Town council also looking at options on parking lot across street
At the January Flomaton Town Council meeting Nancy Cottrell asked the council to either sell her the old Jackson Theater downtown or donate it to her and allow her to turn it into some type of youth center to give children in Flomaton something to do. However, there is a problem.
During Monday night's town council meeting, Mayor Dewey Bondurant Jr., said by law the town can't sell the building below appraised value unless the council voted to deem it as surplus property.
Escambia County Bank gave the town the old theater building.
Councilman Roger Adkinson said he did not want to sell it and said the town made a mistake years ago by getting rid of the old train depot and he wanted no part of getting rid of another historic building in Flomaton.
However, Councilman Buster Crapps said he would be glad to get rid of it.
“I'll be glad to be part of it,” Crapps said. “Get rid of it.”
Crapps said if the historical society or any other group wanted to take it over that was fine.
Councilwoman Lillian Dean noted that the bank gave it to the town because the bank didn't want the building.
No action was taken on the theater.
Parking lot
In other business Monday, Mayor Bondurant said Hank Coleman had offered to sell the parking lot across from town hall for $50,000 and Bondurant proposed offering $25,000.
The parking lot in question is located between the old Coleman Drug Store and Dr. Gary Silbernagel's office on Ringold Street.
The mayor also said he's got somebody willing to pay for half the cost.
However, Councilwoman Dean said she thought the town had a spending freeze in place and now the town is talking about parking lots, paving and other projects.
“We voted to cut spending,” Councilman Crapps said. “Why should we vote for this and that and not back it up?”
Town attorney Chuck Johns said Coleman has threatened to fence in the parking lot if it's not sold. Johns also noted that the town has a right-of-way to the warehouse buildings behind the parking lot and if the matter went to court it would likely cost the town more money.
Councilman Jim Johnson suggested that Mayor Bondurant talk to Coleman before the council made any decision, to which the council agreed.
In other business the town:
- Decided to contact the Lions Club or Boy Scouts to take on a project to get address signs posted in front of homes and businesses in Flomaton.
Mayor Bondurant said he felt the council needed to make it mandatory to have proper addresses posted to aid first responders in finding houses.
Councilwoman Dean said the signs needed to be uniform and the council pass an ordinance to have to dictate where the signs will be placed.
Johns said he would first research town ordinances before the council took any action.
Hire mechanic?
Utilities Superintendent Shaun Moye said the town needed to study it more, but needed to look into the possibility of hiring a mechanic to work on town vehicles and equipment, noting the labor parts' prices the town is currently paying to privately-owned businesses.
He noted that the town pays higher for parts when the equipment is worked on at repair shops because of a mark up.
“We always have something in the shop,” Moye said.
He added that a lot of it is oil changes.
Mayor Bondurant suggested the town seek applicants for a mechanic and see how much it would cost the town.
Dean said the council needed to wait to see what it had in finances before making any decision.
