Dothan Commission Meeting - Mayor And Commissioner Hire New City Manager

DOTHAN: This morning Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba and the 6 Dothan Commissioners came together for their regular scheduled meeting.

I tuned in late and in the middle of Dothan City Manager Mike West presentation to the Mayor and Commissioners. So my article does not contain all that he said.

Today was the official last meeting of Mike West as City Manager. The commissioners did hire Kevin Cowper as City Manager at a annual salary of $ 190,000.00 per year plus benefits.

Dothan City Manager Mike West gave the Mayor, Commissioners, and public a state of the city in his final address as Dothan’s Acting/City Manager.

West told Kevin Cowper who is expected to be appointed as Dothan’s new City Manager, he is coming into the City of Dothan which he will find is focused and committed. The elected officials take their jobs seriously and are focused.

West told Cowper that he will inherit hard working department heads and will be pleasantly surprised about what he finds in Dothan.

Mike West thanked all current elected officials, past and present Mayors and Commissioners he has served with for their support over the 14 years as City Manager.

Mike West thanked all current and past Department Heads he has had the pleasure of working with during these 14 years.

And Mike West said he thanks all present and past Dothan employees and the citizens of Dothan who welcomed him and supported him during his time in Dothan.

Approved appointment of Billy Mayes and Larry Williams as Acting City Manager of Dothan in April. No discussion and approved unanimously.

Appointed of Kevin Cowper as Dothan City Manager at a salary of $ 190,000.00. There was no discussion or questions or comments and was approved unanimously. ( About 10:38 AM ).

Mike West congratulated Brandy Deese for her win in the 500 meter cycle in the Olympics.

The Brookside Drive bridge project has been delayed and tentative starting date is the 15^th. West cautioned provided no other delays.

Audit of Dothan telecommunications billing including all non 911 circuit. The group will get 40% of what is saved. Commissioner John Ferguson asked would providers not do this and Rob Meredith of Dothan IT said persuasion would be required. The group will only get 40% of what they save. Ferguson aslked IT Director Jack Mason if there was a program for this in the future and Mason said yes.

Jack Mason said until a couple of years ago everything was done on the AS-400. Over the last couple of years they have moved to a windows based system. There are backups which are protected. But if a Hurricane Michael struck there was no back up. The telephone system is a window based system. Dothan has looked for a cloud based system. This system will allow Dothan to work out of a cloud situation in the vent of a disaster.

The meeting was called to order at 10 AM and adjourned after Administrative meeting at 10:53 AM.

Invocation: Pastor Lyle Peluso – Dothan Vineyard Church

Pledge of Allegiance: Commissioner Kenward

Roll Call: Saliba__Dorsey__Fleming__Kirkland__Ferguson__Kenward__Crutchfield__

Approval of Previous Minutes:

• Minutes of Meeting of March 5, 2019

Communications from Mayor and City Commissioners:

6. Communications from City Manager:

• Annual Report on the Financial Condition of the City.
Due to large volume of report, a copy is available for viewing in the City Clerk's Office or Finance Dept.

Communications from City Clerk:

Ord. No._________Rezoning property owned by Larry Crutchfield, located at 272 Fortner Street, from L-I (Light Industrial) District to B-2 (Highway Commercial) District.

Res. No._________Appointing Billy Mayes, Dothan Utilities Director, as Acting City Manager from April 1, 2019 through April 14, 2019 and Larry Williams, Jr., Dothan Fire Chief, as Acting City Manager from April 15, 2019 through April 28, 2019.

10.

Res. No._________Entering into an agreement with Kevin Cowper for employment as City Manager to become effective April 29, 2019 at an annual salary of $190,000.00.

11.

Res. No._________Amending Resolution 2011-207, an agreement with CDG Engineers and Associates, Inc., for the design of additional roadway lanes on Denton Road, to include additional engineering services required for the traffic signal foundation evaluation, including an updated Materials Report required by the Alabama Department of Transportation, for a not to exceed fee of $35,385.00, and appropriating funds for said services.

12.

Res. No._________Entering into agreement with Repower South Montgomery, LLC for the tipping of its single stream recyclable materials (approximately 175 tons per month) for up to $40 per ton.

13.

Res. No._________Awarding the bid, entering into a contract, and issuing a Notice to Proceed to Blankenship Contracting, Inc. for Project No. RPF-NHF-HPPF-0210(501)(Phase 2), Additional Lanes on Ross Clark Circle (SR-210) from South of US-84 to North Cherokee Avenue, on SR-53 (US-231) from Girard Avenue to Buyers Drive and on SR-12 (US-84) from Bel Aire Drive to North Englewood Avenue in the amount of $4,481,507.00, and appropriating funds for said project.

14.

Res. No._________Entering into a contract with Barge Design Solutions, Inc. for Engineering Services for the Integration of Water Production into Cityworks and other related documents for the sum of $79,870.00.

15.

Res. No._________Entering into a contract with Barge Design Solutions, Inc. for a professional engineering service scope for the Omussee WWTP O&M Manual, for the sum of $35,000.00.

16.

Res. No._________Entering into an agreement with CARFAX to share crash data with them in order to improve the investigation of vehicle related crimes, at no cost to the City.

17.

Res. No._________Approving payment of invoices for the month of February, 2019 in the amount of $14,336,063.34.

18.

Res. No._________Awarding bids and approving other purchases over $15,000.00 by the City.

19.

Res. No._________Approving advance travel requests for City employees.

20.

Adjournment.