Mayor Jim Staff promised during the Monday, December 11, meeting of the city’s governing body that an “open, town hall-type” meeting set for 4 p.m. Wednesday, December 13, would help alleviate at least some of the concerns over the future of Atmore’s idle recycling program.
“We’ve toured the Rolling Hills facility down at Beulah (Fla.), and they’ve got a nice recycling program,” said Staff. “The man from there is coming up, and he’s going to tell us the parameters. He’s going to tell us exactly what we’ve got to do. That should be very informative.”
The mayor indicated that negotiations with the commercial recycler have gone well and have given him confidence that the city’s recycling program, which was put in a state of suspension in late October, will soon be back in operation.
“That’s very good news for our recycling program,” he said. “It looks like it’s coming back … well, it is coming back. We’re trying to get it as soon as possible because the people in Atmore have really been concerned about that.”
He added that he “can’t say anything about” other particulars of the recycling plan.
Wednesday’s public meeting will take place in Atmore City Hall’s auditorium.
In other Monday business, council members:
* Approved a request to conduct the annual Martin Luther King Jr. parade. Sandra Gray announced that the parade will start at 10 a.m. on Monday, January 15; that this year’s parade route will be different than in the past, and that a memorial service will be held at an undisclosed local church after the parade.
* Reappointed Carol Crook, who chairs the local library board and has been a board member since 1992, to another four-year term that runs from January 1, 2018 through December 31, 2021. Geri L. Albritton, director of Escambia County Cooperative Library System’s board, wrote a glowing recommendation that such a move be made.
* Announced that Monday’s meeting would be the only council session in December, as the next scheduled meeting is on Christmas Day, and announced that city offices would be closed on Friday, December 22, and on Christmas Day. Regular business hours will resume on Tuesday, December 26.