Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Brewton City Council agreed to accept a grant for paving Monday but did so by a slim margin.
City Clerk Brooke Hartin explained that the city had been awarded a grant that would provide funding for a long-awaited paving project in the city.
“This grant would cover the cost of the project for Belleville Avenue,” Hartin told councilors Monday.
The area set for the project would include the section of Belleville Avenue from Rankin Street to the downtown area near Bank of Brewton.
Councilor Feast Broughton questioned the project saying an area in his district had been promised as the next project.
“I was told that after Provalus that Kirkland Road would be the next to be paved,” Broughton said.
Hartin explained the financial boundaries of the current grant would not cover the cost of the Kirkland Road paving.
“This is a smaller grant,” Hartin said. “The cost for the Kirkland Road project is more than this grant would cover. This grant was for a specific project that we have been asking for for the past four years. It would not be enough funding to cover the Kirkland paving project.”
Hartin said the Belleville Avenue paving grant was for $250,000 also indicating that the planned costs for paving in the Kirkland Road project would exceed $500,000. A grant request is in place for the Kirkland Road project, but not timeframe has been given on when or if that grant would be awarded to the city.
In the vote to accept the grant funding, Councilors Cheryl Barton, Carrie Brown and Mayor Yank Lovelace all voted yes. Councilor David Jennings abstained with Councilors Broughton and Joe Watson voting no.
In other business, the council:
• heard results from the annual financial audit from Rachel Young with Avizo who conducted the audit. Young said the city had done well with no findings or issues found in the audit. She explained the city had seen positive revenue growth with finances in place to cover expenses. “With inflation, the city is to be commended for managing revenues to cover espenes,” Young said. Young also reported that the city had seen a financial growth of approximately $700,000;
• approved the 2023 Brewton Mastor Plan updates;
• approved an amendment to the Land Use and Development Ordinance;
• approved a contract with Southern Engineering for the Rebuild Alabama Act Paving Project for Belleville Avenue;
• approved publication of a public hearing to consider the Mediacom Cable Television Franchise Agreement renewal with changes submitted for consideration.