1:14:40] uh that this was this is something you
know I mean nobody wants to do it but
[1:14:45] the need of it doesn't go away because
you don't want to do it and so if we're
[1:14:50] not going to do it then we it's still
there so we still have to address it
[1:14:54] somehow
>> can I ask a question the conversation
[1:15:00] with the gentleman that you just
mentioned so would it have been
[1:15:04] beneficial if we could have all been a
part of that
[1:15:10] » you can't I've got a transcript of it.
I'd be happy.
[1:15:12] » Well, I just mean before now.
>> Yeah. Well,
[1:15:14] » would it have been beneficial to have
heard that?
[1:15:17] » Yeah.
>> For all of us instead of just narrowed
[1:15:20] down to two
>> probably not because
[1:15:25] » and uh it wasn't uh it wasn't very
inform. It wasn't informative at all. Um
[1:15:31] and uh so
>> more questions.
[1:15:35] » Thank you.
>> Um yeah, so it wasn't uh I mean it was
[1:15:40] just something that you know uh
[1:15:45] that fell brought up some some
interesting points and we're like well
[1:15:50] come in and talk to us about it and see
what we're trying to figure out. I mean
[1:15:54] if there is an alternate solution then
let's hear it man. You know I mean I
[1:15:59] don't want to pay more. Nobody wants to
pay more and if we can do it a different
[1:16:02] way then what is that difference? Um, I
haven't found a different way. And so
[1:16:09] the uh I mean that's you know what what
everybody what everybody else feels or
[1:16:14] votes for it's fine. But we owe we owe
the public uh an explanation of why. I
[1:16:22] mean if you if you're not going to if
you're not going to vote for it then
[1:16:24] » fin
board and we approve our budget every
[1:16:29] year after July. My uh my budget has not
been approved this year because of this
[1:16:36] item right here. But I can tell you
this, every dollar and I can show you.
[1:16:41] I've got the handouts. We didn't get the
depths of it, but every dollar spent at
[1:16:45] Sheffville Utilities got a name to it.
If it don't have a name to it and
[1:16:50] something comes up like a tornado comes
through and and extra cost, we go back
[1:16:55] to the board and say this amount of
money was spent with the storm damage
[1:16:59] and say it being half a million dollars,
we look at things that we can push out.
[1:17:04] So we try to stay on a balanced budget.
We operate off a balanced budget and
[1:17:08] because
I I can't get there without a rate
[1:17:13] increase. Uh I mean I'm working under a
budget that had been approved and we're
[1:17:18] serious about maintaining our budget.
We're we got 14 years of history of it
[1:17:22] showing what we've done. I think if you
think about it 47% inflation rate of 14
[1:17:28] years we've been increased 6.6%
[1:17:32] uh rate increase 6.6% 6% of that. Uh,
and we've had a balanced budget. Uh,
[1:17:38] we're serious about what we do. My board
is very serious about the question,
[1:17:42] John, that you're asking. I They don't
stamp they don't stamp. We work several
[1:17:47] months on our on our budget. Uh, we meet
with the finance committee. They ask me
[1:17:52] every question down. So, it's not
something that just uh they staff and
[1:17:57] say approval. So, we're very serious
about what we do. But at the same time,
[1:18:01] we at the point now, I'm getting ready
to retire. We're at the point now where
[1:18:06] we want to be. We're at the point now,
we got two major industries coming to
[1:18:10] our service territory, even though
they're outside of Sheffield. Let me
[1:18:14] tell you this, 80% of the money that
comes in of electricity is outside the
[1:18:20] city of Sheffield. 80% our sales only
20% are inside. Most of our big
[1:18:26] industries, everything outside the city
limits. Whether you like the city limits
[1:18:30] or not, it is. And it cost us more to
serve. We serve 11 customers per mile
[1:18:34] because we serve the whole copper
county. But we're still, if you put us
[1:18:39] on a co-op range, which co-ops mostly
serve the county, we're on MUN because
[1:18:44] we earlier in Ger McN, but our cost to
serve is the cheapest in the state based
[1:18:50] on our number based on 11 people. So
we're proud that we serve the people at
[1:18:55] that cost. It's 20% as the TVA reads in
seven states. We're 20% lowest utility
[1:19:03] residential utilities in the United
States. 20%. We're in the lowest 20%.
[1:19:08] 80% of the people in the United States
pay more than what we pay. The thing is
[1:19:11] we live in an area that's got cold
weather and cold winter. They got hot
[1:19:16] summers. So it is what it is. It's based
on a kilowatt hour what you use. We
[1:19:22] lower that. We're there's nobody one
utility that's around this whole region
[1:19:26] here that's uh kilowatt hour rate is
lower than us. That's factual. I mean
[1:19:32] thank you for appreciate.
>> Thank you.
[1:19:34] » Hey and and and
council the to to answer your question
[1:19:40] the the reason that we didn't do that
that was just my personal because I
[1:19:46] don't know anything about running a
utility. Uh and this is on the table. Uh
[1:19:52] so in my personal research and trying to
gather enough information to make an
[1:19:57] important decision, this was one
individual that I came across that
[1:20:01] seemed to have some answers. Uh so I
asked him to come in and talk to me and
[1:20:06] had he produced anything that was
substance at all, then I certainly would
[1:20:11] have shared that and but there was
really nothing to share.
[1:20:15] » Yeah. Well, that that's no fault. I'm
not saying that. I mean, I didn't, you
[1:20:19] know, I wasn't having a secret meeting
or anything. It's the but it was it was
[1:20:24] I mean, it was just that's my personal
quest to understand what it is we're
[1:20:28] dealing with and uh because you I'm an
alternate solution guy and you know and
[1:20:35] so I if there's a better way to do it
and we save
[1:20:40] pay $4 extra a month then you know yeah
let's do that. But uh uh and that was
[1:20:47] one individual that I thought might help
us out, but it it uh it ended up not
[1:20:51] producing any any any uh usable
information or any alternative ideas.
