Priceville council approves dispatch contract, park repairs and multiple police training and equipment purchases; sets bid date for pickleball courts

At its Aug. 11 meeting, the Priceville Town Council approved several routine and programmatic expenditures including payment for dispatch services, repairs at Veterans Memorial Park, multiple police trainings and equipment purchases, and a resolution declaring a seized vehicle surplus.

The council voted to pay Morgan County Emergency Management Communication District $2,475.72 for dispatch services covering Oct. 2025 through Sept. 2026. The council then approved a $1,500 contract with Stonehenge Nursery to resand and seal paving stones at Veterans Memorial Park; the vendor estimated the work would preserve the stone surface for approximately five years.

Council members approved three police training requests and travel costs: certification training for Officer Corey Watson (class fee $1,250, hotel $1,878.94; total listed as $3,128.94), a K-9 training conference for Officer Lucas Farrell (class $295, hotel $430; total $725), and an economic crimes course for Officer Kirk Jones (training $695, hotel $667.74). The council also approved funding described in the meeting as $7,841 to purchase FirstNet Cradlepoint equipment (listed as nine units in the discussion) and related recurring charges; the motion included an authorizing payment to FirstNet.

The council passed Resolution 2025-22 to declare a seized 2012 Nissan Altima (VIN listed at the meeting) surplus and to authorize its disposition. The resolution notes proceeds would be deposited into the police seizure fund and used only for police-related items.

Under public works and planning items, the council approved a $10,000 engineering agreement to prepare a grant package to improve the intersection of Marco Drive and Highway 67; staff said the grant application must be submitted by Nov. 16. Council members also directed staff to advertise bid documents for new pickleball courts and additional event-center parking and set the bid-opening for the council's next meeting on Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m.

The council approved $3,200 to DEC Fire and Water Restoration for remediation of water-damaged gym areas. The council also approved a rental agreement with Sunbelt (described in discussion as approximately $5,030, with monthly charges noted) for temporary equipment or units used by the city.

Council members shared a police K-9 program update: in roughly one year the unit logged 162 deployments (an average of 3.1 per week), 136 positive alerts, 149 ‘‘seizure incidents’’ tied to K-9 activity and 59 arrests attributed directly to the K-9 deployments. The presentation listed recovered contraband totals including 12 ounces of marijuana, about 32.7 ounces of methamphetamine (described in the meeting as “roughly 2 pounds”), about 2 kilograms of cocaine, 19.5 grams of fentanyl, five items of heroin and 139 narcotic pills. The speaker clarified the counts reflect the K-9 officer’s reported seizures and do not include arrests or seizures subsequently made by partner agencies such as the DEA.

Votes on the listed items were recorded by roll call and were approved as presented. The council set the next meeting to open bids for the pickleball courts and parking on Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m.

The meeting opened with a prayer and ended with announcements about recent community events and an encouragement to vote in the upcoming election.