By By Adam Prestridge
Sometimes it's appropriate to put the cart before the horse.
Monday afternoon the Atmore City Council did just that by unanimously approving a request for proposal for disaster debris removal even though hurricane season doesn't officially begin until June 1.
Following two horrific storm seasons where hurricanes Ivan and Dennis devastated Atmore and surrounding communities in Escambia County, the council felt it necessary to be prepared ahead of time in case another storm ravages the area.
"All of the small towns and even large towns that are in the area that has been victims of Ivan, Dennis, Katrina, Rita and other hurricanes have found that it is extremely important and necessary to have a contractor already contracted to respond should we be victim again of a devastating weather situation," Atmore Mayor Howard Shell said.
Shell said the Corp of Engineers has worked diligently with the city in putting together an approved plan, which has been sent out to 15 contractors that have requested copies of the proposal. The proposals are due back to the city at noon on May 8 from any contractors that wish to respond.
"The proposals will be reviewed on May 9-10 by an independent review team and the price of debris removal will not necessarily be the determining factor in the proposal," Shell said.
The review team will consist of a member of the Corp of Engineers, a member of an unbiased engineering firm that isn't used by the city and an addition member that hasn't been determined.
"They will review these proposals and make a recommendation to the council of who we should award the contract to," Shell said. "It is a very complicated procedure and that's the reason why we have some people that are very familiar with reviewing these types of contracts and will make a recommendation to us."
Prior to the council meeting, Shell called a public hearing to order for the second reading of Ordinances 02-2006 and 03-2006 pertaining to a Planned Unit Development for the city's property located at Interstate 65.
Ordinance 02-2006 authorized the council to adopt a Planned Unit Development ordinance for the property. Ordinance 03-2006 approved the adoption of the Planned Unit Development for the 650 acres of property acquired at the interstate.
"All of this was previously approved for one reading at the last meeting," Shell said.
No objections from the audience were made, so the public hearing was closed.
In other business, the council:
"As long as you're adding new equipment and new jobs, the doors to this council will always be open," Shell said. "And we thank you for your confidence in putting that equipment in Atmore and we certainly look forward to seeing you in the fall for an even nicer abatement."