[1:20:59] » So let me go ahead and and go since I'm
already here. Uh so originally um when
[1:21:07] the proposal came to transfer the
governance we'll say for those of us who
[1:21:13] voted
no that was a transparency
[1:21:19] concern purpose
that was not a guaranteed yes for rating
[1:21:26] groups. That's just saying that.
But now we're here.
[1:21:34] As I sit right now, my vote would be no.
And at the request of our mayor to
[1:21:42] explain that,
do we still serve right at 19,000? Mr.
[1:21:50] So with that,
I feel like even though questions have
[1:21:57] been answered,
this feels rushed and forced.
[1:22:03] That's my only two answers. That's the
only explanation I can give. But when it
[1:22:08] affects 19,000
households, people,
[1:22:15] I I can't
I can't feel rushed and coerced
[1:22:21] and make that decision different today.
With that being said, what's the
[1:22:28] solution to that?
[1:22:33] I don't know that anymore.
I think the the questions that our mayor
[1:22:38] has put out on social media has been
excellent
[1:22:42] and it's answered a lot and he's took
backlash because I've seen it. But
[1:22:48] that's just who he is in transparency
and I totally agree with that.
[1:22:55] However, I know that Dr. Stokes and our
mayor has more
[1:23:02] I don't want I don't know if the term
access is correct
[1:23:06] but they may know more at this point
of things that may
[1:23:15] look differently
at the entire council.
[1:23:22] Maybe say
[1:23:27] have more information.
[1:23:33] I don't know if there is an opportunity
to [clears throat]
[1:23:43] to come together as a whole. Because
here's the thing, this is not a council
[1:23:48] and a mayor against Sheffield Utilities.
I don't look at it that way. We're all
[1:23:53] in this together. So, I feel like we
should all have
[1:24:00] I just feel like it should all have been
done up to this point together
[1:24:05] so that everything's out.
If somebody comes up with something
[1:24:10] extra that's not on this sheet, so big.
If there's clarity, the the fact that
[1:24:17] you guys were able to do that for x
amount of years to help those that
[1:24:21] couldn't,
that's a big deal. I know it's not made
[1:24:26] public, but that's a big deal. That
changes minds.
[1:24:32] That's not I'm not saying that's a
fault. I'm not saying that what you did
[1:24:36] was wrong because you didn't have to.
That that's fine. But I think that type
[1:24:41] of information makes a big difference
because I think also just in things that
[1:24:47] we've learned just through
preparing for this,
[1:24:53] there's way more than I knew that was a
part of. But when you have a resident
[1:25:01] that just hears, well, your rate's going
up.
[1:25:04] Everything under that umbrella they
don't know about. They have no idea what
[1:25:08] that means. What they know is my bills
going up $44
[1:25:13] if I fall into this 12275 kilowatt or
whatever that was.
[1:25:21] And maybe nobody wants to share that and
that's okay too.
[1:25:27] But I think it makes a difference.
[1:25:33] I'm not saying that everything should
just be laid out and put out in
[1:25:36] Instagram times daily. That's not what
I'm saying. I'm just saying when it
[1:25:39] comes to an increase
for me in this span of time,
[1:25:51] it just feels
[1:25:56] I'll just say for for me it feels
[1:26:03] rushed. I'll just leave it at rushed.
It
[1:26:11] The vote should be determined the not
period
[1:26:20] not right wrong or indifferent but for
my vote
[1:26:25] today with this amount of people
that that's just where I am.
[1:26:33] And
what's the answer
[1:26:37] or
what's the alternative?
[1:26:42] I don't know what that is. But
[1:26:49] is there
[clears throat] an opportunity
[1:26:55] to try to come to some type of
resolution?
[1:27:01] Because if it doesn't pass
and it fails, just like our mayor said,
[1:27:08] we're right back to right now at 6:25.
[1:27:16] But I at the as a city as a whole, yes,
absolutely yes. We've got to go forward.
[1:27:27] Is
is the two and a half best? I don't know
[1:27:31] what that answer is. All I know is how I
can vote right now.
[1:27:37] So, I don't know if there is a is an
openness to continue this or if we just
[1:27:44] need to black call it, vote it tonight
and let's go.
[1:27:51] » So,
Jack,
[1:27:53] » yes. So, it's there's there's more
openness, you know. So, most so most
[1:27:59] people's financial budgets based on
October 1st. Ours is July. So, we're
[1:28:04] already into a new year. Uh, but you
know, I'm going to tell you this. In my
[1:28:09] 14 years of being here, I've served 33
years at TVA. How they done rate
[1:28:14] increases. Uh, I think the mayor has
gave more information than I've ever
[1:28:19] seen of any uh person in leadership
about what So, I hate you feel like uh
[1:28:25] it was a rush because we had this first
conversation at our two-hour meeting
[1:28:31] when we met with y'all. uh what month
that was and we talked about what we was
[1:28:35] going to have to do. So that was
discussed. You go back and look it's in
[1:28:39] your booklet you know that we have to do
that but so I hate that you feel like
[1:28:43] the rush but no yeah we always open
dialogue. Yeah. So we we it's 19,000
[1:28:48] customers uh impacted but but like I
said the fact is our kilowatt hour
[1:28:54] rating is not higher than anybody else.
everybody thought the facts are out
[1:28:59] there and you you're going to have
naysayers
[1:29:03] doctor negative everywhere you go but
the fact is we want to be a good utility
[1:29:08] and we want to serve the customers that
we serve but it takes money I mean to me
[1:29:14] 47% inflation over 14 years and only
increase to 6.6 six. Uh that tells you
[1:29:21] we're conservative and but it's just the
timing of it. So So yeah, I'm open for
[1:29:27] dialogue, you know, anytime, you know,
there's brought up about we can meet.
