Local celebrity Grayson Russell and radio personality Dollar Bill Lawson will lead Thorsby’s Christmas parade.

Mayor Dearl Hilyer made that announcement Monday during the town council meeting. The parade will be Saturday, Dec. 3, starting at 4 p.m.

Hilyer announced that two new businesses are coming to town in coming days. Dentist Michael Ford will open a practice in the old town hall building next to the fire station. Top Nail salon, which will be adjacent to Thorsby’s town hall, will also open in the next two weeks.

In other business, the town took the following actions:

•Approved a revised water fee schedule. The changes replace a $40 reconnect fee with a $50 non-payment fee for people who haven’t paid on their water bill in two months. The changes also do away with water deposit, instead going with a new connection charge for people joining town water. For more about the changes, see Wednesday’s paper.

•Following the town’s park and recreation committee’s recommendation, increased the number of people on that committee from nine to 13. Hilyer said the committee told him they had more people who wanted on the board. The change must still be made in the committee’s guidelines.

•Hilyer said FEMA sent the town a letter saying its application for assistance in building two storm shelters had been received. If approved, the shelters would be built at Susan Bentley Field and Sam Bentley Park.

•Hilyer announced work to replace a bridge culvert and approaches should begin in four to five weeks.

•The council voted to close Alabama Avenue to trucks. Instead, big rigs will be rerouted to U.S. 31 using County Road 29.