Red Bay attorney replaced

By Staff
Jonathan Willis FCT Staff Writer
The Red Bay City Council took several items of action at Monday night's regular meeting, including the hiring and firing of the city's attorney.
The council voted 4-1 to replace city attorney and prosecutor Jeff Bowling, whose firm of Bedford, Rogers and Bowling had been representing the city for more than a decade. Council member Bobby Nelson voted to oppose the firing.
Bowling said that he became aware of the change when it was placed on the meeting's agenda, but that he was not contacted by any members of the council beforehand.
The council then voted unanimously to hire the firm of McDowell and Beason, PC, of Russellville as city attorney. Brian Hamilton was appointed as the new city prosecutor.
During the meeting, Mayor Tommy Nelson asked city auditor Dicky Sparks, Bowling and city clerk Shirley Cody to speak of any wrongdoings that were known to have taken place at city hall.
All three stated that they were unaware of anything that had taken place. When Nelson asked Sparks if he had ever seen or heard of any type of "cover-up" of anything concerning the city during his audits, Sparks answered with a firm "no."
Bowling was also asked by Nelson to comment on whether or not he had ever served as a personal attorney for him. Bowling said that he in fact had never worked for Nelson other than as city prosecutor.
Prior to moving on to new business during the meeting, Nelson read from a prepared statement concerning the future of the city.
In other business the council voted on the following actions:
-appointed council member Jeff Reid to replace Norris Paul Rogers whose time had expired on the water and gas board
-passed a resolution that will allow the state to close certain roads and parking areas in the city during construction of the Highway 24 bypass
-voted to allow an industrial road to be built through town using federal funding
-voted to renew its contract for membership with the Chamber of Commerce
-accepted the resignation of Pat Miller from the sewage board and appointed Mary Ellen Collum to that position
-appointed council member Ann Wilkins to serve on the cemetery board
-appointed council member Patsy Hammock to serve on the Red Bay Planning Commission
-accepted Tammy Underwood's resignation as Founder's Day coordinator
-accepted Hal Keeton's resignation from the water and gas board and voted to appoint Maurice Fikes as his replacement
-voted to observe this year's Trick-or-Treat on Saturday, Oct. 30