Wadley council discusses disaster preparations

WADLEY – At Monday’s meeting of Wadley Town Council, Randolph County EMA director Donnie Knight and assistant director Jan Prescott addressed the council concerning two matters that concern not only the mayor and council but residents of the town.

The mayor and council had discussed in a prior meeting about a warning siren tone in the event of flooding from a breach at Harris Dam. Knight said a portion of the town is in a flood zone and could be in danger. He suggested, “We have four sirens in town that we test monthly for tornado warnings with a wailing sound. What we can do is change the sound and test dates, maybe, quarterly or whatever ya’ll want to do.”

Knight went on to say the evacuation routes from the flood zones would be Highway 77 North and Highway 22 East. The council and mayor will work with Knight and come up with a plan. The council had discussed several months ago about the possibility of a community storm shelter. Mayor Donna McKay stated Southern Union State Community College has a shelter, but it was built for students only, and the town can’t use it.

Knight said a community shelter would cost approximately$100,000. He explained, “Right now FEMA money is hard to come by and they are the ones that make the final decision on who gets the money.”

He said individuals can get FEMA money for private shelters with a 25-75 match, but the entire amount must be paid up front and then FEMA would reimburse the cost of 75 percent. He said the shelters could hold up to 15 people depending on the size and whether it was above or below ground. If individuals are interested, they need to contact the county EMA office and put their name on a list for when money becomes available. McKay said she would check for any grants that might be available for a community shelter.

Police report

Police Chief Tyler Murphy gave the council the police report for June. The department had72 calls, three citations and 35 warnings from 38 traffic stops, three warrants served for other agencies, six agency assists, five misdemeanor arrests, four felony arrests, two pending felony arrests and three pending misdemeanor arrests. The chief said his officers had been helping the City of Roanoke due to the shortage of officers in their department.

In a bit of bad news, the chief told the council he had received a bill in the amount of some $15,000 from Cleburne County Sheriff Dennis Green. The bill is to recover training at the police academy and salary for an officer who had left the Cleburne department and came to work in Wadley. Murphy told the council, “He never signed an agreement with them on his day of employment, but according to a state statute, an agency can request reimbursement for up to two years.” The chief said most departments require a new employee to sign an agreement that within two years if the officer leaves that department, the new department they go to work for has to reimburse the former department.

“It’s not the officer’s fault and he is a good officer and people like him. He told me he was in the clear, but I guess not. I am so sorry this has happened,” Murphy said. After some discussion by the mayor and council about paying the bill or terminating the officer, it was agreed the mayor and police chief would talk to the sheriff and the chairman of the commission to try and reach an agreement. If no agreement is reached, the council approved paying back the money with Councilmember Linda Briones voting no on paying the bill. The chief said it is hard enough to find good officers now and the town is already one short.

Other business

• Learned that an inspection of gas facilities by the Public Service Commission was held June 2 and 3. According to a letter from the commission, the system was found to be in satisfactory compliance with state and federal natural gas distribution safety rules in the areas evaluated.
• Announced a blood drive downtown on July 15 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., sponsored by Wadley Police Department.
• Approved a proclamation terminating an earlier proclamation pertaining to COVID-19 restrictions.
• Reminded the public of the farmers’ market downtown every Tuesday from 8 to 11 a.m.
• Approved a donation in the amount of $750 to the American Legion Post #53.
• Reminded everyone of the back-to-school sales tax holiday this weekend.
• Announced the next council meeting would be held Monday, Aug. 7, at 5 pm.