By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
During the Monday, October 25, meeting of the Atmore City Council, members approved the purchase of a brush truck for the fire department, authorized the next step in ridding several properties of grass and weed nuisances and approved a slight amendment to the land swap agreement for the community’s new hospital.
The new fire-suppression vehicle will be used for fighting brush fires and wildfires. It was purchased off the state bid list for $138,995.
Codes Enforcement Officer Greg Vaughn reported that of 27 properties initially listed in September as nuisances because of unencumbered grass and weed growth, only eight property owners had taken care of the problem.
“We sent notices, ran it in the newspapers and put signs in the yards,” Vaughn told the council. “Of those 27 properties, 19 have not been addressed by the owners. We are seeking your permission to go onto those properties and address the nuisances.”
The measure gained unanimous approval.
In the meeting’s final agenda item, the land swap with Escambia County Healthcare Authority was amended to rectify an error made in the original survey.
“When they did the original survey, they missed the property stob,” explained Mayor Jim Staff. “It’s .11 acres that runs from seven feet wide on the north, to nothing on the south end. It should have been caught long ago but is just now being caught. This puts (the hospital property) back against the state right-of-way, where it needs to be.”
Staff announced that construction financing of the hospital is to be completed this Wednesday, October 27.