Colbert becomes fourth city to pledge funds to animal shelter

Hull, Comer, Danielsville and now Colbert have all sent money to the non-profit, two-county shelter, which is struggling financially.

“We do use them a lot,” Colbert Mayor Chris Peck said, “with “(Animal control officer) Jack (Huff) picking animals.”

All cities donating thus far have given $500, except Danielsville. It gave $1,000.

Hull started the trend in December when it pledged $500 to the shelter after hearing of the facility’s financial crisis, then urged the rest of the cities in the county to do the same.

INTERSECTION TO BECOME FOUR-WAY STOP

All traffic will soon have to halt at the intersection of South Fifth Street and Fifth Avenue in Colbert.

The city council voted Monday to make that junction a four-way stop due to “a couple of fender-benders there over the years,” Peck said.

The city will add a stop sign to Fifth Street to stop the traffic traveling north and south.

“People going north and south tend to be running faster than those going east and west,” Peck said.

Council members agreed.

“I’ve had some close misses (there),” councilwoman Evelyn Patton Power said.

Councilman Tim Wyatt also said the crossing was dangerous.

“I’ve seen several close calls there,” he said.

Councilman Bert Robinson noted that another stop sign would fit well at that intersection.

“It feels natural to stop there,” he said.

In other business during Colbert’s March 1 meeting, Peck asked the city council to advocate the 2010 Census effort to its constituency given the funding dollars that are at stake.

The more citizens counted, the more dollars it could mean for Colbert.

“We need to explain to them that this information is going to stay within the Census Bureau and they need to be accurate because that drives tax dollars back to, not only our region, but to our county and our cities,” Peck said.

Colbert City Hall will even be used as a census site for worker to answer questions.

Peck stressed that this is an important process.


“It’s got ramifications for the next 10 years for what we get,” Peck said.

The city will include census information in its March newsletter.

In separate matters, the council learned that it all city files have been automatically backed up on a remote server.

“If anything were to happen up here at night and the place was to catch on fire or something, we’ve got a way to go back and get that information,” Peck said.
The city also heard that attorney Dale Perry has applied for Colbert’s E-verify number. E-verify is an Internet system that allows an employer to determine the eligibility of employees to work in the United States.

Also, Colbert has yet to receive word on its written request to the Madison County Board of Education for the deed to the old Colbert school.

Towards the end of Monday’s meeting, current city advisor and former mayor John Waggoner praised the work of his successor, Peck, who took over in January. Waggoner was Colbert’s mayor for 40 years.

“We’re fortunate to have Chris, and he’s doing a good job,” Waggoner said.