Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

VALLEY — The City of Valley is looking at rezoning an estimated 45 acres of land between Fairfax Bypass, Huguley and Cusseta roads. The first reading of an ordinance was held at Monday’s meeting of the city council. It could be approved following a second reading at the next council meeting in May.

What’s being considered is to change the present designation from R5 to R3. That would allow for the construction of single-family homes on smaller lots. The Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project (CFCP) has built new homes near the affected area on the side of Harmon Street that’s already R3.

Planning and Development Director Travis Carter told the council that manufactured homes would not be allowed in the new R3 area. A trailer park that had once been in the neighborhood had been the subject of many complaints and police being called to the area.

Carter reminded city residents that a new junk vehicle ordinance would go into effect on May 10.

“When we tag a vehicle, you will have five days to remove it before we can come and get it,” he said.

Carter had good news to report on the 2020 Census.

“There had been a lot of speculation that Alabama would be losing a congressman,” he said. “We won’t. The state’s population grew at a rate of 5.1 percent over the last ten years. We will have the same number of congressmen for the next 10 years.”

In action taken on Monday, the council confirmed the cost of tearing down a house and cleaning up a nuisance property on 32nd Place, approved its share of a dispatch service agreement with the Chambers County EMA and approved a uniform agreement for the Public Works Department.

The cost to tear down the house and clean up the property is $5,962.63. This includes labor, landscaping the site, carrying the debris to the Salem landfill and legal fees.

Work on the project started in January 2020 and ended in March of that year. A lien will be placed on the property to recover the cost of cleaning it up.

A new three-year contract with the Chambers County EMA includes the cities of Valley, Lanett and LaFayette, the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office, the East Alabama Water, Sewer and Fire Protection District, the Huguley Water Authority, and the Chambers County Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association.

Chambers County has had a centralized 9-1-1 call-taking and dispatching center since 1999. The parties agree to share in the cost of operating the center with its share roughly based on the number of calls it has coming into the center. Starting on Oct. 1, 2021, Valley will be paying equal installments of $14,689.92 a month for the first year, $15,130.62 a month for the second year and $15,735.85 a month starting on Oct. 1, 2023. Lanett’s share for that same cycle will be $13,688.79 a month for FY 2022, $14,099.45 each month for the next year and $14,633,43 per month starting the year after that. LaFayette’s share for the first year is $5,518,28 each month, $5,683.83 a month for the second year and $5.911.18 a month starting with the third year.

The Chambers County Sheriff’s Office will be paying $5,849.91 a month fort the first year, $6,025.41 a month for the next year and $6,266.42 a month for the final year of the contract. East Alabama Water Sewer and Fire Protection will pay $3,244.32 a month for the first year, $3,341,65 a month for the second year and $3,475.31 a month for the third year. Huguley Water, the Volunteer Fire and Rescue Association and the EMA will each pay $974.99 a month in FY 22, $1,004.24 a month in FY 23 and $1,044.41 a month for FY 24.