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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Jemison City Council unanimously approved creating a separate account for debt service for water and sewer projects during a meeting on April 15.

The motion came at the recommendation of credit rating organization Standard and Poor. Previously, funds to pay off debt for water and sewer projects were in a general fund account.

Since the city has a separate revenue stream for water and sewer services, S&P wanted the funds for debt service to be separate also.

In the past few years, the city has made upgrades to the sewer system to address issues and come in compliance with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. The city is now in good standing.

A bond was issued to complete some of these projects, and this debt is still being paid off.

The city is also in the process of applying for debt forgiveness of $600,000 borrowed to complete these compliance projects.

During the April 15 meeting, the Council also voted to pay the bills and make a $1,000 donation to Relay For Life.

Mayor Eddie Reed said this is something the city donates to on an annual basis.

“A lot of the citizens of our city are dealing with this (cancer),” Reed said.

Also during the meeting, a community member thanked Reed and the Council for getting a pipe clear that had been clogged. Fixing the issue required asking the Town of Thorsby for help to bring their jetter machine to clear the issue. The need for Jemison to have such a machine was discussed. Reed said it was on the long-term equipment list for the sewer department but funding was not available to purchase the equipment at this time.