[1:29:32] So, you know, I like to have a meeting
before the meet, you know, before we
[1:29:35] have this. And I we invite to have a
meeting, but it's hard to get everybody
[1:29:38] together all the time. But I like doing
that. As long as they're in a quorum, we
[1:29:42] don't we're not violating anything. But
so any questions like I said and John
[1:29:46] you know back to yours you know we
didn't want it to be like this but we
[1:29:51] know over four meetings almost three and
a half months it is what we was busy
[1:29:56] working I guess I understand that but
yeah this this ain't something that only
[1:30:01] hit the front page of paper but it is
what it is I mean and at some point yes
[1:30:05] we can we got to address it if we don't
if we don't then our AAA rating for our
[1:30:10] bond rating will go to some other level
then it's Instead of getting 4% money,
[1:30:15] we're going to get five five and a half%
money. And over 30 years, you're talking
[1:30:18] about millions of dollars. So, yeah. So,
open anytime 247 we'll we'll meet
[1:30:25] because it's just the urgency of what we
doing. You know, it's no different any
[1:30:30] seen this morning for profit taxes
across the nation is averaging about 4%
[1:30:34] increase a year. 4% increase. I mean,
uh, you think about retiring, you go 4%
[1:30:39] increase on lump taxes, which that
amount like a fire bill, but 4% every
[1:30:43] year, it's going to double pretty quick
and then on your fixed income. So, we we
[1:30:48] take our fixed income people very
seriously to do. And like I said, we
[1:30:52] don't advertise about we won't be a
little bit selfish about where that
[1:30:55] money comes from and keep it for our
people. Okay. Yeah. So, open 247. I'll
[1:31:01] meet with anytime Tyler will too, our
CFO and my board. I mean they're open.
[1:31:06] My board's engaged that my board is not
one of them boards that steps around.
[1:31:09] They're asking questions. They just
don't rubber stamp everything comes
[1:31:12] through. So you know this this has been
a subject been talked about for almost
[1:31:17] six months. Okay. I'm just tell
you know it wasn't it wasn't last night.
[1:31:23] So yes we want to talk. Okay. We want to
work with you to make this whole
[1:31:27] community successful. Not just
Sheffield. We serve the whole Carver
[1:31:30] County. 80% of my customers are outside
the city of Sheffield. So that's a big
[1:31:34] impact. So thank you.
>> Well, I I just want you to know that I'm
[1:31:38] open
>> to that conversation
[1:31:41] » and I'm available other than tomorrow.
Okay.
[1:31:45] » Well, and Carol, I want to hop in real
quick. So, one thing that I've been been
[1:31:48] blessed to be privy to is guy sitting
right there in a blue polo, Mike Davis,
[1:31:53] who's my representative on that board.
Right. He and I have talked, I don't
[1:31:56] know how many times about this this
issue over the phone, in person, and
[1:32:00] then obviously at the utility board
meeting. So I I do think it's important
[1:32:02] for us to have those conversations with
those who represent our district. Um so
[1:32:07] I wanted to mention that. So
>> so going forward, Mr. Hardrove, so I
[1:32:13] know that this has been a point of
discussion
[1:32:17] that that's kind of eb and flow in and
out. We'll hear of it and then not hear
[1:32:20] of it and then now it's here. So, um,
with using the word, uh, assume loosely,
[1:32:29] should we go ahead and assume water and
wastewater increase rate increases?
[1:32:35] We might as well just get it all out
there while we're out there.
[1:32:38] » So, every inflation is inflation. Okay?
So, you know, you think about a water
[1:32:43] plant and sewer plant. So, I think, and
Tyler stopped me because Tyler my
[1:32:48] budget, we have not touched sewer in 14
years.
[1:32:51] » 2012. So, so 2012. So, and and there's
some things going on in the water. Uh,
[1:32:59] and your father-in-law knows all about
it because he gave me books about it.
[1:33:02] Uh, so there's things that's going on
regulatory that's changed. So, the
[1:33:06] regulatory changed has caused cost to go
up. Okay. So, we're spending where, you
[1:33:11] know, we're spending uh we're not, but
the state's helping us looking at our
[1:33:16] water system and looking what we can do
going forward. They're looking at should
[1:33:21] we invest money uh the estimate to take
care of PAS which is a regulatory issue
[1:33:28] now uh to redo our water plants 16.6
million and that's from a year ago is
[1:33:35] that 24 yeah so them costs go up. So for
us the our water plants 100 years old to
[1:33:42] meet the recordal requirements going to
cost 16.6 million. So the state gave us
[1:33:47] half a million dollars to do a study uh
to say okay what's the best route for
[1:33:52] you re redo this 100-y old plant and
modernize it for 16.6 six. I'm hoping we
[1:33:57] can get it to that or uh the county
serves got several water system. We got
[1:34:02] Mus shows, we got Tuscania, we got the
county. Uh is it better to partnership?
[1:34:08] And if we did partnership, what will
that cost us to do? If we if we start
[1:34:13] taking water from somebody else instead
of producing ourselves, what will it
[1:34:16] cost? So, we don't know them answers
yet. We'll know them answers uh by March
[1:34:22] to let us know what we need to do. So to
answer your question, yeah, everybody
[1:34:27] you seen for the city of Florence went
up 60%. You know, you seen that front
[1:34:31] page of paper, it went up 60%. So we
hope it's not that magnitude, but we'll
[1:34:36] have educated uh we'll have information
that we can make an egg chain decision
[1:34:40] and we'll bring it to you because you're
the one that make that decision.
[1:34:43] » Are we on we're on the clock too as far
as
[1:34:46] » So 2029 2021
>> 2029 there's a regulatory compliance
[1:34:51] date 2029. So, it's it's very seriously
uh federal EPA came out said uh you can
[1:34:58] ask for an extension to go to uh 2031,
but we're on the clock. We're on the
[1:35:03] clock. So, we expect to get our
information in March to make a decision
[1:35:07] that one way or another to go, you know,
and nobody wants to give up that piece
[1:35:11] of pie. We understand that. But at the
same time, uh we need what's the best
[1:35:17] thing for our citizens that we serve and
water is just served the city of city of
[1:35:21] Sheffield. So this will be a city sheet
is it won't be anybody else residence.
