By ALEC ETHEREDGE | Staff Writer

JEMISON – The Jemison City Council passed several important ordinances and approved the 2016-2017 fiscal budget at a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Sept. 19.

The first was an ordinance the council approved requiring all structures to have a key lock box installed for the Jemison Fire Department.

It calls for all of the following to have a lock box, which will give the fire department easy access in case of an emergency: any structure that is secured in a manner that restricts access during an emergency, multi-family residential structures that have restricted access to living units, governmental structures and nursing care facilities.

“This allows us to enter the building and take care of whatever problem is going on,” said Fire Chief John Dennis. “The good thing about it is that right now if we see smoke coming out of the building we will enter no matter what, which might mean us taking out windows or doors to enter. This key gives us access to the building 24/7 in case of emergencies, which will save businesses from having to pay around $2,000 for new doors or windows.”

The fire department will enforce the regulation starting six months from the Sept. 19 acceptance date. Anyone that fails to comply with the ordinance will receive a citation that requires a mandatory appearance in the municipal court and a minimum fine of $200.

“It’s a great safety thing for the businesses and the people that need to go make sure they are safe and secure,” said Jemison Mayor Eddie Reed. “It guarantees the department won’t be busting down doors and they can go in at a safe manner to make sure everything is ok.”

Another ordinance passed was to amend the zoning ordinance with regard to yard sales.

The ordinance states any person conducting a yard sale on any property other than his or her own shall produce explicit written permission from the property owner and must purchase a five $5 permit from the city clerk’s office.

It also prevents people from posting signs advertising the event prior to two days before, and no signs are allowed to be attached to a utility pole or posted in front of any street sign.

“This has been a concern to many of our citizens,” Reed said. “There are some irregularities to the regulations, which has led to a lot of calls and concern.”

In other business:

• The council approved a motion to adopt the city budget for fiscal year 2016-2017, in which the mayor said a budget of $3.6 million was approved and they expect a $148,000 surplus. “We are proud of the great surplus we expect to have with the new budget and hope for that number to grow even more with the eight new businesses we have coming to our city,” Reed said.
• An ordinance was approved to put in place the 2015 edition of the International Building and Fire Codes.
• Yolanda Boggs of United Way addressed the council about a program called “Making a Difference.”
• The Chilton County Humane Society addressed the council to ask for more funding to help with the amount of animals they are getting from Jemison.
• Paid the bills.