Albany City Council held a brief regular meeting last Tuesday evening, July 3 at city hall with all council members present, along with city legal advisor Norb Sohm, and a light agenda of items.

The council first heard brief updates from Brooks Ferguson and Police Chief Ernest Guffey on the street and police departments, respectively. Albany Mayor Nicky Smith and the council thanked the city employees for their hard work and dedication.

The council then voted to close a portion of West Cumberland Street (east side of the courthouse) in front of Clinton Jeweler’s and Dyer Drug to allow for the second annual “All For Benny” fundraising dinner sponsored by the Clinton County Community Foundation, to be held on Saturday, September 15.

The council heard yet again another update on the ongoing water billing program changes from water department employees Pam Allred and Sarah McWhorter.

Allred discussed the replacement of meters and getting monthly billing back in uniform time and McWhorter noted the company doing the work was in the process of setting up a payment system for customers who wish to pay bills by credit or debit.

Both noted the process was slow and would take time to fully get implemented and working properly, but will hopefully be more efficient and beneficial to water and sewer customers.

The council then entered into a brief, approximate 10-minute closed session to discuss personnel but took no action upon returning to open session.

When back in open session, mayor Smith did briefly touch on the Rowena Marina water line project, noting bids for the project had been advertised and things were going along on schedule.

The brief 20-minute meeting was then adjourned.

The next regular meeting of Albany City Council is scheduled for Tuesday, August 7 at 5 p.m. at city hall and is open to the general public.