[1:35:25] So we'll we'll have that information
shared with you when we get it. But
[1:35:29] we're looking forward to you know it
either way it's not going to be a cheap
[1:35:33] thing. You know the
plants Florence looking one $200 million
[1:35:38] for new water plant you know $50 million
for new water plant. So that's the kind
[1:35:42] of things we're talking about. We're
talking about huge amounts of money when
[1:35:45] you don't have but uh 5,000 customers.
talk about going up for 16 million. If
[1:35:52] you don't have 5,000 customer, you're
talking about going up 10 to 12. That's
[1:35:56] what you're talking about.
>> So that's March for water.
[1:36:01] » Yeah. Yeah.
[1:36:07] » Thank you.
>> Thank you.
[1:36:10] » Thanks.
[1:36:20] So in light of
what she brought up
[1:36:26] there is
[1:36:31] would you would would you propose that
we table this so that you do have time
[1:36:37] to
[1:36:40] find out and
[1:36:44] There's
>> Yeah,
[1:36:47] » she mentioned not having a ton.
>> There's a lot.
[1:36:53] I'm gonna be honest. Not speaking for
Carol or anybody else up here. I feel
[1:36:58] bullied.
Point blank. I feel bullied into making
[1:37:02] a decision on this tonight. And I don't
like being back
[1:37:07] and I feel like that's what I'm being
backed into making a decision right now.
[1:37:12] And I don't like it. And that's why I'm
[1:37:17] It seems like everything to me. It seems
like everything's just being bombarded
[1:37:22] on one or me. I'm not speaking for
anybody else.
[1:37:25] » I mean, I guess it is you because this
mean I know I've been I've been reading
[1:37:30] all your stuff. I mean, so this has been
a long time coming. This isn't something
[1:37:35] just came out of
>> I understand that. I've been keeping up
[1:37:37] with everything and but right now I just
don't feel like I can vote yes.
[1:37:46] That's just my
my take.
[1:37:50] » I would say for me mayor
for me I don't know about anyone else if
[1:37:57] we could take
[1:38:02] » Well, I mean I'm I'm not opposed to
that. Is that something we can do? I
[1:38:06] mean procedurally can can yeah
>> then then let's say you can take a vote
[1:38:12] and take one next meeting there more
than one
[1:38:16] » this is just the first reading right
>> well this is this isolution that's not
[1:38:21] » it's not an ordinance so it's just a
resolution but
[1:38:26] I mean I don't I don't want you to feel
pressured and you know and I don't want
[1:38:31] you to feel pressured I don't want
anybody to feel pressured um said I
[1:38:36] I've got I'm going to make my time come
down there and speak. I mean that's only
[1:38:42] you know that I mean of course I mean
now
[1:38:46] you know I have I mean I you guys all do
something else you know and uh so I mean
[1:38:54] I've been getting my teeth kicked in
over this thing for over
[1:38:58] and I mean so but this is something
that's been on the table for a while and
[1:39:02] I started well over a month two three
months ago asking these questions just
[1:39:06] because well I was worried and because I
didn't know anything about it and I
[1:39:10] still don't know feel like I even know
enough. Uh but it's I mean we fresh then
[1:39:17] what's
we got to vote on this tonight. We vote
[1:39:21] on it the 21st when we come back and we
vote on it October whatever the first
[1:39:26] one in October. I mean, you know, I
mean, I'm just speaking I'm not speaking
[1:39:32] for anybody,
>> but I don't want you to feel that that's
[1:39:34] not the point of I'm approaching this as
something that, you know, it's been on
[1:39:40] the table for a while and this is just a
natural progression of thought. It
[1:39:44] doesn't feel rushed at all. Uh, as a
matter of fact, it's probably something
[1:39:48] we probably should have done already um
address, but it uh I mean, it is what it
[1:39:55] is. I mean, and and I apologize if I
made you guys feel
[1:40:00] bullied or or whatever, but it's that's
not that's not unusual for you.
[1:40:05] » Well, well, it it kind of is.
[1:40:11] And uh so uh you know, I'm I'm all for
hanging on to um
[1:40:19] » Well, just like I stated, I don't know
if it was the last council meeting of
[1:40:23] the time board. I mean, we're all in
this together.
[1:40:26] » Yeah.
>> And
[1:40:29] » well, that's right.
>> If anybody feels a friction
[1:40:33] that shouldn't be
um because we're just starting
[1:40:39] and we have residents, we have folks who
depend on us.
[1:40:48] And I don't want division a seed of some
division to be in put somewhere
[1:40:57] because we can't work that way.
So if to table it helps it then I'm for
[1:41:04] it 100%.
>> Well I mean the reason for tableling it
[1:41:08] would be to give more time for question
answers more time for discovery.
[1:41:14] » Right. I'm not asking for it to go away.
That's not what I'm saying at all.
[1:41:19] It's something that's got to be a
direct.
[1:41:21] » Yeah. Well, and to that point, it's it's
not going to go away. You know, we can
[1:41:24] keep hunting it, but it's going to be
just like Florence, right? And so,
[1:41:28] that's one thing that it's it's
unfortunate. I know it's unpopular. I
[1:41:31] don't like it either, but need to get as
much information as we can. And, you
[1:41:35] know, so I mean, I I send I can send out
more. Um, you know, pretty much
[1:41:42] everything that I've been given I uh I
sent to you guys. And I know it's a lot
[1:41:47] when you get an email. It's got six
attachments on it. Um and uh so
[1:41:54] uh and that's a lot of data uh to look
at and uh but
[1:42:02] that's all I have. I mean that's all
information I have. Um so it's
[1:42:08] so for me not to be prevy to something
that nobody else has to arrive at some
[1:42:13] sort of conclusion. That's uh
>> And when I said that, I just meant
[1:42:19] that you're able to go to these board
meetings and and maybe have more
[1:42:23] information than what I would what I
would have because I don't
[1:42:27] » I don't have that freedom.
>> Yeah. Okay.
[1:42:29] » That's all.
