Tuscumbia Council OKs new July 4th water parade

The Tuscumbia City Council voted unanimously to host a water parade on the Fourth of July during its meeting on June 15.

The idea originated with Council member Len Gregory, who said he has seen a similar event in another state and wanted to do something like it here.

“We have a huge water parade downtown for the Fourth of July,” Gregory said. “I think it will be good. Our kids can come out, they can shoot adults with water guns, and we can throw water on each other. It will be a fun thing. I talked to the volunteer fire departments and invited all of them. I think we could have a good time. This would be the first in the state of Alabama that I know of and could become an annual fun thing to do.”

Gregory said the idea is for a parade of adults to go through a portion of downtown Tuscumbia while kids are encouraged to pelt them with water.

He said he intends for the parade to end in Spring Park, where free train rides will be offered as well as possibly having free hot dogs and drinks as well as some entertainment.

“I want to help introduce people back to the park,” Gregory said. “We will have some rules, like no water balloons and no high-powered stuff. I talked to Sheriff (Eric Balentine) and asked if he would ride in the parade and let kids shoot at him and we could sing the song ‘I Shot the Sheriff,’ and he said ‘I’m in.’”

The Council voted to approve the use of up to $2,000 from the general fund for the event, with Gregory promising to keep receipts and return any money not used, which Mayor T.W. Billings reminded before the vote was required to get funding.

“I think it would be fun,” Gregory said. “We just need a fun day. Let the kids enjoy our new playground equipment and have a little Fourth of July celebration.”

In other business, the Council voted unanimously to officially declare a vacancy for the position of police chief and passed a resolution to make internal and external advertisements for the opening.

Longtime Police Chief Tony Logan stepped down to the role of Public Safety Administrator earlier this year, with his second-in-command Steven Higginbotham being named as interim police chief.

Council member Gregory laid out a plan for the city to purchase all necessary equipment to begin paving roads in house.

He said a contractor that visited with the Council during a previous meeting would act as an advisor and train city employees until they were able to operate all of the paving equipment.

Gregory provided the other Council members with a full breakdown of potential costs, a plan to hire additional employees to help handle the increased workload and an increase in pay during paving season for workers who participate.

Gregory said he had a number of different figures for the proposed project depending on how the city would choose to go about the program if adopted.

While Gregory wanted to vote to proceed during the meeting, the decision was eventually made to table any vote until the next meeting so Council members could further look into the idea.

The Helen Keller Public Library has received a grant of around $72,000 it can use to purchase a van that will be converted into a bookmobile that might bring reading material to different places around the city.

Head Librarian Elisabeth Gullett said the grant is a reimbursement, meaning the city would have to pay the cost up front for the van and its subsequent renovation, but all of that cost would be refunded.

The Council voted unanimously to make the purchase.

Pay for first responders has been an area of contention for Tuscumbia for a number of years.

Former police and fire chiefs have come before the Council multiple times to highlight how the lower pay in the city leads many new recruits to leave Tuscumbia for greener pastures elsewhere, often neighboring cities that offer higher wages.

Interim Police Chief Higginbotham and Tuscumbia Fire Chief J.T. Fox came before the Council during the meeting to once again highlight the need for more competitive pay for the city’s first responders, especially when it comes to workforce retention.

While a couple of related items were discussed during the meeting, the topic was tabled to be revisited at a later date.