By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Clanton City Council approved $3,000 for the Clanton Intermediate School house program during a meeting on Aug. 14.

The motion was approved 4 to 1. Council members Awlahjaday Agee, Bobby Cook, Mary Mell Smith and Jeffery Price voted in favor. Council member Sammy Wilson voted against.

Wilson said he would like to see what the budget was with a plan for how to fund the request before approval was given.

“We need a new budget worked up to be sure we’ve got the money,” Wilson said.

The Council made the vote contingent on discussing the plan with the Board of Education. The Council would give the funds to the BOE, which would then earmark it for the CIS house program.

CIS Principal Louise Pitts thanked the council for supporting the program.

“We think it will be the answer for a lot of the issues for our kids at school,” Pitts said. “They feel like they belong and that someone cares for them in a house, kind of like a family.”

Pitts said this one-time funding will give the school time to raise funds and possibly use Title 1 funding for next year’s program.

“If we can’t come up with $3,000 for one year, then we are either bankrupt, or we are not putting our focus on it,” Price said.

He said there might be a project the city could put off in order to make this a priority.

Pitts had previously asked the council for $5,000. A vote had been delayed, so the council members could get more information about the budget. A new fiscal year begins in October. Budget information was not presented at the Aug. 14 meeting.

The audience was an array of colors as the CIS faculty sported their T-shirts for the house program.

Through the program, faculty and students will be sorted into six houses each with its own color, flag and T-shirts. Hometown Printing has made a donation to the program for the flags, Pitts said.  The school had some money to get the house leaders (faculty members) shirts, but not enough for all the students.

The houses include Altruismo (Portuguese for giver), Amistad (Spanish for friendship), Isibindi (Zulu for courage), Onesta (Italian for honesty), Reveur (French for dreamer) and Uzwela (Swahili for compassion).

Funds were also approved for a road project near Lomax. Mayor Billy Joe Driver said the estimated cost for the project was $470,000.

“Our part is going to be $300,000,” Driver said. “I have a little bit left over on a grant. We have to approve this to be paid because we have not completed the other grant we had.”

Driver said not using all of the grant funds could jeopardize other opportunities.

Moving forward with a grant application was approved for the Chilton County 150th Celebration committee. Committee co-chair Billy Singleton said the committee qualified for a $2,500 Alabama 200 grant based on a motion from the Chilton County Commission, but having a motion by the City Council would qualify the group for another $2,500.

“There is no match to it,” Singleton said. “It is strictly a grant. If we don’t do it, it is going to go somewhere. I would rather it come here.”

A number of celebratory events are planned for the week of Oct. 20 – 27.

Also during the meeting, the Council approved:

— Paying bills.

— Waiving the fee for Kiwanis Club to use the park for the fair.

— Having employees work to renovate a building in the city-owned Park Plaza to make it suitable for renting.