>> I get that's So,
[1:42:34] » all right. Well, I mean, I'm I'm I'm in
favor of of hanging on to this and to to
[1:42:40] get you guys and then I'm available and
I know any one of those guys are
[1:42:44] available um to uh I mean, my answers
are going to come as I understand it. I
[1:42:51] mean, so you might, you know, you might
want to ask somebody else [laughter]
[1:42:56] because I pretty much laid out exactly
what I was thinking anyway. So uh uh but
[1:43:02] as I mean but then again I don't know
anything about running them. I don't
[1:43:07] know I don't know that I mean so the
people that are uh most most of the most
[1:43:14] the folks uh in charge of running our
utility are sitting here. Um those are
[1:43:20] the folks
uh that provide the answer. That's who
[1:43:23] I've been anyway. That's where I've
gotten my information.
[1:43:28] So Mr. Harrow
and
[1:43:32] and Keith, so is there there is there an
opportunity that we can meet
[1:43:38] collectively?
>> You forum is established. It's a it's a
[1:43:43] meeting.
>> Okay.
[1:43:44] » So it has to be noticed and it's going
to be open.
[1:43:48] » Okay.
>> Just like tonight, you have a special
[1:43:52] meeting, but it has to be noticed if
[1:43:57] two can be
>> that's what I'm saying if only two
[1:44:04] » but you got three then you establish a
quum so it's got to be a call
[1:44:12] » sure I mean the laws allow
[1:44:18] » but it's all gather
>> it's up to three of us
[1:44:22] » that's correct
>> or Exactly.
[1:44:27] » We do that often. I do that with my
board me.
[1:44:31] » What is the what is the problem with I
mean you're not talking about the death
[1:44:36] sent to somebody. You're talking about
utility. I mean what's the problem
[1:44:40] having somebody outside of the
committee? What's the matter? What's the
[1:44:43] problem with having the media there? I
mean it's you're not going to be
[1:44:47] invading anybody's privacy. You're not
talking about any personal. You're just
[1:44:51] talking numbers and how you can get
together. I don't see what I know I'm in
[1:44:56] the media, but I don't really see the
issue of trying to keep it oyster
[1:45:04] the rules that we're held to.
>> Well, I think Steve's point is why not
[1:45:08] just all of us get together and just
have a public meeting.
[1:45:12] » Somebody wants to show up, they show up
>> and and I'm fine with that as well. I
[1:45:17] mean,
>> yeah, there's any of those other, you
[1:45:21] know, meeting that I wouldn't be afraid
>> for anyone else to say.
[1:45:30] » Well, when it's something that's this
important, [clears throat]
[1:45:34] I don't think that we should pass
on trying to
[1:45:40] » correct. Well, the public has a right to
know what's going on and and the more
[1:45:46] important it is, the more the public's
right comes into play. With all respect
[1:45:53] and and again, we're not talking life or
death. We're talking about utility. I I
[1:45:59] just don't understand why such crime
having media or uh any citizen of
[1:46:05] Sheffield
sit in on the meeting. They don't have
[1:46:08] to contribute. They just have to be able
to observe and hear what's going on,
[1:46:12] learn something about the process. I I
don't see a problem.
[1:46:16] As a member of the media,
>> I'll meet anywhere anytime.
[1:46:25] [clears throat]
[1:46:31] » All right. So, what do we do?
Table that.
[1:46:38] » Okay.
What do we need to do officially?
[1:46:44] We can just y
[1:46:59] » a few of y'all.
[1:47:02] No, I think I think uh for just in the
interest of time, not that we're rushed
[1:47:07] or in a hurry, but if we can all get
together, the only reason we would have
[1:47:11] a second meeting would be is if somebody
couldn't make the purchase, right?
[1:47:18] » You mean the next scheduled meeting?
>> Yeah. No. Well, no. Let's Yeah, because
[1:47:23] she's saying we need to
>> schedule a time for a meeting
[1:47:28] or
>> everybody's going
[1:47:30] » to discuss this.
>> Yes.
[1:47:33] » Yeah. Can I make a suggestion?
>> So, we're open, you know, so at any time
[1:47:39] and a lot of y'all drop by anyway. So,
if you just let us know at that time,
[1:47:44] could be one of you, two of them, and we
can answer individually. That way y'all
[1:47:47] can, you know, go about your own
business one onone has got questions at
[1:47:52] the time, you know, set up appointment
with them. We'll we'll be prepared for
[1:47:55] that. We we're prepared. We got all the
information. So that way you don't have
[1:47:59] to go all your out of your way. I know
you work. So if it's after hours, we
[1:48:03] can, you know, it won't be pressure
packed either. We just give you the
[1:48:06] information and we make it work. I'm
fine with that. I mean,
[1:48:10] » yeah. Yeah. So I think it's just a that
way you know John can come down there
[1:48:14] and spend time with whoever he wants to
you know we can answer your questions.
[1:48:17] So it's it's just a it's a meet I call
it a meeting before the meeting you know
[1:48:22] you know I like to have a meeting before
the meeting then they know there's no
[1:48:25] surprise nobody likes to comes to meet
and have surprises. That's the reason we
[1:48:29] have a meeting before the meeting. This
is going to be brought up and we discuss
[1:48:32] it. You know
>> yeah it works well. Yeah. So I just
[1:48:37] [clears throat]
[1:48:44] » okay
>> if it's works for
[1:48:46] » everybody
[1:48:54] number two
>> number two
[1:49:00] » consider approval for mayor van deer to
execute contract agreement with for 2027
[1:49:06] for the senior center.
[1:49:11] » Yeah, mayor. So, what you had this
packet here we didn't really discuss.
[1:49:14] What is this including?
>> Lisa, you want to help us?
[1:49:21] » This is just our senior grant that's
done every year. That's where the money
[1:49:26] comes in. They all lot us like $7,600 I
believe for the senior center
[1:49:32] » covers meals and um the whole the
package of everything that they call
[1:49:38] provides for our seniors.
>> Okay. He's just we're basically signing
[1:49:41] off. Okay.
>> All right.
[1:49:44] » Basically a reform
[1:49:55] » that way everybody can get.
[1:50:03] » Okay. So
[1:50:14] » yeah.
>> So do I have a motion to uh give me the
[1:50:18] authorization to execute that contract
agreement with?
