SPRINGVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) -- The Springville City Council ended its meeting abruptly Monday night, Feb. 17, without tending to any new business from the published agenda. Including the pre-meeting work session, the council met for more than two hours and twenty minutes without moving past the first agenda item. The meeting can be viewed on the Springville Facebook page and on The Tribune’s website.
According to Terry Schrimscher of the Trussville Tribune, like many other cities in the area, the council voted recently to establish salaries for the next administration. During its Jan. 22 meeting the salary for the mayor was set at $30,800 per year. The position of mayor pro tempore was approved for $715 per month and council members will receive $660 per month beginning with the next administration.
On Monday, Mayor Dave Thomas reintroduced the discussion, saying the pay increases—the first in eight years—do not compensate for inflation during that period of time. He presented the council with proposed increases raising the mayor to $45,000 per year and the council to $1000 per month.
“If we want to keep things as they are, or as they have been, we at the very least need to adjust for inflation so that we are comparing apples to apples and dollar to dollars,” Thomas said. “If we fail to do that and stick with this simple 10% adjustment, it is a net decrease for every position here and that is not fair to the next council, the next administration.”
Dean Goforth, who serves as chairman of the city’s budget committee, approached the podium to speak on the issue.
“That’s $129,000. So, that is less than 1% [of the budget] and I’m using $10 million as your business,” Goforth explained. “At the end of the day, you are stressing about something that is very minute in your budget.”
“For the last five years, you’ve come in with a budget surplus of between $800,000 and $1 million,” he continued. Goforth projected the city’s future budgets to reach $15 million to $20 million as growth trends continue. “You’ve got the money to do it,” he added.
Thomas pointed out the council increased pay 46% in 2016 and argued that simply raising to match inflation now would amount to a 31% increase, far lower than previous increases.
After members of the council continued to object, Thomas asked everyone to raise their hand for recognition instead of speaking out at will. No motion was brought forward on the proposal and the council did not proceed to the next item on the agenda before Katrina Hennings, who serves as Mayor pro tempore, called to adjourn the meeting seconded by council member Sherry Reaves.
As the council members began to leave the room, Thomas asked for a roll call to establish quorum before calling the meeting to a close due to lack of any other members being present.
After the meeting, Thomas told The Tribune “It’s disappointing to see some council members who understood, but chose to refrain from speaking.” He said all of the agenda items would carry forward to the next meeting agenda. “We’ve got to do better, Springville.”
In the work session prior to the meeting, Police Chief Wayne Walton asked the council to approve not hiring for an open position and spreading the projected salary across his department to give officers a 5% raise. Walton explained many of his officers are being recruited by other cities.
That possible pay increase for Springville police officers will be delayed to March 3 unless a special meeting is called. Also moving to the next agenda will be a discussion to award a bid for an electric truck, HVAC and insulation for Fire Station 1, computers and a server for the police department, and an EMS contract.
Barring a special called meeting, the next meeting of the Springville City Council will be held at 6 p.m. on March 3 with a work session at 5:30 p.m. prior to the meeting.