Albany City Council, meeting in the absence of Mayor Nicky Smith during the regular business portion of the meeting (the mayor had attended the funeral of a family member earlier in the afternoon), dealt with several water related issues, a couple which were originally tabled and brought back up for a vote prior to adjournment.

Council member Tonya Thrasher chaired the one-hour meeting in the absence of the mayor and the council first heard a presentation from Brett England with Premiere Toxicology of Russell Springs about doing the city employee random drug testing.

Premiere has a regional office in south Albany and England said a 12-panel test would cost $31 per employee. Recently, Clinton County Fiscal Court opted to go with the company to do county employee random testing.

With little discussion, a motion was made by councilman Leland Hicks to switch drug testing companies and go with Premiere Toxicology to do local employee random testing, with the motion passing unanimously.

Kenneth Delk with the Albany Water Department, updated the council on the water tank project in the Bald Rock area of Duvall Valley.

Delk noted the smaller tank has now been installed and is in operation, helping greatly with the water pressure to residents supplied by the local water system in that area. He noted the tank had been online for about two weeks. “The pressure is good and the residents have plenty of water,” he said.

Initially, on separate votes, the council voted to table both an application for funding for the Rowena water line extension project and contract extension to supply water to the Cumberland County Water District, opting to wait on those issues when the mayor could be present.

However, during a closed session held later in the meeting to discuss personnel, mayor Smith attended the meeting and following the closed session, in which no action was taken, and on the mayor’s urging, the council brought the two aforementioned issues off the table and voted on both measures.

The council voted unanimously to approve a resolution extending the sale of water to Cumberland County for an extra five year period. The original start date was November 4, 2003, and the resolution states, “That this contract shall extend a term of 45 years from the date of September 1, 2017, and thereafter may be renewed or extended for such term, or terms as may be agreed upon…”

The city sells approximately 40 to 50 thousand gallon of water per month to the Cumberland County Water District, with the current rate being about $2.10 per 1,000 gallon. The City of Albany water district makes about $13,000 annually in revenue from the sale of water to Cumberland County.

The council also proceeded to vote on authorizing the mayor to apply for funding through KIA, to implement the Rowena (water) line extension project. This will allow the city to extend water lines to the new Marina at Rowena, which recently received the final go ahead and will not only include a new marina on Lake Cumberland at the Clinton/Russell County line of Rowena, but will also house a restaurant once construction is complete.

The motion to approve the funding authorization passed by a 5-1 vote, with council members Thrasher, Hicks, Carl Ferguson, Frankie Stockton and Steve Lawson voting yes and councilman Tony Delk voting no.

The council also voted to keep the tax rates unchanged for the 2017-18 fiscal year. On a motion by councilman Delk, they voted to keep the tax rates at 18 cents per $100 assessed value on property taxes and 20 cents per $100 on tangible, motor vehicles and watercraft. The rates haven’t changed since sometime in the 1990s.

The tax rate was via ordinance and was the first reading, with second and final reading to be held in September.

Finally, for the third time, the council voted to re-advertise for bids to sell, as is, a 2001 Crown Vic, as for the second time, no bids were received on the vehicle. Sealed bids will be accepted and opened at next month’s meeting, which is scheduled for Tuesday, September 5 at 5 p.m. at city hall and is open to the public.