By By BILL CRIST – Publisher
According to city councilman Dennis Dunaway, people with outstanding warrants to the City of Brewton are about to be subject to a more focused attempt to collect the money owed, which combined currently stands at approximately $250,000.
Dunaway, who is on a committee studying the issue, said the city would take a three-step approach. The first will be to assign an officer to personally serve warrants within the Brewton area. After that, all outstanding names will be turned over to the state Department of Public Safety.
The final step, he said, would be to turn the warrants over to a collection agency.
He asked for a motion to accept the recommendation, which was made and passed unanimously.
The council also learned that through a safety program introduced three years ago, the city has been able to cut its worker's compensation premium from $118,000 to $51,000 annually. According to Pete Diurno, the number of claims has decreased since the program was introduced.
Wendy Cooper addressed the council on behalf of the Brewton Nutrition Center, thanking them for supporting the recent carnival in Brewton. She said that because of money the Center received from the proceeds of the carnival, five additional senior citizens would be added to the meals on wheels program in Brewton this year.
Brewton Mayor Ted Jennings presented plaques to Ray Madden and Jackie Little certifying that they had completed 49 continuing education classes. They were recognized as having completed the Operator Qualification Training Program. All utility department employees are taking similar classes, although not all will complete each of the 49 classes offered.
The council approved the transfer of ownership on a beer and wine license, as well as approved a wine license for two local businesses. The transfer is from York Convenience Store (188 South Blvd.) to GOCO. The wine license was for Rite-Aid (1023 Douglas Ave.). According to city clerk John Angel, no public hearing was required because Rite Aid already has a beer license.
In other business the council: