Alamo City Council begins application for ICE Grant

The Alamo City Council considered pursuing a grant offered by the federal Immigration Customs Enforcement for the Alamo Police Department during their monthly meeting on Sept. 21 in the Alamo City Hall.

The grant, made available through ICE and the Department of Justice, provides a $3 billion dollar fund to be divided between successful applicant law enforcement agencies. Under the grant, Alamo police officers would undergo ICE training and receive limited ICE authority, according to City Attorney Perry Avery.

“Those officers would remain city employees, and the city retains control of their regular police duties, but when exercising delegated immigration authority, they would be under the direction of ICE at that point for specific tasks that they may come in to do,” said Avery.

According to Alamo Police Chief Roy Adams, local police officers would be federally obligated to assist in local ICE operations regardless, so the grant would allow the city to receive funds from the process.

“If ICE comes in here with some warrants and stuff, we[‘re] going to do that anyway without the grant,” said Adams. “We’ve got to help them, so why not get paid to do it?”

The funds could be used to hire or rehire police personnel, fund training and maintaining and acquiring equipment. 

If the council opted to pursue the grant, they would enter into the third and final round of applications, as the first two rounds have already closed. The city would be required to produce “basically a proposal for what you’re going to do with these funds,” according to Avery.

“There’s a lot that would go into this,” said Avery.

According to Adams, the Wheeler County Sheriff’s Department is also pursuing funds and training from the grant.

Council Member Dondrea Geter offered a motion to apply for the grant, which passed unanimously.

During the meeting, Council Member Laura Brownley drew the names of four residents in a raffle, giving away security cameras to the winners. The camera giveaway serves as part of the city’s push for more cameras in the Alamo area, coinciding with the police department’s desire to install more Flock Security cameras.

In addition to raffling away the cameras, Brownley said the winners could receive Police Chief Adam’s assistance in installing the cameras at their homes.

“Any help for them helps me out too,” said Adams.

City Manager Jeffery Floyd presented the council with quotes for the purchase of a new pump for the city’s wastewater treatment facilities. These pumps remain submerged in what Floyd described as “sludge” around the clock.

The council had previously voted to have the pump rebuilt in July after a lightning strike damaged the unit. However, when the pump was removed by Southeastern Environmental employees, it was deemed unsalvageable.

Instead, Southeastern provided the city with “three different prices for three different pumps,” depending on the warranties added. The city also received quotes for rental pumps from a different company, though Floyd was not interested in those quotes.

The council selected a pump with a five year warranty for $22,897, which Floyd believed would last longer than five years. Council Member Steve Jones offered a motion to purchase the pump, which passed unanimously.

Floyd also presented a quote for the replacement of the scaling system on two city wells. The original system, which allows for level control in the wells, was installed in 2014 when a new well tank was built.

According to Floyd, the company which submitted the $22,480 quote, J.K. Duren, is “basically the only company in the state of Georgia that does this.”

“I’ve talked to six or seven cities in the local area, and J.K. Duren is the one that does them,” said Floyd.

Council Member Brownley offered a motion to purchase the new system, which passed unanimously.

Floyd confirmed the remodeling process for the old city hall would begin within the upcoming weeks, though could not provide a specific date from the contractors.

“As soon as I get a date, I’ll let everybody know,” said Floyd.

Upon the completion of the renovations, the council voted to use the building for a “test drive” of a new farmers market, following a motion from Council Member Brownley. The motion also included explorations of guidelines and other necessities needed to run a farmer’s market.

Council Member Patricia Woodard offered a motion to set the city’s official trunk-or-treat event on Oct. 29 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the local walking track, which passed unanimously. She also offered a motion to raise the spending limit for the mayor from $500 per year, which passed unanimously.

Council Member Geoffrey Villegas offered a motion to approve a revised contract with Alapha Animal Control Shelter, which passed unanimously.

Floyd also presented the council with a second quote for the city’s flower garden from Civil Irrigation for $16,321.47, alongside a previous quote from Paul’s Landscaping for $18,365. The project would involve the companies planting flowers and installing an irrigation system, with Floyd describing the offerings from both companies as “the same identical things.”

“It’s something we talked about, just trying to make the downtown area look better,” said Floyd. 

However, Floyd and the council expressed concerns with installing plants during the fall, instead deciding to wait and reapproach the bidding companies in the spring.

The council also approved a letter of support for a new nonprofit founded by Cameron Wooten to support local small businesses.