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By JOYANNA LOVE | Managing Editor  

The Clanton City Council approved changes to an ordinance outlining when special events requiring off-duty officers will be charged during its June 13 meeting. The update removes a date in May as a day when no one would be charged but keeps the dates of the Martin Luther King Jr, Peach Festival and Christmas parades as festival days that would be free. Anyone wanting to hold a parade or event needing extra police officer presence would have the fees waived on this day. The fee on non-festival days would be $35 per hour per officer.  

Also at the meeting, Chilton County Schools Superintendent Jason Griffin and LeCroy Career Technical Center director Dr. Shannon Walker thanked the council and Mayor Jeff Mims for its work in hosting a recent career fair. Mims said several students received job offers at the event.  

Having the event in the future as a twice annual event has been discussed. Mims said the industries that had participated were excited and would want to participate again.  

Clanton building inspector Gene Martin gave an update on the 25 condemned buildings the city had chosen to demolish through a grant. He said the project had been recently completed.  

Mims said this was something that the city had been working on even before he became mayor 19 months ago.  

He said there is additional funding available, if the city can get another list of abandoned houses that are a blight to neighborhoods.  

Later in the meeting, the council unanimously approved moving forward with an application for a line of credit and to negotiate the purchase of land. A specific land purchase would come back to the council for approval.  

Also during the meeting, the council approved declaring some items surplus, an easement agreement with Alabama Power for some power poles and a transformer near the Senior Center  as well as purchasing two vehicles. 

Council member Wade Watley abstained from the easement vote.  

City Hall will be closed on June 20 in observance of Juneteeth, which is June 19.