The Fort Payne City Council voted in a specially called meeting Tuesday to lease DeSoto Golf Course to Darrell Shankles for three years with an option for him to potentially buy it for $225,000.
The city bought DeSoto Country Club in 2008 for $311,000 while Bill Jordan was mayor. At the time, the country club was nearly $300,000 in debt and faced foreclosure after missing payments, according to press reports. It seemed like a bargain since this was about a quarter of its tax-assessed value of $1.2 million.
Council President Walter Watson, who was on that council, argued Tuesday in favor of the lease agreement, saying it was âtime to say enough and cut our losses. We have one of our own who wants to see what he can do with it. We need to wipe our hands because we have other projects weâve got to complete.â
By a vote of 3-2, the Fort Payne City Council voted to pass a resolution supporting statewide legislation impacting appointments to the board of directors of the Fort Payne Improvement Authority. Council President Walter Watson also announced that the city council will resume in-person meetings on April 6 at 12:30 p.m. at City Hall.
During the live-streamed meeting, Watson said the previous council looked at having the law revised so members could be appointed to the FPIA board, similar to how they have served on other utility boards. The resolution approved this week requests the local legislative delegation introduce a local act to amend sections of the Code of Alabama pertaining to improvement authorities.
The Fort Payne City Council met Wednesday in a two hour and 15-minute Zoom work session to resolve some lingering issues that led them to postpone passing a new budget at their regular meeting the previous day.
Rather than the typical in-person meeting at City hall, both were livestreamed by FPTV due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. The council meeting can be viewed at https://player.lightcast.com/zMzM4UjM?fbclid=IwAR3sq6Ytofx3CBnYMB5vduExNh1W4XS MHYlCfFemZsLEaijGw8vdc8he I. The work session can be viewed at https://player.lightcast.com/zMDNyEDO.
Since the city is entering its fourth month without a new budget for the fiscal year, thereâs urgency to act quickly. Council President Walter Watson asked whether the Council could pass a budget Tuesday while continuing to work on two parts of it: proposed cost-of-living pay increases for city employees and appropriations. The Council also discussed possibly restructuring use of the DeKalb Theatre and the Coal & Iron Buildin
Once the season of holiday cheer ends, a stark reality awaits the City of Fort Payne. Look for serious belt-tightening to cut expenses. At a Dec. 16 work session, the city council reviewed the budget and discussed a variety of strategies for dealing with nearly a million dollar shortfall.
Mayor Brian Baine will elaborate on specific actions during a State of the City public address next month at the city auditorium.
Although no official action was taken at Wednesdayâs work session, the council could vote as early as Jan. 5th to redirect some bond money to pay for a fire truck and slightly raise the price of some city services like sewer and sanitation.