INSIDE TODAY:
Weekend
OPINION, PAGE A4: SHOP LOCAL THIS HOLIDAY SEASON
The Outlook
Obituaries, page A2 Arrests, page A2 Opinion, page A4 Religion, page A6 Sports, page B1 Lighting the way for Alexander City & Lake Martin since 1892 Classifieds, page B3 United Way, page B6 November 18-19, 2017 Vol. 125, No. 230 www.alexcityoutlook.com
Council to talk budget, property sale
Reeltown takes on 75¢ Sulligent in Round 2
Missildine gets 10 years in prison, for now
TAX TALK
By MITCH SNEED Editor
Judge Ray Martin sentenced a mother who was convicted of chemical endangerment of a child resulting in death to 10 years in prison Friday, but left the door open for some alterations. After hearing from a tearful 33-year-old Bethany Brown Missildine, her mother and defense attorney Jason Jackson and District Attorney Jeremy Missildine Duerr, Martin admitted the difficulty he faced when confronted with a law with very specific, harsh sentencing guidelines and See MISSILDINE • Page A3
By MITCH SNEED Editor
The Alexander City City Council will face a meaty agenda Monday night, where it will consider passage of a new budget, rescinding an ordinance that has wages for city employees frozen and the sale of the former Chamber of Commerce building. After two productive work sessions, the council will consider approval of a Fiscal Year 2017/18 budget. The city has been operating on a continuation of last year’s budget since the Oct. 1 deadline passed. It will do so until a new budget can be put in place. The proposed budget includes expenditures of $55 million, which includes $48.9 million in operating funds and $6.1 million in capital projects. Conservative revenue estimates were listed at $53.7 million, meaning the city would use about $1.2 million in reserve funds if the budget is approved as proposed. As a part of the budget process, several city positions have been improperly listed or classified for an extended period. To make those changes, the council will have to rescind Resolution No. 16-22, which had municipal employee pay frozen until a study by Auburn University could be completed. The study appears to be dead in the water, so the city needs to make these adjustments now. The council will also vote to award a bid for the building and property located at the corner of Tallapoosa and Madison streets that served as the home of the Chamber for almost five decades. The council decided to open the property up for bids at its Oct. 16 meeting. The building, which is roughly 2,600 square feet, and the adjoining property which includes parking lots is valued at about $170,000. Jay Hare and Carol Lee submitted the only bid in the amount of $158,501. Hare said Friday that if the deal is complete, the building would serve as the new home of Allegiance See COUNCIL • Page A3
SPORTS, B1
State jobless rate falls to record low Tallapoosa County shows just 636 as unemployed Cliff Williams / The Outlook
“Vote No” to the property tax signs have started to show up in Tallapoosa County encouraging residents to vote against a 3-mil ad valorem tax for education. Eva Middlebrooks was on hand at Thursday’s Dadeville Kiwanis Club meeting to talk taxes with the group.
Middlebrooks discusses 3 mil property tax By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
Tallapoosa County Revenue Commissioner Eva Middlebrooks said many residents don’t have a clear understanding of recent changes in property tax assessments as well as the upcoming vote on a proposed property tax increase for those with property in the Tallapoosa County School District. Thursday Middlebrooks talked to the
Dadeville Kiwanis Club and tried to clear up some of the issues and misconceptions. “One of the big changes that was made in 2017 was the new manual the state put out,” she said. “Tallapoosa County was one of the first places the manual went into effect because the state thought this would be a good place to test it.” Middlebrooks explained how there were some property tax increases See TAXES • Page A3
STAFF REPORT TPI Staff
State labor statistics showed the lowest number of people in history classified as jobless in October, with just 77,358 people in Alabama unemployed. Those numbers made Alabama’s preliminary, seasonally adjusted October unemployment rate 3.6 percent, down from September’s previous record-tying rate of 3.8 percent, and well below October 2016’s rate of 6.1 percent. Tallapoosa County posted an unemployment rate lower than the state average. In October, Tallapoosa’s unemployment rate was just 3.4 percent. While See UNEMPLOYMENT • Page A3
Today’s
Keebler Park rain garden work begins
Weather
73 39
By DONALD CAMPBELL Staff Writer
High
Donald Campbell / The Outlook
Cimone Presley, Lindsey Dunn, Kassidi Higgs, Justin Meadows, Aidan McCullars, Seth Broome and Lance Chayka spread mulch out to prepare the Keebler Park rain garden for planting.
Eight students from Dadeville High School, representing the FFA, Key Club and Beta Club arrived at Keebler Park after school Thursday afternoon, joining local resident Dianna Porter and FFA Advisor Rollie Wright to help get the new rain garden ready for planting. Since bringing her initial thoughts before the Dadeville City Council during the July 25 council meeting, Porter has been coming up with plan after plan for how to transform the park into a beautiful space that could become a major showpiece for the city of Dadeville. Over the past month, these plans have begun to bear fruit, as instructors from the Edward Bell Career Tech Center in Camp Hill brought a See KEEBLER • Page A3
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