The effort to Keep Troy Beautiful added another tool to its efforts on Tuesday as the Troy City Council approved a new litter ordinance.
Keep Troy Beautiful put together the litter ordinance, which strengthens the current litter ordinance and makes it more applicable to trouble spots, according to council President John Witherington. The ordinance included provisions for timetables on cleanup, penalties assessed for violators and gives specific time periods for cleanup.
Mayor Jason Reeves said there is a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with enforcement personnel and municipal judge to prepare for enforcement of the litter ordinance. “Once you approve it, we will enforce it,” he told council members during a work session. Reeves praised the efforts of the Keep Troy Beautiful committee to help prepare the ordinance and to spearhead efforts to beautify the community.
Once the ordinance is published as a public notice it can begin to be enforced the following day.
“Several places in Troy have become an eyesore, and it’s time to clean Troy up,” District 2 representative Greg Meeks said. “Litter and debris affects neighbors and the whole community. It’s an ongoing problem.”
Council members also approved the bicycle safety ordinance, recommended by the Planning Commission to support efforts to develop bike paths throughout the city. The ordinance gives safety routes for users of bicycles, updated signage, approves the direction the route will be, and where bicycles can or cannot be. It includes instructions for right of way and passing of bicycles, including requirements for a minimum of three feet of space when a motor vehicle passes a bicycle.
Melissa Sanders, executive director of Keep Troy Beautiful, encouraged all users of the road to be aware of right of way, and modes of alternative transport such as biking.
In other business, the council:
• Approved a bid award of $67,616.57 for emergency repairs to the water well on Barron Road. The water flow went down on May 22, and the city has redirected service to many of its other wells to compensate.
• Approved a resolution to pay city retirees a one-time incentive, as outlined by the Alabama Legislature earlier this year. The incentive, which follows along the lines of the one-time incentive paid to state retirees, will apply to all employees who retired prior to Oct. 1, 2013. Retirees will receive either $2 per month of service or a one-time, $300 lump payment, whichever is greater. The cost to the city will between $66,460 and $71,000, depending on how payments are disbursed.
• Approved a resolution to adopt a safety manual for city employees.
• Approved a bid award by Sharp Communications for $20,983 to equip six new police vehicles with accessories, including brackets, gun racks, arm rests, cup holders and GPS interface equipment.
• Approved two resolutions authorizing re-application for $161,031 in funding assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation and ALDOT for the Pike Area Transit program, which provides transportation throughout the county. The funds will be used for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Reeves said the city administers the program, which is jointly funded by the Troy and Brundidge councils and the Pike County Commission. Troy’s contribution to the program will be $71,115; the county commission, $68,723; and Brundidge council, $12,075.
• Heard from District 5 Councilwoman Dejerilyn King Henderson, who presented the yard of the month award to Greater St. Paul Baptist Church.
• Heard reminders that the District 1 cleanup ends in June and the District 2 cleanup begins in July. Garbage pickup regularly scheduled for July 4 will be moved to July 3.