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By Jan McDonald

Special to the Demopolis Times

In a short meeting Wednesday, March 7, the Demopolis City Council voted on four items and heard of the start of a drainage project that has been in the works for well over a year.

Main Avenue at Franklin Street has been the site of extensive flooding during heavy rains. Work has started to end the problem, and the contractor has 120 days to complete the project, Mike Baker, city project manager, told the Council.

Main Avenue will be closed from Washington Street to the railroad tracks until the work is finished.

At the recommendation of the Building Commission, the Council awarded Gaddy Electric the bid to replace the 13 heat pumps at the Demopolis Higher Education Center at a cost of $121,500.

In other business, one voting site will now be used for all municipal elections in the future. The Council unanimously agreed to consolidate the polling sites for the five city districts into one. 

All voting will take place at the Demopolis Civic Center. This action does not apply to county, state or federal elections.

Mayor Woody Collins said there are no city sign regulations pertaining to murals on buildings. He received Council approval to enlist the assistance of the Main Street Demopolis Board to set up guidelines on behalf of the city.

Main Street Demopolis recently announced a competition for a mural to be painted on the side of a building on East Washington Street.

In the only other action, the Council approved the transfer of a liquor license to the new owners of the Chevron station at 510 U.S. Highway 80 East.

Collins announced the Demopolis City Schools Board will have a vacancy in June. He told the board all nominations for the position will be due by the April 18 meeting and be voted on at the first meeting in May.

During the work session before the Council meeting, Collins expressed concert that the many city boards have different dates for electing new members and having them begin their terms of office. No central record is kept of the members.

Councilmen Charles Jones Jr. and James Stanford volunteered to clarify the lists of board, their members and terms of office.