Council approves medical cannabis dispensaries, honors city empoloyees

Clarion Top News

Thursday, 08 December 2022 10:36

Seven city employees were recognized with employee service awards at the last Scottsboro City Council regular meeting held on Monday, November 28, 2022. Among those were: Eric Prewett/5 years; Benny Dehart/5 years; James Cooper/5years; Chris McIllwain/15 years; Brian Eakin/20 years; Scottsboro Police Chief Ron Latimer/30 years; City Attorney Stephen Kennamer/30 years. Congratulations to all of you!

Council members also held a vote on whether or not to authorize the operation of medical cannabis dispensing sites within the corporate limits of the City of Scottsboro. Council voted unanimously to authorize this action for Scottsboro.

The ordinance is required of a city before dispensaries can legally operate. According to Kennamer, an estimated 200 cities in Alabama are currently considering or have adopted the ordinance under the Alabama law that states there will be less than 15 dispensaries throughout the entire state.

“This does not automatically ensure there will be a marijuana dispensary if this passes; this means there’s a possibility one will be here,” Kennamer stated.

The cleaning bid for the Rec-Com was also awarded to Jani-King out of Huntsville for $3,625 per month.

The City currently has a feeding agreement with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office wherein the City pays the JCSO $9 per day per inmate housed at the jail. This amount is billed to the city monthly. Council members voted to renew this agreement for 2023.

The frontage road extension proposals were also approved by Council. The extension will run from the old Western Sizzlin to Byron Road in front of Trinity Baptist . This comes in at $22,976.24 and will come out of the Capital Improvement fund.

A budget amendment was approved by Council to allow for an additional $10,000 to be budgeted into the already existing budget allowance for the resurfacing of the city’s tennis courts. These funds will come out of excess sales tax, with the entire amount coming in at $46,000 for the resurfacing.

Council members approved a request to proceed with a public hearing to rezone a chunk of property on Phillips Drive. The owner of the land wishes to rezone from R1 to R3, allowing the size of the lots to be much smaller, allowing more homes to be built on the property. The public hearing will be held on Monday, December 12th. If it moves to a vote for Council, that vote will take place at the regular meeting scheduled for January 9th.

by Martha Smith