LYNN - Those getting copies of reports or photos from Lynn Police Department will now pay a fee, after the Lynn Town Council passed a resolution to that effect at the request of Chief Bryan Kirkpatrick in October.
Incident reports and private property accident reports will cost $5 and traffic accident reports $15. Photos of any kind of accident will cost $10 each.
In other news, some Lynn residents will be able to sign up for Charter internet, phone, TV and mobile services at some point in the future. The Town Council approved a franchise agreement with Charter Communications at a special session on Oct. 25 at which Charter representatives told the council that the company had received state funds to offer its services in specific areas and is now required under federal law to do so.
Under the approved franchise agreement, in exchange for use of its right away, the town of Lynn will receive an annual fee of 5 percent of Charter’s gross revenue in the area.
At its October meeting, the council approved the town’s annual donation of $2,500 to Lynn High School.
The town will not be able to make a donation to Lynn Cemetery, however. An attorney with the Alabama League of Municipalities told Town Clerk Marcia Manasco that the town could not make a donation to the cemetery because it is private property.
Mayor Earl Gilbert informed the council in October that the town’s 2012 International ProStar dump truck needed repairs that would cost $18,000 and suggested purchasing a new one to replace it. Council members were provided information about Chevrolet and Dodge dump trucks and their prices as well as information on a Ford truck. By its November work session, the council had received a quote on a Ford truck, and at its regular November meeting, the council voted to purchase a 2023 Ford F550 regular cab truck with a dump bed for the state bid price of $82,892 from Stivers Ford in Montgomery.
The council also voted in November to authorize LPD to join the Law Enforcement Support Office Program, also known as the 1033 program, though which the U.S. Department of Defense transfers certain types of surplus military equipment to state and local law enforcement agencies at no charge. The state of Alabama charges local agencies an annual membership fee to cover administrative costs, which is $250 for a department the size of Lynn’s.
Kirkpatrick told the council at its November work session that LPD would be able to get communication equipment, camera systems, fire arms, tools, generators and vehicles, among other things. According to the session minutes, he said the town has to maintain the equipment on controlled property and can only dispose of it by returning it to a specific military base.
The council also voted at its November meeting to move the fire hydrant and meter near the Lynn Schools lunchroom to another spot in the same area where it will be out of the way of traffic for a cost of up to $15,700, although costs are expected to be less than half that amount and are being split with the Winston County Board of Education.
Gilbert told the council in October that new fence was being put up at the city ball parks to keep vehicles, particularly four wheelers, off the property. It is now in place along County Road 59.
The council voted in October to transfer the following funds from the general account to other accounts: $20,000 to the Lynn Volunteer Fire Department’s checking account, $5,000 to LVFD’s savings/maintenance account and $5,000 to the park and rec account. In November, the council voted to transfer $3,000 to the senior account every quarter from now on.
At the November work session, Gilbert told the council that providing a fully furnished restaurant for Mava’s Cafe could cost as much as $500,000, an amount the town could not afford. After discussion, according to the minutes, the council decided to try to find a good price for a building only.
The council also addressed several employee compensation matters in November. It voted to give all full-time town employees a $1 pay raise and a $300 one-time salary supplement and to cover a $34 increase in insurance costs for each full-time employee when rates go up in January.
During the November meeting, the council spent ten minutes in executive session to discuss a topic related to the good name and character of a person associated with the town with Fire Chief Derreck Cagle.
The next regular monthly meeting of the Lynn Town Council will be Monday, Dec. 19, at 6 p.m. in the old Town Hall.
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