Demopolis City Council takes action to grow both fire stations

Demopolis Fire Station No. 2 will have some room to grow.

The Demopolis City Council bought the lot next to the fire station for $40,000 at their March 5 meeting.

Meanwhile, the council gave the fire chief permission to hire an architect to oversee the construction of new living quarters and meeting rooms at Fire Station No. 1. A frame house attached to the station was pushed down recently to make way for a new structure.

The council plans to put in writing an agreement between the city of Demopolis and Whitfield Regional Hospital related to $1 million the city loaned to the hospital about 20 years ago.

Demopolis Mayor Woody Collins said that the city had been giving the hospital $100,000 a year from the city’s portion of a one-cent, countywide sales tax since the early 2000s. About five years ago, Collins said the city agreed to loan the hospital $1 million, and $100,000 from the sales tax was used to pay off the loan.

More from this section

Sinner sets up Fonseca clash, Zverev advances at Indian Wells

Anthropic vows court fight in Pentagon row

Trump to attend return of six US troops killed in Iran war

Collins said the plan has worked fine, but he said the council felt that the agreement should be made official in the form of a resolution so that future mayors and councils will understand the arrangement.

The resolution was tabled on March 5 because the council wanted to ensure that the loan was secured by hospital’s property.

Collins said about $600,000 is left on the loan.

The council voted to put a four-way stop at the intersection of Jackson Street and Walnut Avenue and tabled a motion to alter the signal at Pettus Street and Third Avenue.