Athens City Council approves consent calendar, sales‑tax holiday exemption, tax vendor renewal and grants

The Athens City Council on Sept. 8 approved its consent calendar and several separate items including equipment purchases for the electric department, a fiber contract, renewal of a tax revenue enhancement agreement, a sales‑tax holiday ordinance, and grant applications for road and sewer work.

On the consent calendar the council approved: travel expenses for electric department personnel totaling $183.08; purchase of a Canon image scanner/plotter from LIOCE Group (Huntsville) for $14,301.59 funded from the electric department FY26 capital expense budget; purchase of an Altec AT41M 4x4 with Ford F600 cab and chassis from Global Railroad/Altec vendor for $198,466 (transcript figures vary on formatting); and purchase of a 14‑foot low profile dump trailer from Big Tex Trailer World for $10,337.50 funded from the electric department FY26 capital expense budget. The consent calendar passed on roll call 5‑0.

Council also approved a resolution authorizing the electric department manager to award the Highway 99 fiber project contract to Delta Services LLC in the amount of $198,605, with associated costs charged to the electric department FY26 capital expense fund; that measure passed 5‑0.

The council authorized renewal of the city’s tax revenue enhancement agreement with Avenue Insights and Analytics LLC (formerly RDS) for three years to provide administration, remittance processing, compliance and reporting services, with the agreement effective 09/01/2025; the vote was 5‑0.

The council passed an ordinance to exempt certain covered items from municipal sales and use tax during the last weekend of February 2026 as authorized by Act 2012‑256 (the state severe weather preparedness sales tax holiday). After a motion to suspend the rules, the ordinance passed on roll call 5‑0.

The council approved reimbursement to Councilman Chris Seibert in the amount of $3,250 for tuition to Leadership Alabama (class XXXV). On the roll call for that reimbursement, Seibert abstained; the motion passed with four yeas and one abstention.

The council also voted to approve amendments to the Grove at South Jefferson master development plan and to allow the mayor to submit grant applications to the State of Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs requesting Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds of $300,000 and ARC funds of $300,000 for sewer and road improvements (project at M Street and Lucas Ferry Road). The city will provide a local cash match that the meeting record lists as $288,867.80 in the resolution text; earlier work‑session language listed $288,806.07. Council approved the grant application resolution by roll call 5‑0.

Votes were recorded on roll call for each item; most passed unanimously. Where the transcript recorded an abstention it is noted above.

Votes at a glance: - Consent calendar (multiple purchases): approved 5‑0. - Ordinance exempting certain items from municipal sales and use tax (Feb. 2026 weekend; Act 2012‑256): approved 5‑0. - Delta Services LLC — Highway 99 fiber contract ($198,605): approved 5‑0. - Avenue Insights & Analytics LLC renewal (three years): approved 5‑0. - Reimbursement to Councilman Chris Seibert ($3,250): approved 4‑yeas, 1‑abstention (Seibert). - Grove at South Jefferson master development plan amendment: approved 5‑0. - CDBG and ARC grant applications ($300,000 each) with local match (~$288,867.80): approved 5‑0.

The meeting record shows roll‑call tallies on each vote and identifies council members on each roll; the official ordinance/resolution texts and vendor contracts for procurement items are the authoritative records for precise contract numbers and funding line items.