The City of Jemison finally has something to go by at Pine Hill Cemetery.

Surveyor Patrick Haggard delivered a drawing showing who is buried where and vacant plots that can be sold. Haggard said the map was drawn to scale to give a true representation of where the plots are.

Mayor Eddie Reed and the rest of the council members said they were pleased with the map. Reed plans to have a framed copy hung in City Hall for residents to see.

In the past, residents and former residents have called the city to see if they could have a relative buried in the cemetery, but city officials had to tell them that they didn’t know if there were vacant lots available.

Now, they know.

“It is a legal document we can go by,” Reed said at last night’s council meeting.

The Jemison City Council accepted the map, and it also directed Haggard to do the same thing at Holly Grove Cemetery. Both Pine Hill Cemetery and Holly Grove Cemetery are owned by the City of Jemison.

“I wish we were never in the cemetery business, but we are,” Reed said.

The council is also soliciting bids for seven-tenths of a mile of water lines in the Oak Grove community. Reed said this is one of the first steps for annexation.

The city has already begun garbage pick up in that area, as well as getting right of ways cleared to bring that area up to par with rest of the city.

The council also decided to enroll in a prescription discount car program that could benefit all residents of the city. The program is sponsored by the National League of Cities and CVS Caremark. It comes with no enrollment or membership fees to Jemison since the city is already a member of the league.

This was one of the things that Jemison leaders learned about on their trip to Washington last week. It was Reed’s fifth time to take the trip.

Reed said city officials met with Congressman Spencer Bachus and Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions. The meeting with Sessions was the first time Jemison has met with him personally. Bachus field representative Betty Bennett was also instrumental in making the trip successful.

During this trip, Jemison also learned that it will likely be able to keep the remainder of its almost $400,000 sidewalk grant even though the bids for the project was well under the grant amount.

“We’ll find ways to use this money to improve the city,” Reed said.

Before the trip, Reed said, “If you don’t go, you don’t know.” He has since added to that statement.

“If you don’t know, you don’t get the dough,” he said last night.

Reed announced that the emergency hire of Mark McMinn as a police investigator was made.

Jemison High School band director George Martin also asked the council for a donation of $1,500. No action was taken, but all council members expressed their support for donating the money if it’s available.

The city also entered into a contract with Service Master Quality Cleaning.