[1:50:23] » So move.
>> Second.
[1:50:26] » I'll second.
[1:50:31] » All in favor say I.
>> I. All finished.
[1:50:37] Okay. Um
so the next item
[1:50:43] authorizing uh
Mayor Van Debers for garbage services.
[1:50:49] So just
so as we begin developing this 2027
[1:50:54] budget, I want us to know exactly what
it costs the city to operate certain
[1:50:58] services and what those same services
would cost if they were provided in
[1:51:02] another way. this request for
alternative solution.
[1:51:07] And uh so I want to be very clear. Uh so
I'm asking tonight for authorization to
[1:51:12] solicit bids for citywide garbage
collection services. So I want to be
[1:51:16] real clear what that is and what it's
not. Uh we uh we have not made a
[1:51:21] decision to outsource garbage collection
and this is not a proposal to
[1:51:25] discontinue service that we're providing
today. Uh and frankly that's not my
[1:51:30] objective at all. uh this just merely
due diligence. So we know what it cost
[1:51:36] us to operate our existing service. What
we don't know is what the private market
[1:51:40] would charge uh Sheffield to provide
comparable citywide services until we
[1:51:45] solicit those bids. We're just guessing.
Um I know in the past there are other uh
[1:51:52] there are other companies uh in the
market now. So I expect four maybe five
[1:51:59] other bids come in on that. So then we
could do a sideby-side comparison on
[1:52:05] what we spend today on these services
inhouse relative to what they would cost
[1:52:10] to outsource just the garbage pickup. It
would be the refuge pickup or anything
[1:52:14] like that. Not the big trucks. Uh just
the what comes out of the house and the
[1:52:18] garbage can
>> strictly the household.
[1:52:20] » Yeah.
>> Okay. Here's another question about
[1:52:21] that.
the revenue that we get off of that
[1:52:29] you by any intent and I'm I'm asking a
question I'm sure but I try to look back
[1:52:33] in our budget thing
what's the you have any idea what the
[1:52:39] revenue how much a year the garbage
generates I know there's
[1:52:45] » what four I know that's
>> that's where I'm
[1:52:51] » that's what I'm saying and that's what
I'm saying you're talking.
[1:52:54] » I know.
>> So, the the idea is we we get we'll get
[1:52:57] these bids in. So, and then come back
with a full, you know, this is this is
[1:53:03] what it costs and this is the revenue
that generates. This is what that would
[1:53:08] look like going to this company, that
company, that company or anything like
[1:53:12] that. Just compare it and see.
>> This is just basically just
[1:53:16] » it's just due diligence. So, it's not
going to contract. No, no, no, no, no.
[1:53:23] It's just just to find out. We don't
have to accept what is we're we're doing
[1:53:27] due diligence just to figure out what it
would cost because we don't know.
[1:53:31] » Uh because at one time years ago when we
did outsource that there was really only
[1:53:36] one player in the game now. Yeah.
name and and I used to work in that
[1:53:42] business in the early 2000s and uh it's
it it was it was a it was a wild west
[1:53:47] back and but things have changed now and
there are other companies in the game
[1:53:52] now in the market and uh so it's just
it's a due diligence uh exercise is is
[1:53:59] all it is. This doesn't obligate us for
anything. it just authorizes me the
[1:54:04] ability to solicit those bids uh and
then we bring those in and look at that
[1:54:10] as a relative comparison to what we're
doing.
[1:54:14] Okay.
So, do uh
[1:54:19] do I be a resol do I have a motion to
allow Mayor Van Deer be a resolved by
[1:54:25] the city council city of Sheffield that
Mayor Vander isn't hereby authorized to
[1:54:29] let bids city garbage services? Do I
have a motion?
[1:54:34] » Motion
have a second.
[1:54:39] » Second.
>> All in favor say I.
[1:54:43] » I. All oppose. Same.
Uh, be it resolved by the city council
[1:54:48] of the city of Sheffield that the city
will participate in the 2027 severe
[1:54:52] weather preparedness tax holiday which
begins at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, February
[1:54:58] 26, 2027 and ends at 12 midnight on
Sunday, February 12, 2027.
[1:55:05] Do I have a motion? So move.
I
[1:55:10] » have a second. Second.
>> All in favor say I.
[1:55:15] » I.
>> All oppose. Same.
[1:55:18] And be a resolved by the city council of
the city of Sheffville that Jeffrey
[1:55:22] McKindall and Andre Day be and are
hereby hired as police officers to fill
[1:55:27] the vacancies in the police department.
Do I have a motion?
[1:55:31] » So move.
>> Second. Second.
[1:55:37] » All in favor say I.
>> All post same.
[1:55:41] be resolved by the city council of the
city of Sheffield that the following
[1:55:44] vehicles be and are hereby declared
surplus in the parks and recreation
[1:55:48] department uh 2002 Ford F-150 and that
van number
[1:55:55] and a 1997 Ford F-150 at that bin. Do I
have a motion?
[1:56:02] » Make a motion.
>> Second.
[1:56:06] » Second.
>> All in favor say I.
[1:56:09] » I. All pass
[1:56:18] be resolved by the city council city of
Sheffield that expenses in the amount of
[1:56:22] $634 be uh be and are hereby approved
for Scholes auto glass to repair a
[1:56:28] windshield for a 2024 GMC Yukon damaged
by the shut street.
[1:56:34] But I mean, I'll make the motion, but
I'm just curious what happened on that
[1:56:38] side.
>> Rocks
[1:56:42] tree.
>> Yeah. Chunk chunked a piece of a tree,
[1:56:46] hit somebody.
>> Yeah.
[1:56:49] » I'll make a move.
[clears throat]
[1:56:51] » Second.
>> Second.
[1:56:55] » All in favor say I.
>> I.
[1:56:57] » All post same. uh be resolved that city
council of the city of Sheffield that
[1:57:01] expenses in the amount of $85
be and are hereby approved for
[1:57:06] reimbursement to Rod Rodney Rippy for
mailed lab work. Do I have a motion?
[1:57:12] Motion
second.
