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At its regular meeting Tuesday night,  the Brundidge City Council voted to amend the city’s personnel policy to include June 19 (Juneteenth) as an annual holiday for full-time and regular part-time employees. The council also voted to reopen the Galloway Park Community Center and added a $25 rental fee for cleaning and spraying due to COVID-19.

Brundidge Station will not, at this time, be available for rent. COVID-19 restrictions and concerns are contributing factors.

The council heard from Anthony Siler, Smartech Management Solutions. Siler said the company’s mission is to promote innovative smart technology solutions that increase savings, produce clean energy and protect the environment.

Brundidge Mayor Isabell Boyd said of special interest to the city in the presentation was a way to monitor and curb traffic within the city using technology that is available.

In the mayor’s comments, Boyd said, from all indications, the re-opening of the Brundidge city park on Galloway Road is going as planned and area residents are appreciative of a place for the young people to come together for a time of play and fellowship.

Boyd said there has been a re-awakening in many areas of what might be considered a “normal’ way of life.

“And, it was time for us to open the park so the young people will have a place to play,” she said. “Things are going as we believed they would.”

Boyd also commented on the status of the city’s Community Development Block Grant demolition grant.

The $300,000-plus grant provides for the demolition of abandoned and/or dilapidated structures within the city.

“We’re moving along with demolition of the buildings and the removal of the debris,” the mayor said. “This project is already making a positive difference in our town. A lot of eyesores are gone and we are not done.”

The CDBG also includes the removal of the former Brundidge Foods manufacturing plant on Lee Street and along the railroad.

Boyd said the removal of the structure will make the property an ideal railroad location for a small industry.

“The demolition of the building will open the way for new industrial growth within the city,” she said.

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