Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Brundidge City Council met in regular session on Tuesday night and heard from Jane Ward, executive director of Sav-A-Life in Troy, regarding the need to locate a Sav-A-Life satellite office in Brundidge.

Ward said 75 of Sav-A-Life’s current 432 clients are from the Brundidge area, which includes Banks, Tennille, Tarentum and Clio.

“We would have more clients from these areas but transportation is often a problem for them,” Ward said. “An office in Brundidge would be closer to home for those in living in those more distant areas from Troy and would help close the gap.”

Ward said clients not served are opportunities missed to provide assistance to women and their families before, during and after an unplanned pregnancy.

The Sav-A-Life executive director said a location in Brundidge would require an area for meeting with clients and counseling, restroom facilities and phone capabilities. The office would be facilitated by a Sav-A-Life staff member and a volunteer. Sav-A-Life would provide the necessary equipment and office supplies. The office would be staffed by a Sav-A-Life staff member and a volunteer two days a week for four hours each day.

Brundidge Mayor Isabel Boyd said the council would discuss the benefit of having for a Sav-A-Life office in Brundidge.

The council considered selling surplus property, primarily surplus vehicles that are beyond repair. The council voted to sell the surplus property.

The council voted to approve the city’s FY2021 budget of $10 million which was amended in November.

Boyd said an appointment to the City of Brundidge Planning Commission was in order.

“The council has a place on the planning commission and I recommend Councilman Byron Gaynor to fill that place,” Boyd said. The council voted in favor of the mayor’s recommendation.

Brundidge City Manager Willie Wright said the city’s waterline replacement project in coming to a close. The project increased the size of waterlines including Ramage and Lee streets and will improve water serve to those areas.

Wright said the city’s upcoming demolition project will rid the city of designated buildings that are not up to code.

Brundidge Police Chief Marquez James gave the council a rundown of activity within his department during the closing weeks of January.

He said, due to the nature of the crime, the robbery at the Corner Store on Highway 231 South has been turned over to the Pike County Sheriff’s Department, which is better equipped to handle the on-going investigation.

James said a recent homicide at a trailer park on Highway 231 required the services of a Spanish translator and highlighted a potential need within the department.

James said the Brundidge Police Department has three vacancies with two pending hires.  James said there is no rush to hire.

“We want to get the best people for our community,” James said.

The Brundidge City Council meets at 6 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month at Brundidge City Hall. The meetings are open to the public.