The newly-formed Covington Veterans Foundation this week presented ‘A soldier comes home,’ a commissioned painting by Roger Powell, to Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson for City Hall.
Shown from left are Ben Bowden, president of the foundation; Johnson; Powell; and John Vick, foundation chairman.
Bowden said the foundation will identify and document the sacrifices and service of veterans from Covington County, and to raise awareness of those contributions. The group will also initiate projects in local schools, he said.
The painting, which is based on Vick’s childhood memory of seeing the bodies of fallen World War II soldiers returning home on a train, will be on display at the Memorial Day program planned for 10 a.m. on Monday, May 27, in Andalusia City Hall auditorium.
Members of the Old Three Notch Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution recently presented flag banners to the City of Andalusia to be displayed on the city’s decorative light poles in the downtown area. The banners, which were hung this week for Memorial Day, were purchased with fundraising proceeds from the organization’s patriotic fire hydrant proceeds. Shown from left are Brenda Gouge, Shirley House, Mayor Earl Johnson, Sue Bass Wilson and Brandi Evans.
The DAR also gifted banners to the City of Florala.
Councilman Will Sconiers, Councilman Kennith Mount, Councilman Ralph Wells, Mayor Earl Johnson, City Clerk John Thompson, Councilman Terry Powell and Councilwoman Hazel Griffin are shown with the award they received this week.
The Alabama League of Municipalities (ALM) has named Andalusia a Certified Municipality, an honor awarded to cities and towns in which the mayor and all council members have earned the professional designation of Certified Municipal Official.
The designation signifies that the mayor and all council members have completed a minimum of 40 credit hours of formal training on municipal government conducted or endorsed by ALM through its Certified Municipal Official program.
City Clerk John Thompson said that each of Andalusia’s elected officials has gone a step further, and also has earned the ALM’s advanced certification.
“As mayor, I am proud that Andalusia is just one of a handful of cities to be represented in the inaugural class of certified municipalities,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “This is representative of the hard work you have done, reading the assigned materials, and getting up to speed on the law. I know the citizens you represent appreciate what this represents.”
The awards were presented in Mobile on Tuesday, during the closing session of ALM’s annual convention.
Members of the Andalusia City Council got a sneak peak at the newly-renovated Andalusia High School auditorium Tuesday, after hearing an update on construction progress from Superintendent Ted Watson.
“They’re still working on a punch list,” Watson said. “And there will still be some things to be finished, but I think the overall effect will be well-received Friday.”
State building inspectors gave the final go-ahead for use of the building last week, meaning the high school can hold commencement exercises there Friday. It will be the first event there since the renovation of the auditorium and gym – a project that will total approximately $12 million – began last spring. In May of 2018, commencement was held in the Kiwanis Community Center.
Council members toured the new auditorium after Tuesday’s council meeting. During that meeting, the council:
- Agreed to purchase shade structures, benches and fans for Cooper Pool. The total cost is $36,000. The shade structures will not be installed before the pool opens on June 3.
- Agreed to contribute $500 for the American Legion for a June celebration of the national organization’s centennial.
- Abated nine properties for weed and grass violations.
Council deals with abatements, OKs ordinance
In the same meeting in which the Andalusia City Council increased the minimum administrative fee for abatement of a property, approved abatements or several properties for weeds, and moved to have a dangerous structure torn down, a local resident begged the council to get even tougher on property owners.
Carter Williams, who lives on Church Street, appeared at the council’s workshop meeting to voice concerns about three pieces of property on his street which are regularly in abatement for unsightly weeds.
Williams said because the abatement process takes several weeks, a particular property was not mown more than two times last summer.
Whit Carroll, who manages abatements for the city, said the process begins with a courtesy letter from the city asking property owners to take care of problems. If the owners take no action, the official abatement proceedings begin. If a property owner fails to take care of weeds again during a 12-month period, the city’s ordinance allows the abatement officer to take action again without waiting for council approval.
Williams said he believes there is no need for the city to be courteous to repeat offenders.
Mayor Earl Johnson said if the city moved abatements at the fastest clip possible, it can’t prevent property from being overgrown.
“We can’t take action until it becomes a nuisance,” he said. “Even under the best circumstances, we can’t keep nuisance weeds cut like you and I keep ours cut. That’s not to say we can’t do a better job, and we’ll try.”
At present, Carroll takes bids to clean up nuisance property once it has been abated. Johnson suggested that the city accept bids to have one contractor to clean abated property to shorten the process.
In other business, the council:
• Approved an ordinance increasing the minimum administrative fees for any abatement to $150. That charge will be assessed along with any costs for work done to abated properties.
• Approved an abatement at 523 South Cotton Street asking for an unsafe structure to be torn down. The property owner did not appear at a public hearing during the meeting. Carroll said the walls are buckling and the floors are badly damaged, and the structure could present a danger. It could not be repaired at a reasonable cost, he said.
• Abated more than a dozen properties with overgrown weeds.
• Agreed to contributed $1,500 to the Andalusia Junior Rodeo Finals set for Andalusia at the end of May.