Bonifay city council calls special session Thursday for fire station bond claim
Bonifay City Council heard from a resident of North Cotton Street in Monday night’s regular meeting regarding his concern over the property across the street that he has watched deteriorate over the years.
Bonifay resident Sidney Adams, who owns a home across from the treehouse and property that’s become one of the longest-looming problems for Bonifay code enforcement, was on the agenda to speak.
“I know you’ve all heard about the treehouse on Cotton Street. I’m not here about that; it’s the property that it sits on. There’s probably not a square inch of ground that you can see dirt,” Adams said. “It’s just trash on top of trash on top of trash. Now these kids have to live in that, and we’re not teaching them right. And it doesn’t do much for my property value.”
READ MORE: Code enforcement is at a standstill in Bonifay
During the public comment portion of the meeting, candidate Shirley Mitchell told the council that voters expressed a desire for the meetings to be live-streamed as she has been out campaigning for City Council Seat 4. Mayor Travis Cook said the city does not currently have the technology to live-stream but will look into it.
The council approved a request to close West Iowa Avenue on Wednesday, March 15 from 5 to 7 p.m. for TeamKid Hometown Hero Night for Veronica Peel Watkins. Watkins also said her family business of Peel Funeral Home is adding a crematory and wanted to ensure the location would meet city code.
In new business, the council approved expenditures for painting and restriping of Bonifay Police Department patrol vehicles and the removal of a hazardous tree in an alleyway off North Oklahoma Street.
The council approved a memorandum of agreement between the city and the fire department to solidify the way the fire chief and fire department administration are appointed and dismissed. The memorandum specifies that the department may select its own fire chief as it previously has, and this selection must be approved by the council.
With the Bonifay city election approaching March 28, the council appointed Bob Davis, Trey Barbee and Tracy Walker to form the canvassing board.
The council scheduled a special session for Thursday, March 16 at 5 p.m. to discuss the fire station bond claim. The claim stems from work performed by Holley Development Corp. for the expansion of the Bonifay Fire Station, which was designed and inspected by Dewberry Engineering. The city had hired an outside inspector to evaluate the quality of work.
Bonifay City Council’s next regular meeting for March 27 has been canceled and rescheduled for Tuesday, March 28 at 7 p.m. immediately following the close and count of the election votes. Winning candidates will be sworn in at that time.
