Mayor Robert Hight posed some questions about the Town of Thorsby’s handbook in regard to the policies surrounding drug and alcohol testing for its employees during a Council meeting on Aug. 7.

Hight proposed an ordinance to make drug testing a requirement during the pre-employment process and allow for department supervisors to test if suspicion exists following a work-related accident.

The current wording “for which no reasonable explanation exists” will be taken out of the handbook with the hopes of allowing the town and the department heads more say in the process.

The ordinance was approved unanimously with the understanding that it can be amended at a later time.

Public works superintendent Terry Jackson verified that the first truckload is ready to be delivered with 560 of the town’s new garbage cans. A second load will be delivered shortly after with 440 cans, which combined will take care of every citizen in Thorsby.

Each household will be issued one trashcan with the option existing that people or businesses can pay for extra cans.

Jackson also mentioned the continued struggle to keep up with the massive size of certain limb debris piles that people put out to be picked up.

According to Jackson, braches and pruning is one thing, but people are putting out oak trees and that presents a problem with the amount of manpower and equipment that the town has at its disposal.

Plans to chip seal a lot of the holes on the roads around town were also discussed.

According to Hight, the town should have enough money to cover the chip sealing through the gas tax.

In other news from the meeting, the Council:

• Approved the hiring of Taylon Simpson as a new employee with the fire department. He is slotted in to make $12.88 and hour.
• According to fire chief Lee Gunn, the Thorsby Fire Department is $65,000 under budget at this point in time with about a month to go. As a result, he wanted to look at hours and the possibility of adding on positions for next year.
• Approved a $425 full-page advertisement in a Peach Living Magazine commemorating the one year anniversary of the hospital.
• Approved a $200 full-page advertisement to go in the Thorsby High School yearbook.
• Approved a five-year contract with Cannon for a black and white copier at $220 a month.
• A work session is scheduled to follow the next Council meeting on Aug. 21.
• Approved the minutes from the July 17 Council meeting and the planning commission meeting on July 11.