By Lee Weyhrich
CLAY — The Clay City Council on Monday voted to allow Mayor Charles Webster to sign a memorandum of understanding and a mutual aid agreement with the county that would put that equipment to use.
Clay is the only city in Jefferson County that will be allowed to use the equipment at this time. Due to financial difficulties, Jefferson County has had to leave much of its mowing and highway maintenance equipment in storage.
Clay City Hall
photo by Gary Lloyd
The county is in charge of mowing and maintaining the sides of the roads and highways, but for more than a year Clay and other municipalities have had to do it themselves.
“In effect it will keep us from having to purchase equipment, when Jefferson County has it sitting because they do not have the people to run it,” Clay City Manager Ronnie Dixon said.
The agreement would allow Clay employees to use the ditch maintenance equipment, as well as the swing-arm mowers on all county roads that would normally be maintained by the county.
“We will furnish the labor, and they will furnish the equipment, which is kind of the opposite of what we are doing on Old Springville Road, where we’re furnishing the material and they’re furnishing the labor,” Dixon said.
The city already has sprayer equipment to kill weeds and growth in areas where the equipment will not reach.
“We would be the only city that’s ever happened with,” Dixon said. “Their former county engineer was totally against it so (County Manager) Tony (Petelos) and I sat down and hammered it out last week.”
The Jefferson County Commission will vote Wednesday regarding the measure.