[1:57:16] » I'll say all in favor say I.
>> I. All same. Be it resolved by the city
[1:57:22] council of the city of Sheffield that
expenses in the amount of $9.99
[1:57:27] be and are hereby approved for
reimbursement to Eva Richardson for
[1:57:31] Dream Host Software at the library. Have
a motion.
[1:57:37] » Motion
second.
[1:57:40] » I'll second.
>> All in favor say I.
[1:57:43] » I. All same.
Be it resolved by the city council of
[1:57:47] the city of Sheffville that expenses in
the amount of $2,000 be and are hereby
[1:57:52] approved for eight employees to attend
the EMR emergency medical response
[1:57:58] responder training without a motion.
>> Motion
[1:58:05] a second.
>> I'll second.
[1:58:09] » All in favor say I. I have those same.
What were the employees in the certain
[1:58:16] department?
Okay. Gota
[1:58:25] and then
[1:58:31] that's so resolution authorizing city of
Sheffield to enter an agreement with
[1:58:35] Civic Plus for doc access services. uh
[1:58:43] whereas the city of Sheffield provides
public documents and information to
[1:58:47] citizens through its municipal websites
and whereas the city desires to improve
[1:58:52] accessibility of PDF documents published
through its websites for individuals
[1:58:57] with disabilities and to support the
city's efforts to comply with applicable
[1:59:02] accessibility requirements by the state.
And whereas civil civic plus offers doc
[1:59:08] access a document accessibility platform
that scans converts and monitors PDF
[1:59:13] documents published on websites and
whereas civic plus has submitted
[1:59:17] statement of work quote uh which is
included package to provide doc access
[1:59:23] services for the city's websites at
cheffield Alabama.net chefalabama.gov
[1:59:29] uh and the cheffel.org.
Whereas the initial term of the
[1:59:34] agreement shall run from October 1st,
2026 through September 30th, 2027 at a
[1:59:41] total initial term cost of $6,36140
[1:59:45] with annual recurring services
thereafter as provided in the agreement
[1:59:50] uh with the second year being $1,500
less. Um now therefore be it resolved
[1:59:56] that by the city council city of
Sheffield uh [clears throat] hereby
[1:59:59] approves the acquisition of civic plus
dock access services pursuant to the
[2:00:05] statement of work quote. Uh the mayor is
hereby authorized to execute the
[2:00:10] statement of work and such other
documents as may be reasonably necessary
[2:00:15] to implement the dock access services on
behalf of the city of Sheffield. Subject
[2:00:20] to review and approval as to form
uh by the city attorney. Uh the
[2:00:27] expenditure of $6,36140
for the initial term is hereby
[2:00:32] authorized from the appropriate city
fund uh or account determined by the
[2:00:37] city clerk or treasurer with a portion
of that coming from what's remaining
[2:00:41] from uh what the neo god does pay. And
so a portion of that would be coming
[2:00:46] from that refund that we got. Mr.
President, uh do I have a motion?
[2:00:56] A second.
[2:01:02] » All in favor say I.
>> I. All same.
[2:01:15] Resolution
authorizing city of Sheffield to enter
[2:01:18] an agreement with Neo gov power EMS
[2:01:25] a resolution
authorizing temporary expenditures for
[2:01:29] enhanced open AI check codeex
development services for Sheffield
[2:01:35] municipal OS and fiscal year 2027 budget
preparation. City of Sheffield
[2:01:42] mayor is developing Sheffield municipal
OS as an internal financial and
[2:01:48] executive management platform intended
to approve the city's budgeting,
[2:01:52] financial analysis, and reporting and
decision making process by the city.
[2:01:57] Whereas the city is currently utilizing
the development of Sheffield municipal
[2:02:01] OS in connection with preparation and
analysis presentation publication of the
[2:02:06] city's fiscal year 2027 municipal budget
and whereas additional open AI chat GPT
[2:02:13] development capacity is temporary
temporarily necessary to support
[2:02:18] continued software development and avoid
interruptions caused by usage
[2:02:22] limitations during this accelerated
development period. Now therefore, be it
[2:02:26] resolved by the city council of the city
of Sheffield, Alabama, that the mayor is
[2:02:30] hereby authorized to expend an amount to
not to exceed $1,000 for enhanced of an
[2:02:38] AI chat GPT codeex development services
related usage for a period not to extend
[2:02:44] three months for the purpose of
completing Sheffield Municipal OS and
[2:02:49] supporting the development, analysis,
presentation, and publication of the
[2:02:53] city's fiscal year 2027. Seven municipal
budget.
[2:02:57] » Yeah, I have a motion.
>> So move.
[2:03:04] » Second.
>> I'll second.
[2:03:07] All
>> in favor say I.
[2:03:08] » I.
>> All oppose same.
[2:03:12] Now,
>> a resolution authorizing the city of
[2:03:15] Sheffield to enter into an agreement
with Neoga Power DMFS for human
[2:03:20] resources, payroll, benefits, time and
attendance, and onboarding services.
[2:03:25] city of whereas the city of Sheffield
desires to modernize and consolidate
[2:03:29] administrative functions associated with
the employee payroll benefits
[2:03:33] administration core human resources time
and attendance employee employee
[2:03:38] onboarding and related payroll services
and whereas Neo gov power DMS has
[2:03:44] submitted an order form to the city of
Sheffield for benefits core HR payroll
[2:03:51] time and attendance onboarding and
payroll service subscriptions s together
[2:03:55] with associated implementation and setup
services. And whereas the proposed
[2:04:00] services are intended to improve the
efficiency, the consistency and
[2:04:05] administration of the city's employee
and payroll process. And whereas the
[2:04:10] order form provides for a firstear total
of $53,45140
[2:04:15] [clears throat]
[2:04:18] with a period beginning October 1st
through October 1st, 2026 and ending
[2:04:23] September 30th, 2027 and identifies a
second year recurring total of
[2:04:28] $49,14945.
