A resolution added to the agenda at the very end of the Gardendale City Council meeting Monday night had some people in attendance asking, “Do we even have a utilities board?”

The answer is yes, but it’s been dormant for almost 10 years.

It isn’t dormant any longer, as Council President Stan Hogeland put through a resolution to appoint three members to a board that has not met since the middle of the previous decade. Not coincidentally, that was about the same time that the city negotiated a franchise agreement with the Fultondale Gas Board.

Gardendale has been at odds with the board and its superintendent, Fultondale Mayor Jim Lowery, over the expiration of that decade-old agreement and apparent hikes on gas bills by Gardendale customers since the expiration.

The new board members include Hogeland, Mayor Othell Phillips and Councilman Greg Colvert. They will serve as board members until they are no longer in their current elected positions, according to the resolution.

“The city has had a utilities board that hasn’t been utilized, but it hasn’t been necessary until recent events, and the ongoing issues with Fultondale Gas,” Hogeland said. “This is just a [legal] step you have to go through.”

City Attorney Ken Thompson said the board was formed years ago, but never really did anything at the time.

Nothing has changed in the current conflict with the gas board, Hogeland said. “If we go through these steps of evaluating our options, then the utilities board had to be activated for us to have the legal authority. But there’s no real news, though we’re still hopeful for an agreement.”

In other business, the council:

• hired Sean Morro as a police officer

• promoted Brandon McRae, Marian Booth and Riley Tolbert to new positions in the Public Works Department

• reappointed Sharon Miller to the Gardendale Board of Education Citizen Advisory Committee

• reappointed Sandy Morton to the Parks and Recreation Board

• reappointed Ginger Smith and David Erwin to positions on the Zoning Appeals and Adjustments Board.