Albany City Council held its monthly meeting last Tuesday, October 7 with all council members on hand for the half-hour meeting.

Albany Mayor Nicky Smith first told the council that a couple of areas in the city limits were in the process of being cleaned up and later referenced another area that is somewhat of an eyesore in east Albany may be turned over to the city attorney for possible future action.

There was nothing new under project updates but the mayor did say a couple of pieces of equipment had been ordered with one being installed already in the Bald Rock area, a location that has been experiencing low water pressure. Mayor Smith said the piece of equipment that has been installed has seemed to help with the pressure problems.

Albany Fire Chief Robert Roeper then addressed the council, thanking them for the accomplishments it had made without raising city taxes, including the addition of the new Albany Fire Station. The new facility is expected to be complete and ready for occupancy within the next couple of weeks.

Roeper also invited the council members to tour the almost completed facility, which the mayor and council members did after adjourning the business portion of the meeting.

Councilman James “Smitty” Smith also questioned Roeper as to whether or not the new station may help lower home owner insurance. However, the fire chief noted that would have to be done after an ISO re-evaluation but added about the only way rates could be reduced any lower is if the fire department were to become full-time or if the city had two or more stations.

The council also voted to close off the usual streets downtown for this weekend’s Foothills Festival and also voted to close off the usual streets on Halloween evening to allow people who wanted to pass out treats to youngsters at a central location to have an area to do so.

Halloween will also again be recognized as a memorial to the late Aleigha Duvall, a child who was killed in a pedestrian/traffic accident while trick-or-treating two years ago. Following that tragedy, the city, via ordinance, recognized that memorial observation.

Police Chief Ernest Guffey also announced that the trick-or-treat hours in the city on Halloween night would once again be between 5 and 8 p.m.

On a motion by Councilman Smith, the city adopted a policy on Body Worn Cameras used by the Albany Police Department. A separate article on the BWC, including the policy in its entirety, will be published in a future issue of the Clinton County News.

In September, Officer Ricky Marcum gave a brief demonstration on the BWCs to the council, which voted at that time to purchase a total of six of the cameras, which is worn on the person of an officer while they are on duty.

Councilwoman Tonya Thrasher then thanked those people who volunteered to help during the second annual downtown cleanup day that was held October 4 and Councilman Tony Delk asked everyone at the meeting to keep fellow council member Steve Lawson in their thoughts and prayers. Lawson, who was recently diagnosed with cancer, underwent surgery this past Monday, October 13 in Cookeville.

Prior to adjourning, the council held a five-minute closed session on personnel but took no action upon returning to open session.

Due to the next regular meeting falling on election day, the council voted to cancel that meeting and hold a special call meeting instead on Monday, November 10 at 5 p.m. at city hall. The meeting is open to the public.