The Eutaw City Council, at their regular meeting on Tuesday, May 10, were unable to reach an agreement on a new police chief.
After a lenghthy executive session, Mayor Raymond Steele proposed Derrick Coleman, a sargeant with the Eutaw Police Department, as chief.. A motion was made and seconded, but the council could not agree.
Voting in favor of Coleman were Steele and Councilmembers Ralph Liverman and David Spencer.
Voting against Coleman were Councilmembers Shelia Smith, Joe Powell and Hattie Edwards.
This leaves Asst. Police Chief Luther Davis as the highest ranking officer in the department.
There has been no police chief in Eutaw since the unexpected death of Chief Tommy Summerville on December 9, 2010.
In other business, the council:
*Discussed the CDBG grant for the city water tank. Steele advised the council that ADECA had not received the expected amount of funding so the grant had been cut to $320,000. “This would make our matching amount $50,000,” said Steele.
“This is a $50,000 cut,” said Steele, “so we cannot do all we planned but we can repair the water tank,” he said.
On a vote of 4-1, with Smith voting no, the motion to apply for the grant passed.
*Unanimously approved a Municipal Water Pollution Prevention Resolution. This is something done on an annual basis and required no discussion,
*Discussed repairing the bridge on Springfield Avenue. “It needs attention,” said Spencer.
“It has been inspected by a bridge inspector,” replied Steele. No further action was taken.
*Approved payment of bills and claims, with Powell questioning the need for so much repair work on city work vehicles. “Our employees need to pay more attention to how they use this equipment,” he said.