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By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Maplesville Town Council unanimously approved applying for a Community Development Block Grant to expand sewer service in the town during a meeting on June 10.

Councilman Richard Davis was absent.

The town will have an engineer and a grant writing company helping them develop the application.

Town Clerk Dawn Smitherman said the proposed area would likely be along Highway 22 toward Highway 82.

Smitherman said how far down the proposed project could go was yet to be determined.

Grant Management in Fairhope was accepted as the company to assist in writing the grant.

Smitherman said the company was the only one to submit a proposal after the town advertised for the opportunity. Stacey McKean of Grant Management attended the council meeting on June 10 and mentioned that the company was also working on a grant application for the Chilton County Commission, so they would be in the area.

Sentell Engineering of Tuscaloosa was approved as the engineer for the grant application. They will help to determine the scope of the project and how much it would cost.

Also during the meeting:

• The Council approved hiring Max Taverniti as a full-time officer to fill a vacancy created when the Assistant Chief became the School Resource Office for Maplesville High School. The vote was 3 to 1. Shelia Hall, Hal Harrison and Patty Crocker voted in favor. John Caudle voted against.
• The Council unanimously approved hiring Wayne Odon as a part-time police officer.
• The Council received an update that the Maplesville Police Department has received their body cameras.
• A review of the town’s Take Home Car Policy has begun. Smitherman was asked to review the policy, which was established in 2013 in response to Council members questions.
• The Council approved allowing Mayor W.C. Hayes to spend up to $1,000 to secure a needed attachment to the city’s street sweeper to allow it to be connected to the town’s tractor.
• A 25 cents per hour raise was approved for the office assistant to mark six months in the position.
• The Council approved an upgrade to the software on town’s computers to allow programs with financial and administrative data for the town to be accessed by more than one user at a time. This would allow the office assistant to help the clerk with these duties as needed. The upgrade is expected to cost $5,150. This will also replace a LogMeIn subscription that had been previously approved. The subscription had not yet been signed up for.
• City Hall will be closed to the public on July 5. The closing was approved by the council because a couple of employees had already received approval to be off, using personal vacation days.