By By Bill Crist Publisher
In case of a disaster, natural or man-made, the city of East Brewton gave verbal consent for the Civic Center to be used as a distribution site for the Emergency Management Administration's PUSH program.
The program, which is tied into the Strategic National Stockpile, is designed to deliver massive amounts of pharmaceuticals to an area within 12 hours of the incident. There will be five sites in Escambia County once the plan is fully implemented.
In case of a flood, East Brewton Mayor Terry Clark said that the city hall would be available as an alternate location.
The Escambia County EMA director will contact the city council with a letter to confirm the agreement in the coming weeks.
Flooding in two separate areas of the city were discussed at the meeting.
Dr. Margaret Breland-Bradley, who with her husband is remodeling a building on Forrest Ave., said that they building was having a problem with flood water from an overflowing drainage ditch.
Breland-Bradley described the building as a "mini-mall," with room for three businesses inside. Two of the businesses are ready to move in once construction is complete.
One will be a barber shop and the second a hot-dog restaurant called "Hot Diggity Dog." The middle space is still available.
Clark said that the city must have the state's input before it can make any changes to the drainage flow in the area.
Clark said he did not know what the city could do in response to flooding off Parker St., which the council discussed at its last meeting.
Clark said that the city's attorney, Bill Stokes, had written a letter to the owner of a chicken yard on Gillis St. following a citizen complaint. He also said that the budget workshops were complete and that the budget would be presented at the council's next meeting.
The council voted unanimously to re-appoint Steve Dunaway and Joey Shell to the East Brewton Water Board for new six-year terms and approved accounts payable.