Jones to fill Silverhill Council seat

Former council member steps in to fill slot vacated by Steve WilliamS

By John Underwood / john@gulfcoastmedia.com
Posted 3/29/17

SILVERHILL, Alabama — Just four months after stepping down, Bert Jones will return to the Silverhill Town Council.

Jones, who served on the council from 2008 to 2016, was appointed at the …

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Jones to fill Silverhill Council seat

Former council member steps in to fill slot vacated by Steve WilliamS

Posted

SILVERHILL, Alabama — Just four months after stepping down, Bert Jones will return to the Silverhill Town Council.

Jones, who served on the council from 2008 to 2016, was appointed at the Silverhill Town Council’s March 20 meeting to fill the seat vacated by Steve Williams.

Williams resigned from the seat March 6 after it was determined that there was a conflict with his serving as the town’s building inspector.

After serving the town for more than a decade as its Superintendent of Utilities, Williams resigned about a year ago to take a similar job in Mobile County. He was later appointed to be the town’s building inspector.

Jones defeated Place 1 incumbent Mike Allegri in 2008 – who was later appointed to fill the vacant Place 2 seat – then defeated former Mayor Frankie Kucera to win re-election in 2012. He chose not to run for a third term in 2016.

In August, Williams defeated Alan Norden 143 to 57 for the Place 2 seat, which was vacated by Allegri. Norden’s wife, Tonie, was elected unopposed to fill Jones’ Place 1 seat.

Allegri also expressed interest in filling the vacant seat, said Mayor Tim Wilson, along with former council member Shirley Stephens, Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Stan Joy and Ronnie Cox.

In other business March 20, the council voted to amend the budget for 2016-17, following an increase in projected revenue for the year.

“It’s a trend I hope will continue,” he said.

The budget amendment was discussed at a special meeting called March 13. The council also agreed to hire a full time officer for the police department and announced that Scottie Smith, who has been serving as interim Superintendent of Utilities for the past 13 months, will now serve officially in that capacity.

The council discussed revising the pay scale for the salaried positions, adding a Step 8, which passed unanimously at the March 20 meeting.

Starting salary for Step 1 is $25,812.80, or $12.41 per hour for salaried employees, which includes the superintendent of utilities, town clerk/treasurer and police chief. After one year, the employee would be eligible for Step 2, with Step 3 and Step 4 also at one year intervals. An employee is then eligible to advance from Step 4 to Step 5 after two years, then three years between Step 5 to 6; and 6 to 7. Level 7 was the highest level with included a base of $45,988.80 or $22.11 per hour.

After three years, a salaried employee at Step 7 will now be eligible for Step 8, which has a base pay of $49,982.40 or $24.03 per hour. An employee can start at any step based on previous experience.