GARDEN CITY, Ala. – The Garden City Town Council continued its discussion on law enforcement for the town this week. At the previous council meeting, Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry spoke with the council about having a township deputy. This month, during its work session, the council said it was leaning toward a township deputy as opposed to a town police department, but no action was taken during the meeting.
Mayor Pro-Tempore Scott Arnold Scott Arnold noted in the work session, “Even if we did our own police department, all you’ll get is 40 hours a week, and our own police department would cost us a lot more than what the County is going to cost us.”
“I will say this for the sheriff, that I’ve seen more deputies around the past couple of months than I’ve seen in a while, and I know, you know, they got a lot of area to cover,” said Councilman Doug Pender.
Mayor Tim Eskew noted as well the potential costs with starting a police department, sharing, “Say we start at the very bottom. First thing we’re going to have to have is an automobile, OK, the County is furnishing that (for a township deputy), so that’s a plus on that.”
In the meeting, the council decided to get more information on the possibility of a township deputy and reach out to Gentry to set up a special meeting.
In new business, Eskew said, “One of the properties we talked about cleaning up we found out actually belongs to the State. What the State has told us is if we wanted to do a title service and find out when and how they got the property, that they might just turn it over to us.”
Eskew said he needed approval from the council in case the property is turned over to the Town. A motion was made and passed.
In other business, the council voted to make public works employee Tyler Legg full-time. Legg’s pay rate was increased from $11.33 to $12 an hour.
The Garden City Town Council meets on the third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. at Garden City Town Hall. The next regularly scheduled meeting is July 15.
Copyright 2019 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
