AG: Council members can't be on board

By Staff
John Hicks FCT Staff Writer
At Monday's Red Bay City Council meeting, City Attorney Brian Hamilton told council members an opinion he received from the Alabama Attorney General's office indicates that city council members are not eligible to serve on the city's Water and Gas Board.
The opinion, which addressed a similar issue, had been issued in 1981 by the attorney general's office.
The council had directed Hamilton to seek an attorney general's opinion as to whether Council Member Bobby Nelson was permitted to serve on the Water and Gas Board since he was appointed prior to his election to the City Council.
Three council members, Mayor Jeff Reid, Nelson and Ann Wilkins previously served on the Board. Reid resigned when he was appointed mayor in November. Nelson has indicated his willingness to resign from the board if necessary.
Nelson was absent from Monday night's meeting.
Wilkins resigned from the Water and Gas Board last year because she felt it would prevent a legal dispute. Wilkins had been appointed to the Water and Gas Board after she was elected to the council.
The council also approved a motion to pay the city's part of sewer operator Danny Maxwell's salary as a $1,000 monthly payroll deduction.
In other news, the council: