By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore City Council members gave final approval to a five-year contract for private garbage pickup and disposal in the city during their Monday, June 24, meeting. They also extended a non-exclusive franchise for a company that already has constructed and maintained fiber optic transmission lines within the city and granted a franchise to a second company for the same service.
City Economic Planner Chris Walker told the council that Waste Pro, which in May was awarded a five-year bid of $505,612.80 per year for the exclusive right to collect and dispose of solid waste in the city, would begin distributing carts on July 1.
“During the week of July 1-6, Waste Pro will be delivering carts to each individual residence,” Walker said as Waste Pro’s Glenn Schweiger, Kristina Schweiger and Scott Jordan looked on. “Attached will be a box checked to tell you what day of the week your garbage pickup is going to be. [Waste Pro will collect only on Monday through Friday.] There will also be a set of exclusions on what can and can’t be put in the cart, where to put the cart, what time to put it out by, and other information.”
The city will collect garbage through Friday, July 5, with Waste Pro taking over on Monday, July 8. City trucks will still collect yard debris and similar items, following the same schedule as has been in force.
The council also approved the inclusion of a second fiber-optics provider to help extend the city’s lines, which currently run along Trammell Street to Alabama 21, as well as at Rivercane Industrial Park.
“You have two ordinances, both of which deal with fiber optic transmission lines in the city,” said City Attorney Larry Wettermark. “One is for Southern Light. Southern Light has had a franchise agreement since 2012 and has been on a month-to-month basis for the past many years. They have now combined with Uniti Fiber, a second company, and they will be dividing some of the lines within city, allowing each to expand within the city.”
Wettermark said both companies had been before the Alabama Public Service Commission and each had been granted a “certificate of public convenience and necessity,” which provides justification of the service, the coverage area involved and how the lines will affect residents.
Under a 5-year franchise agreement, which will be renewable on a month-to-month basis, the city will receive a 3-percent cut of the revenues each company receives for work done in the city.
In other action taken Monday, council members:
*Adopted a resolution authorizing an agreement with the State of Alabama, through the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT), for installation, maintenance and any necessary landscaping needs of 12 road signs that will direct motorists to hospitals, schools, etc. Codes Enforcement Officer Greg Vaughn said seven of the signs would be placed along Ala. 21, three would be placed along U.S. 31 and the other two would be placed along Jack Springs Road.
*Granted a request from Acapulco Mexican Restaurant to block off a portion of Presley Street and Church Street for a scheduled July 13 concert by Triston Harper, the 15-year-old McIntosh resident who finished among the top 5 on the recent edition of American Idol.
Restaurant representatives said they might have to change the date, so the matter was approved, pending provision of several matters, as was a request from Harper for a special event license for the concert.