Left to right: Hanceville Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy Sawyer, Councilman Charles Wilson, Councilwoman Kim Brown, Councilwoman Sharon Porter and Councilman Justin Pruett. Porter was presented a plaque for her service. The plaque read, "Presented to Councilor Sharon Porter. May your flame continue to burn bright wherever you are. Thank you for your dedicated service, given with optimism, ingenuity, and a collaborative spirit." (Heather Mann for The Tribune)
HANCEVILLE – Since her election in 2016, Sharon Porter has faithfully and dutifully served her community as a member of the Hanceville City Council. Porter announced her resignation at the council’s June 28th meeting, and Thursday’s meeting was her last. Porter and her husband, Steven Porter, are relocating to Athens due to the latter’s job. To celebrate her service and loyalty to the City of Hanceville, her fellow council members presented her with a commemorative plaque and held a farewell reception following Thursday evening’s meeting.
Porter gave a short speech to her friends on the council at the reception.
"Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to be your person," she started. "I've loved it, loved this town. I will always love this town. I'm gonna always love these people, and of course I always think about Miss Joann (Walls). She's the one who got me started in all this, and I'm so thankful that she did."
Before finishing, Porter made one last request: "Y'all come see me, 'cause I'm coming back here to see y'all. If you're ever up my way, I’ve always got an extra place for you to stay, and there's always an extra seat at the table."
At the council meeting, an invoice received from Action Resources for demolition of an old house was discussed. The council said an invoice for such demolition is usually around $200, but this one was more than $5,000. The house in question had asbestos (a previously unknown issue), so a specialist team was called in to remove it. However, the City was not notified about the situation before the specialist was called and work completed. The topic was tabled until the next council meeting so that Mayor Kenneth Nail, who was out of town Thursday, can provide his input.
The council also discussed the installation of a small food pantry box. The council said a group came to the council asking for the City's help to build it, so the City set aside $250 for the cause. However, the group never got back to the council on finalizing the project, so Councilwoman Kim Brown suggested the council could hire City workers to build it at the library. Unfortunately, there were some concerns about ants and other insects getting into the box and ruining the food if nobody maintained it, so no motions were made.
Additional announcements:
- The annual Kids' Night Out festival will be on Friday, Aug. 3 from 6-9 p.m. in C.W. Day Park.
- The next regular council meeting will be Thursday, Aug. 9 at 6:30 p.m. with a work session at 6 p.m.
- There will be a public hearing on Thursday, Aug. 23 at 6 p.m. to discuss proposed Ordinance 621, dealing with abatements for demolishing old buildings.
- Hanceville Fire & Rescue will be hold a charity bike ride in September to help support a friend of the station, a Dallas-Selfville firefighter, who cares for his newborn as a widower. The station has been collecting donations for the newborn like clothes, diapers and vouchers for formula, but donations for infants (more than 2 months old) are also welcome.
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