Council deadlocks on Sloss Lake land deal

The Russellville City Council deadlocked 3-3 Monday night over a motion to purchase 115 acres of land adjacent to Sloss Lake on Alabama 24.

The council voted 4-2 in October to move forward with plans to purchase the property between the park and the WebbSite convenience store.

Monday, Councilman Jeff Masterson said that his opinion had not changed since October and he would not support the move.

“We have 30-something acres right across the highway that hasn’t been used for anything,” Masterson said at the time.

The city purchased that property several years ago.

Council members William Nale and David Grissom voted against the purchase as well.

“We just don’t need to spend the city’s money there at this time,” Grissom said.

Councilman Gary Cummings said he felt it would be a good investment for the city to make.

Russellville Mayor Troy Oliver said in October that he had been negotiating the purchase for quite some time and felt the city needed to purchase the property with the highway frontage.

He said if the city purchased the property, then the convenience store could possibly be annexed at some time, therefore, generating more tax revenue.

The city has previously applied for grants that would enable them to make improvements and expansions at Sloss Lake.

If funding were secured, the first phase of renovations would include re-building the existing walking trail that is situated on the east side of the lake.

As part of the first phase of renovations, a new walking trail would also be built along the southern portion of the lake that borders Alabama 24. That trail would lead across the area where the spillway is and would connect to a trail near the ball fields in John Blackwell Park.

If the city moved forward with the initial portion of the work, the second and third phases could eventually see the addition of swimming and camping areas, council members said.

Council members have expressed that they would like to see a splash pad built there as well.

“We just need to have something for the people of Russellville,” Councilman Lanny Hubbard said.

“We have a great resource out there but nobody uses it. If we build something that people want to use and can stay here at home, it will help the entire city.”

In other business, the council:

• renewed the city’s contract with the airport

• approved school resource officer Danny Price’s contract

• deadlocked 3-3 on a motion to move forward with an engineering contract for work on a pedestrian walkway at the city schools campus

• promoted Jonathan Pace to lieutenant in the fire department

• declared a vacancy in the police department and asked the civil service board to add two names to the current list

• purchased a 2007 Ford F-150 for the street department

• re-appointed Greg Batchelor to the city school board

• moved the January meetings to Tuesday, Jan. 3 and Tuesday, Jan. 17.