A remodel of the former Holly Pond Dollar General building is set to begin within the next several weeks to make way for the town’s second national retail chain.

Mayor Carla Hart announced several new businesses which have plans to open within the town during the town’s council meeting Monday, Jan. 6, including AutoZone.

Hart said developers have already inked a deal to takeover the former location of Dollar General on U.S. Hwy. 278 and that a recent discussion revealed that a renovation effort to remodel the building is scheduled to begin within a month.

There was no estimated opening date available as of Monday.

Other new businesses Hart highlighted during Monday’s meeting were:

– Insane McCain Fireworks located in the vacant parking lot near Jacks Family Restaurant on U.S. Hwy 278.

– Early Bird Chiropractic located on Brooklyn Road.

– A mini-storage facility to be located across from Stewart’s Auto on U.S. Hwy. 278.

Elections and pay increases

The council also tabled a pair of ordinances required to be adopted ahead of the upcoming municipal election cycle.

The first would allow the town to use electronic voting devices provided by Cullman County during November’s election and to adopt the DS200 and AutoMARK 87000 voting systems.

The DS200 is a poll place ballot scanner and tabulator which requires voters to hand mark paper ballot which are inserted into the machine and deposited into an integrated ballot box.

The AutoMARK system is designed to be used by voters with disabilities and features a touch screen with zoom and contrast adjustments, multiple language translation, a Braile keypad, puff-sip interface and audio ballot feature.

Each municipality is also required to approve the compensation to be received for the mayor and council members at least six months before an election takes place. After a brief discussion the council chose to also table the matter until its next meeting.

The salary approved would not go into effect until after incoming members are elected in November.

The council did however approve pay increases for two of its employees.

At Hart’s recommendation the town clerk’s hourly pay was raised by $2 from $16.50 to $18.50. She said that the Alabama League of Municipalities reported to her that town clerk’s compensation across the state fluctuated between $19 and $21 per hour.

While the Guy Hunt Library is currently without a full-time librarian, the council approved to increase the pay from $10 to $15 per hour in order to reflect other, similarly-sized libraries in Alabama.

In other business the council:

– Approved its annual Rebuild Alabama financial report.

– Approved the purchase of four outdoor lights to be placed at the town’s event center and Governor’s Park.

Patrick Camp can be reached at 256-734-2131 ext. 238