OPINION: TRASH WALKS HAVING IMPACT.
TUESDAY
THE
DEALS GALORE Find it in the classifieds, page 7.
Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 July 7, 2015
Vol. 123, No. 134
www.alexcityoutlook.com
FOURTH FLASHBACK
Images from the holiday weekend, Page 11.
Council rejects raises handled improperly By Mitch Sneed Outlook Editor
Mitch Sneed / The Outlook
Councilman Jim Spann said that the votes Monday night to reject pay raises handled in error shows that the residents come first and that the city’s business has to be handled properly.
Pay raises for city employees that were not authorized by vote of the Alexander City City Council were rejected Monday night. Monday’s action means that a salary increase for Mayor Charles Shaw’s executive secretary, a raise for the human resources director and hikes to the pay of nine employees at the Adams Water Treatment Plant will be rolled back immediately, according to Council President Bob Howard. “That’s my understanding is that they will all
be stopped as of today,” Howard said. “They weren’t ratified, therefore the salaries should go back to what was originally budgeted. The resolutions acknowledged that the improper increases were found in balancing the operating budget and called the increases “unauthorized.” The resolution to approve the increases for the Adams Water Treatment plant failed, but Howard, Jim Spann and Billy Ray Wall voted for the increases, while Bobby Tapley, Sherry Ellison-Simpson and Tony Goss voted against See COUNCIL, Page 3
ALEA fears deep cuts will curtail enforcement
Number of alcohol-related incidents down from last year
By Cliff Williams
By Mitch Sneed
Outlook Staff Writer
Outlook Editor
Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sgt. Steve Jarrett is concerned about funding from the state for the department in the upcoming special session. “Currently, most of the highway patrol goes from call to call,” Jarrett said. “Most often for accidents. We are not able to do much enforcement when it comes to violations.” The lack of enforcement, Jarrett says, will lead to more issues on Alabama roads if the state legislature does not do something to improve funding. “Lower enforcement leads to more violations,” Jarrett said. “With more violations, we will have more accidents. With more accidents we will have more fatalities.” Jarrett explained that ALEA is already understaffed with only 400 troopers on the road across the state. “Troopers are covering several counties at a time while See BUDGET, Page 8
Local and state law enforcement say it was a relatively safe holiday weekend, with most believing the intermittent thunderstorms may have played a role in dousing some excessive Independence Day celebrations. The Alexander City Public Works Department recorded just 1.08 inches of rain from Friday afternoon until Monday morning, but the timing of the showers and the constant threat of storms kept some people off area roads and the water of Lake Martin. Alexander City Police Chief Willie G. Robinson said that while calls did flow in, most were routine in nature. “Overall it was a pretty safe weekend,” Robinson said. “We only had two DUIs, which we hate there were any, but for a holiday weekend that is pretty good. Hopefully that means people are thinking before they get behind the wheel.” Robinson said that his department issued a total of 20 citations with four total arrests over the holiday period. The arrests included two DUIs, one public intoxication charge and one disorderly conduct arrest.
Officials say numbers point to safe holiday
Kenneth Boone / The Outlook
Crews repair damage caused by Sunday crash Officials say a pickup truck driven by a 19-year-old struck and broke a utility pole at the Five Points intersection along Jefferson Sunday, causing outages to cable, power and some phone service. Crews made a temporary fix Sunday, but were out in force Monday, replacing the pole and making permanent repairs. Alexander City Police Chief Willie Robinson said the accident was still under investigation, but indicated that he driver said he”looked down for a second and when he looked back up it was too late to avoid the pole.”
See HOLIDAY, Page 8
Timber industry booming in state and Tallapoosa County By Gilbert Nicholson Alabama News Center
Cliff Williams / The Outlook
A truck rolls out of the Resolute Chip Mill in Jacksons Gap is an indication of the increased timber activity in the county.
Contrary to popular belief that urban encroachment is depleting forests, timberland is actually increasing in Alabama. The state now has a record-high 23 million acres of timber, putting it third in the country behind Georgia and Oregon, according to a new report by the Alabama Forestry Commission. Since 2000, timber volume has grown 18 percent, and now accounts for 69 percent of the state’s total area. Tallapoosa County features 393,491 acres of timberland, according to 2014 Alabama Forestry Commission reports. To show how big the tim-
ber industry has grown in Tallapoosa County, in a period from 2001 to 2014, the Alabama Forestry Commission reports that 833,709 tons were harvested here, including 623,135 tons of pines and softwoods and 210,574 tons of hardwoods. Meanwhile, the rate of replacing harvested timber continues to outpace cutting, with every ton of timber harvested replaced by 1.55 tons of new growth. “The annualized inventory of Alabama’s forests continues to show all the benefits we derive from our vast forests – wood products, clean water, clean air, wildlife habitat and recreational See TIMBER, Page 8
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
489.57 Reported on 7/6/15 @ 2 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
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