By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Clanton City Council approved hiring employees for the summer to work at the pool and to cut grass during a meeting on May 23.

The meeting was moved from May 27 because of Memorial Day.

Three of the summer hires were to work at the pool, which will be managed by the YMCA of Chilton County again this summer.

Councilman Bobby Cook asked if all of these were certified as life guards. Councilman Awlahjaday Agee said he thought two of them were and the third still needed to complete certification.

A request to hire a summer only worker for The Senior Center was denied. The person had worked at the center last summer.

“If they go all year long without him, why do they need him in the summertime?” Cook asked. “Do they feed more people in the summertime?”

The Council tabled purchasing a fire alarm system for $17,638. The system was considered for one of the buildings the city owns in Park Plaza. At its last meeting, the Council approved a lease with Restore Therapy for the building. An updated sprinkler system has been installed, but the business is requesting a fire alarm system. Councilman Sammy Wilson said the price was less than initially thought because Johnson Control, who would install the system, was on the state bid.

The Council had questions on whether such a system was required, whether monitoring would need to be added and recouping the cost.

Fire Chief David Driver expressed concerns about if an alarm system was chosen that was not monitored to notify the fire department.

Driver said there were a number of factors in the code that determined whether a fire alarm system was required.

A decision on granting an employee additional medical leave was also tabled, so that more information about the situation could be gathered. The employee has been on medical leave for four months and has a surgery planned for June.