Hicks says don’t let his size fool you. Page B1.
Man dies after heart event on lake, Jacksons Gap council member resigns. Page 10
VOTE FOR ALL OF YOUR FAVORITES FOR 2015 READERS’ CHOICE. SEE BALLOT ON PAGE A7.
THE RECORD
Serving the Dadeville & Lake Martin area since 1897
WWW.THEDADEVILLERECORD.COM
VOL. 118, NO. 33
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2015
Dadeville looks at beautification options By Cliff Williams Record Staff Writer
The Dadeville City Council is still trying to move ahead with the courthouse square renovation project for which it has received a $400,000 grant but wants the Tallapoosa County Commission to be involved also. “We have discussed at the last couple of council meetings,” Dadeville Council Member Randy Foster said. “It’s going to take both entities to make it happen.” Attending the meeting Tuesday night
were Tallapoosa County Commissioner Emma Jean Thweatt and County Administrator Blake Beck. “I think the commission will take it on soon,” Beck said. “These downtown projects do make towns look better. I cannot commit the commission to do it, but I think there is interest there. We (Thweatt and Beck) have met with the engineers on this. For us, you are talking a funding date of 2017-18. That is enough time for the commission to work with it. It gives us some time to make it
work budget wise.” Foster agreed. “Given two or three years, I think we could come up with the money in that time frame,” Foster said. The council heard from some of its department heads. Dadeville Fire Chief Keith Wilkerson asked permission to purchase five radios for new firemen in the department. The money was already in the department’s communication budget and the council agreed to allow the purchase. Wilkerson
Plans move ahead for new DHR building
also got permission to purchase two t-shirts for each of the 27 firemen the department has to have something to wear under turnout gear and the vests they wear on calls. Dadeville Police Chief David Barbour told the council about several complaints about the wait at the red light at the intersection of Highway 49 and Highway 280. Barbour explained that the sensor has most likely gone out and that the cost See COUNCIL, Page A3
Commissioners pay tribute to Linda Harris Longtime revenue commissioner celebrated for her service, attitude By Mitch Sneed
By Cliff Williams
Record Editor
Record Staff Writer
It looks like the Tallapoosa County Department of Human Resources is on its way to new building in Dadeville. The Dadeville City Council heard a request at Tuesday night’s meeting from Tallapoosa County Administrator Blake Beck for the city to allow DHR to use seven acres of City of Dadeville property behind Subway for a new building. “The county commission has been approached by DHR for additional space.” Beck said. “Our goal is to keep this facility in Dadeville. It is centrally located for everyone that uses it. They employ 38 people there. They get a lot of traffic.” At Monday’s meeting of the Tallapoosa County Commissioners, they seemed to be excited about the possibility. Dadeville Council Member Randy Foster said the council is very interested in helping out. “It has been discussed briefly,” Foster said. “I think everyone is on board with it. There is a process that we need to go through with the town attorney, but I don’t think it will be a See DHR, Page A5
Today’s
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Cliff Williams / The Record
Dadeville Elementary School art teacher Debra Griffth shows students how to move down the hall to her classroom Thursday, the first day of school.
BACK TO SCHOOL
Board talks opening day, enrollment, planning By Cliff Williams Record Staff Writer
The Tallapoosa County Schools had a successful opening last Thursday and now that students are settled in, the focus turns to the bigger picture and planning for the future. With the new 1-cent sales tax on the minds of all in Tallapoosa County, the Tallapoosa County Board of Education is working to bring a county commissioner into its Capital Improvement Plan Committee so that the commission is more
aware of what is going on at the schools. “I think it is only right and proper to invite one of the commissioners to sit on this committee since they passed the 1-cent sales tax,” Tallapoosa County Schools superintendent Joe Windle told the board at Monday’s meeting. “It will become an issue at some point in the future and I think it is an important part of what we want to do. I think it will head off questions the commission might have. The capital improvement committee is really See SCHOOLS, Page A3
Mitch Sneed / The Record
Revenue Commissioner Linda Harris thanked her staff and commissioners after being recognized Monday.
Grant makes new courthouse x-ray machine possible By Mitch Sneed Record Editor
Low
Lake Martin
Lake Levels
488.82 Reported on 8/12/15 @ 1 p.m.
Linda Shaffer, REALTOR® C: 256.794.4641 • W: 256.329.5253 shaffer@lakemartin.net 5295 Highway 280, Alexander City, AL
A long-time public servant was honored and an update was given on changes in fees for electrical inspections at Monday’s meeting of the Tallapoosa County Commissioners. The commissioners approved a proclamation honoring longtime Tallapoosa County Revenue CommissionerLinda Harris. She will complete her term at the end of September and the commissioners as well as members of her staff praised her for her dedication to the county. Probate Court Judge Leon Archer praised Harris for her “steady and calm” approach to the job. Commissioner Emma Jean Thweatt called Harris a See HARRIS, Page A5
Mitch Sneed / The Record
Jerome Braden, left, and Sam Harris, right, look on as Sheriff Jimmy Abbett, center, puts the new Tallapoosa County Courthouse x-ray machine through a check.
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Visitors to the Tallapoosa County Courthouse can enjoy a new level of security thanks to a Homeland Security grant that funded a new x-ray machine at the main entrance to the building. Tallapoosa County Sheriff Jimmy Abbett said that the $29,900 grant allowed them to replace an aging piece of equipment that they wouldn’t have been able to replace otherwise. “The previous machine had outlived its usefulness,” Abbett said. “I
mean our guys did the best they could with it, but this new machine gives a whole new level of detail that we just did not get with the other equipment.” The machine comes with a display screen that gives a vivid image of the items that are placed on the belt and run through the scanner. This is the first upgrade of equipment at the courthouse since it was mandated in 2006 that the Sheriff’s Department be responsible for security there. Abbett said that the See X-RAY, Page A5