Bills create stir at council meeting

By Staff
Jonathan Willis FCT Staff Writer
RED BAY – Red Bay's city council meeting was relatively quiet Monday night until the time arrived for the council to accept a motion to pay the city's bills.
Listed as one of the last items on each meeting's agenda, the paying of the city's bills is usually just a formality before the council adjourns, but not this time.
Council member Ann Wilkins requested that the council approve paying all of the bills except for the water and gas. The council has a meeting scheduled with the Red Bay Water and Gas Department on March 16 to discuss a recent 10 percent increase in fees.
Mayor Tommy Nelson, who also serves as superintendent of the water and gas department, said that the department has been taking on costs that other cities have passed on to taxpayers for years.
Nelson told the city clerk not to pay the city's bills after a motion made by council member Bobby Nelson failed to gain a second.
Nelson also accused council members of repeatedly breaking Alabama's sunshine laws which require all decisions to be made publicly. According to Nelson, there have been 34 separate occasions since the current council took office last fall in which decisions made during meetings have been changed or stopped.
One item of controversy concerns the purchase of a new bush hog side mount that the council voted to purchase at the Feb. 7 meeting. The price of the equipment listed on the agenda was for $24,724.
Nelson said that the council had stopped the purchase of the bush hog even though they had voted to make the purchase. Wilkins said that she was confused about whether or not the city had accepted sealed bids on the item.
Wilkins responded that she was just trying to do what was best for the city.
Alabama Sunshine Laws allow citizens to inspect and copy city documents for any reason.