Troy Fire Chief Thomas Outlaw has announced his retirement effective March 1, 2016.

Troy Mayor Jason Reeves announced Tuesday during the regularly scheduled City Council meeting that he had received a message from Outlaw stating his intent to retire in early March of next year.

“I can say, and I know all of us can say, that the fire department has improved under your leadership,” Reeves said to Outlaw during the meeting. “I think you do a tremendous job … We are very grateful for your service and look forward to working with you over the next several months.”

Outlaw was also praised by other members of the council for his years of service to the City of Troy.

In other items of business, the council helped the E911 get one step closer to having the Computer Aided Dispatch, CAD, service up and running within the next month.

Council members approved a bid for mobile data routers, which will allow officers, fire fighters and dispatchers to receive real-time updates in the CAD systems and mobile units.

“This will connect police cars and fire trucks out in the field into our service and dispatch that way the CAD system and the mobile CAD system can all communicate,” said Chris Dozier, E911 Director. “It’s using Verizon service … This will allow our officers to have real-time data in their cars.”

The council awarded a bid of $60,794.50 to Pinnacle Networks for the Cradlepoints system. Dozier said E911 workers along with City of Troy IT department members had tested out the model unit and found it meet all bid specifications adequately and did not require the purchasing of anymore software or upgrades by the departments.

“We actually set it up and had one running just to make sure everything was working OK,” Dozier said.

The council also had the first reading of a 772 Notice from CGI. Reeves said the expansion of CGI would create 100s of new jobs for the Troy and Pike County communities.

“This will create basically the equivalent of 114 new full-time positions and allow for 10,000 square feet to be added to CGI. They had other areas that they could or can move this work to, so we are very hopeful that they will locate it all here. It is the same vein of the original agreement that we had with them. We will not be giving them cash, we will only reimburse them on a portion of their expenses.”

Reeves said the company would be encouraged to hire local Pike County residents and could receive up to $1,000 for any individuals hired in the 36079, 36080 or 36081 ZIP codes.

George Tarbox, director of operations at CGI, said that the company was already well underway in the expansion of the CGI program here in Troy.

“We are expanding our health insurance sector,” Tarbox said. “This will bring a peak head count of upwards of 225 people and the average head count of a 12-month period is 115 new employees.”

Tarbox reported to council members that the company would take possession the additional 10,000 square foot facility, located in University Park, within the next two weeks, and more than 80 employees had already begun their training to start working in the new facility.

“We are looking at capital investments of $250,000 just for the generator used at the facility plus computers, desks and everything else you would need to build up for this project,” Tarbox said.

The go live date for the facility is officially Oct. 5, and Tarbox reported the company will start 160 people working in that facility and would increase that number up to 225 by January 2016.

Council members also heard from Vicki Pritchett, director of the Johnson Center for the Arts, who thanked Reeves for his attendance and participation in the State of Alabama Arts Leadership meeting, which took place last Wednesday through Friday. Pritchett said that Reeves was one of three mayors on a panel and spoke about the revitalization of the downtown area through the arts.

Pritchett also spoke to council members encouraging them to be sure every family from Pike County had someone come through the Johnson Center.

While the issue of an abandoned well located on Tate Street has been rectified, Troy City Council members discussed the possibility of having an ordinance put in place should one be needed to deal with issues of public nuisances.

Councilwoman Dejerilyn Henderson suggested during the work session that council members consider getting an Attorney General opinion to allow for such an ordinance to be written.

“I don’t see this being the end of it, but I don’t know,” Henderson said. “In case this comes up at any time in the future, I think we should have something established.”

Reeves said he would do more research on the issue and determine if an AG opinion needed to be sought in the matter.