A new animal shelter is on the way in Demopolis.

The Demopolis City Council voted Nov. 20 to spend up to $150,000 to convert a building on Jefferson Street into a new animal shelter. Demopolis Mayor Woody Collins said the building is more than twice the size of the existing shelter near the city’s public works department. The new six-acre site is fenced and is more centrally located, Collins said.

Plans are to build solid walls between stalls so the dogs won’t see each other, which should lead to less stress and barking. He said the new facility will have about 15 stalls.

The building previously housed a box compacting operation, according to Collins.

The city council unanimously appointed Dr. Blaine Hathcock to a six-year term on the Tombigbee Healthcare Authority, the board that runs Whitfield Regional Hospital. Hathcock is director of the Demopolis campus of Wallace Community College Selma.

City Councilman Hugh Overmyer will serve with Councilman Charles Jones Jr. on a committee that is a liaison between the city council and the nine-member healthcare authority board.

The city council voted to proceed on a lease for a new ladder truck, which should be delivered in April or May. Financing will be arranged after the first of the year to see if interest rates go down. A new pumper truck will be delivered soon.  

Property off Jackson Street was rezoned from R3 to BLI 1, the city council voted. The property owner plans to connect the property to the city sewer system and lay several pads for recreational vehicles to accommodate construction workers who will be coming to the area to build the Alabama School of Healthcare Sciences and the Highway 43 expansion, according to Collins. 

The city council also granted Wallace Community College Selma a variance to place several signs on a new fence they have erected around their technical building. The sign ordinance only allows businesses to erect one sign.

Brad Fisher is Associate Publisher of the Black Belt News Network and Selma Sun. He can be reached at bfisher@kingfisher-media.com

If you want to write for the Black Belt News Network, send a resume or stories to news@blackbeltnewsnetwork.com.

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