Council approves Christmas parade date, sidewalk bid request

In the council’s work session, Public Works Director/City Engineer Barry Mott discussed his request to seek bids for the repair and refurbishment of various sidewalks throughout the city. He said the estimated cost of the repairs is estimated around $150,000. Mott said this would only be phase one of improving city sidewalks, but he would like to take care of it first as both sides of the sidewalks are in need of repair.

“What we did was took the area along College Street and started walking the streets to see what we had,” Mott said. “We had a good bit of blocks there that were uneven, where the blocks had been raised and were tripping hazards… There’s some that were broken and just completely destroyed.”

The request was later approved by the council with Council President Turner Townsend saying sidewalk improvements have been a stated goal of the council.

“We’ve had a couple of senior citizens in our neighborhood to actually trip and fall and injure themselves seriously, so I am really looking forward to this,” Councilman Eugene Goolsby said.

The council approved a permit request from the Enterprise Chamber of Commerce to hold the 2021 Christmas Parade on Tuesday, Nov. 30 from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., with a rain date of Thursday, Dec. 2. The parade will begin at the corner of West Watts Street and North Main and end at the corner of East Harrison Street and Main Street. This was an amended request to retract the original approved request date of Friday, Dec. 3.

“While the Christmas Parade is largely a community event to kick-off the holiday season and spread goodwill, we (the Chamber) must always consider how our businesses will be affected,” Chamber Director Erin Grantham said in a statement. “We solicited input from our past parade participants and received information from our downtown business community to present to our Christmas Parade Committee. Upon review of all of the new information presented, the Chamber and Christmas Parade Committee agreed that it would be in the best interest for the majority to move the date back to the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving.”

The council also approved a lease agreement between the city and Cotter Properties, LLC related to the lot behind the old Yancey Parker building. The lot will be improved by the city and used for parking and city sponsored events. According to the lease, the landlord is not charging the city rent for the lot and the city will be prorated for the cost of any improvements to the lot if the landlord terminates the lease.

In other business, the council:

Approved the appointment of Christopher Davis as acting/interim fire chief effective May 29, based on Chief Byron Herring’s recommendation. Herring announced his retirement on May 7 and will officially retire on May 28.

Authorized the mayor to execute a memorandum of agreement between the City of Enterprise and Main Street Alabama for the city’s participation in the Main Street Program. The term of the agreement is for one year, beginning June 1, 2021, and ending on May 31, 2022.

Approved a resolution providing for the authorization of Ewing-Connor and Associates, Inc. to proceed with the preparation of the city’s 2021 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) grant application for funding assistance associated with the proposed demolition and clearance of abandoned, vacant, public nuisance properties.