[2:04:32] Now therefore, be it resolved the city
council the city of Sheffield, Alabama
[2:04:37] as follows. City hereby approves the
acquisition of the Neo Gov power DMS
[2:04:42] benefits core HR payroll time and
attendance onboarding and payroll
[2:04:47] service subscriptions associated setups
substantially in in accordance with the
[2:04:52] order form presented to city council. Uh
the mayor is hereby authorized to
[2:04:57] execute the applicable agreement order
form and such other documents as may be
[2:05:01] reasonably necessary to implement the
services on behalf of the city of
[2:05:06] Sheffield subject to the review and
approval as to form by the city
[2:05:10] attorney. The expenditure of an amount
not to exceed $53,45140
[2:05:17] for the first year term is hereby
authorized from the appropriate city
[2:05:20] fund or account as determined by the
city clerk or treasurer which would be
[2:05:26] the [clears throat]
refund that would be received from the
[2:05:29] 2010 grant. Any renewal or expenditure
beyond the approved first year shall
[2:05:35] remain subject to the city's applicable
budget and expenditure authorization
[2:05:39] procedures.
Do I have a motion?
[2:05:43] » So move.
[2:05:48] » Second.
>> Second.
[2:05:51] » All in favor say I.
>> I. All oppose. Same.
[2:06:03] be resolved by the city council of the
city of Sheffield that contribution in
[2:06:08] the amount of $2,500
be and hereby approved
[2:06:13] for the
[2:06:18] Thomas Legacy of Love
[2:06:22] scholarship fund and
it contribution.
[2:06:29] So move.
>> Second.
[2:06:31] » Second. All
>> in favor say I.
[2:06:34] » I.
>> All same.
[2:06:48] » Just case. All right. I got a comment.
>> Now we got public comment. Anybody got
[2:06:54] something they want to say? [laughter]
Yes, ma'am. Please.
[2:06:59] very very quick.
Good evening.
[2:07:04] » I like your shirt. I like your shirt.
Thank you.
[2:07:07] » My name is Valerie Burks and I'm a
co-chair for the Sterling Sheffield High
[2:07:12] Union Committee and I just want to come
here and thank you guys for all of your
[2:07:16] support and everything uh to help us
execute.
[2:07:22] We really would like to thank you for
the uh approval of renaming the park
[2:07:26] from Avalon Park to RS Community Park.
Thank you for the signage uh getting
[2:07:33] that fabricated and installed before the
really appreciate all like to thank the
[2:07:39] police department, the fire department
for their participation. Uh you at the
[2:07:43] open ceremony, superintendent still at
the open ceremony
[2:07:48] uh down at the unveiling. I mean
everything. You guys were great. We had
[2:07:52] a great time. So, fire department, uh,
sanitation department, parks and rec,
[2:07:58] you guys all support. So, just want to
say thanks.
[2:08:03] » Thank you.
>> I'm not asking for anything. [laughter]
[2:08:07] » Thanks.
[2:08:14] And so yeah, the uh I guess the the
other announcement would be rescheduling
[2:08:20] the city uh on taking the bids at 1616
shot.
[2:08:26] Um
>> I got a question. You dropped the ball.
[2:08:31] » I did. Yeah, that's the reason that's
me.
[2:08:34] » So that's the reason because there was a
couple came up last week put in a bid.
[2:08:38] » Oh, we got we got a half dozen or eight?
We got like seven or eight.
[2:08:42] » I got I only got one phone call.
>> I said I got a bunch.
[2:08:48] » So that's the reason they couldn't put a
meeting in.
[2:08:50] » Okay.
[2:08:53] Yeah, sorry. Okay, mayor.
>> Another announcement, mayor, that um
[2:09:01] there's a produce distribution at Food
Bank of North Alabama and Shedville
[2:09:04] Farmers Market, but we'll be providing a
variety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
[2:09:09] Uh come by for fresh produce. This event
is free and open to the public. This
[2:09:13] will be on Wednesday, September 16th.
So, that's next Wednesday, correct?
[2:09:16] Yeah. from 11 to 12 at First Missionary
Baptist Church, 11:03 Sterling
[2:09:21] Boulevard, Shan, Alabama. Just want to
make that announce.
[2:09:26] » Okay.
>> And then next Saturday at 9:30,
[2:09:30] » this Saturday.
>> This Saturday
[2:09:32] at 9:30 at Olly Harrisville.
The game is on uh city kickball game.
[2:09:40] » What's it for?
>> It is. Uh Oh, yeah. There's there's a
[2:09:44] reason for it. uh do bring non-p
perishable goods uh with you and those
[2:09:50] will go to kids
and uh it's my team versus even
[2:09:59] this was the event's idea and so we've I
guess been training. Have you been
[2:10:04] training?
Bro, don't be train.
[2:10:10] » But it should be should be a good time
and hopefully we can get a lot of
[2:10:14] donations both monetary and and
donations of canned food, non-p
[2:10:17] perishable foods uh for the city
schools. So, we're excited about it.
[2:10:20] » It it should be it should be a lot of
fun to watch.
[2:10:25] Yeah, I will pull. I got one thing about
[2:10:31] I know y'all know everybody getting
tired when we talk about this
[2:10:34] especially.
Is there any way and I know it shouldn't
[2:10:38] be a hard thing to do at the first of
every month.
[2:10:43] Each one of us have a sheet of checks
and balance what goes in and out of the
[2:10:47] record.
That gonna be I mean I know you're on
[2:10:51] the board so I mean I fig it' be easy
for you to do that for us and that way
[2:10:57] we'll have a record
>> that should go. So that
[2:11:07] » Yeah.
>> Okay.
[2:11:10] » Hey, and
John in that in that in that regard. Get
[2:11:15] with me and um we'll go to that and then
we'll like formally request them to come
[2:11:21] present.
How about that?
[2:11:27] » Let's do that. Okay. Just let me know
what I mean. I just came up with the
[2:11:32] idea
[2:11:36] » the All right. Anybody got anything?
Anybody standing?
[2:11:43] » Do I have a motion to adjurnn? So move
second.
[2:11:46] » All in favor say I.
[2:12:27] It works.
[2:12:52] Thank you.
>> Okay.