By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore City Council members approved during their Monday, June 10, meeting the purchase of a new tractor and cutter for the city’s Streets & Sanitation Department, the only item on the meeting agenda.
Mayor Pro Tem Shawn Lassiter presided over the session due to the absence of Mayor Jim Staff, and all five council members voted in favor of the resolution.
The John Deere machine will be purchased off the state bid list, from Atmore’s Smith Tractor Company, for $84,434.83.
P.E.I.R. review
Also during Monday’s meeting, the council heard from representatives of the Mobile office of P.E.I.R. (People Engaged in Recovery) that the organization plans to return to Atmore on Saturday, August 31, to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. (P.E.I.R. recovery specialists Amanda Gray and Beverly Brown were in Atmore for the recent Mental Health Awareness Walk and Resource Fair.)
According to the International Overdose Awareness Day website, the observance is held on August 31 each year. It is the world’s largest annual campaign to “end overdose, remember without stigma those who have died and acknowledge the grief of family and friends left behind.” This year’s theme is “Together we can.”
P.E.I.R. officials and other organizations dedicated to mental health are expected to set up informational booths at Atmore’s Boxcar Willie park. More information on the special day will be published later.
“We’re losing 190 people a day to fentanyl overdoses,” said Amanda Gray, a support specialist with P.E.I.R., during an address to the council. “It takes a community to save a community.”