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Huntsville Old Settlers, new policeman in question
By Janet Morales, Correspondent
The Huntsville City Council held its monthly meeting Thursday, May 25. Major items on the agenda were the holding of Old Settlers Days and the hiring of a secondary police officer.
Currently, there is no Old Settlers event scheduled for this year. The Community Club, which has sponsored it in the past, has stated they no longer can do so because of a lack of volunteers.
Council members expressed regret at this decision and discussed possibilities of other entities taking over certain activities. Members were reminded that any group or person in charge of an event had to be insured. City Attorney Cydney Mayfield was requested to come up with an event policy and an event application to be reviewed at its next meeting.
“We need to get everyone involved again,” said Councilman Jon Gordy. “With the City and citizens working together we can grow that again.”
City Collector Marilyn Black announced that on Labor Day weekend, the same weekend Old Settlers is generally held, a circus is coming to Sutliff Stadium.
“They will be raising the big top on Saturday, which is a sight to see I am told,” she said. “Then on Monday there will be two shows.”
Police Chief Chris Wertz spoke to the board regarding the new police officer the “previous board”, the council members before the April election, had approved he should hire. Wertz said the candidate had completed the law enforcement academy and passed a physical required for the academy. He had met all the conditions set forth by the board at that time and was eligible for hire.
The salary for the new officer would be $36,000 plus benefits. This, according to Wertz and a former council person in attendance at Thursday’s meeting, had been budgeted for. However, newly-elected councilman Tony Bell, brought up other considerations.
He noticed in the police report that approximately $5,000 had been spent on fuel. Would that amount double if there were two police officers? The budget year ends June 30 and a new fiscal year would begin July 1. City Clerk Linda Haffecke indicated that sales tax collections were going down.
“I’m a numbers guy,” said Bell. “I just want to make sure we can afford this second policeman. I don’t want to hire him then have to fire him because we don’t have the money. We need to wait a month until we have completed the new budget to see if we can afford to hire another person.”
There were many raised voices over the matter, from council members and spectators alike.
Councilman Doug Helmich was adamant about keeping the promise the board had made in hiring the police officer, especially since the applicant was present. In the end, a vote was taken and the council voted 4-2 against hiring the policeman at this time.
The Huntsville City Council is composed of the following members: Frank Miller, mayor; Connie Kissell, mayor pro tem; Larry Schermerhorn, Tony Bell, Daylynn Sunderland, Bill Rickart, Jon Gordy and Doug Helmich. The council meets the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. The public is invited to attend.
