At its regular work session and meeting Monday night, the Pell City Council voted unanimously to extend Verizon Wireless’s special use permit to finish construction of a 167-foot telecommunications tower in the area behind America’s Thrift Store on U.S. 231.

Promising a long-awaited boost to cell and data coverage downtown, the tower, approved by the council in February of last year, was originally planned to be operational within six months. However, Verizon had “issues mobilizing construction,” said David Andrews, representative of the Center for Municipal Solutions (CMS), during the work session prior to the meeting. Therefore, the tower still lacks its necessary antennae.

Because the council ratified the resolution extending the permit, progress should be made on the tower in as little as a few weeks.

Christian Hilliard, CEO of USA Communications, provided an update and answered questions about the company’s progress since taking over the Coosa Cable Company’s operations and facilities in August last year. The company invested over $1 million to improve facilities and service issues in the community. As a point of reference, 8,000 phone calls from concerned customers were taken on the company’s first week of operation after opening up phone lines; last week, after 18 months, that number was down to 600.

“We are here to stay and we will win the war of fixing this; it’s just taking a little longer than we planned,” Hilliard said. “First we’ll fix what we have, then we move on and expand.”

Another important development was the council’s approval of allocating funds for preliminary engineering, inspection and construction on the 19th Street sidewalk project. Primarily financed by a federal grant, the new sidewalk will connect Duran South Junior High School by way of 9th Avenue South to the Boys and Girls Club in the Pell City Community Center on 19th Street South. The project is scheduled to be completed by July.

Also of note, the low bid for painting the railings at City Hall was accepted by the council from Imms Industrial Coatings Inc. in the amount of $12,200, less than half of the high bid of $34,000.

Richard Shell’s agreement with the city was renewed by the council as well, which allows him to trap nuisance wildlife on city property—a service he provides at no cost to the city other than the pelts or furs of the trapped animals.

As part of their homework, council members were asked by City Manager Brian Muenger to submit by Thursday who among the 12 applicants for police chief they would like to elevate to the interview process, which could begin as soon as next week.

Muenger was authorized by the council to move forward with the Hazelwood Drive project by gaining access to the project site. This will enable engineers to determine if the land is even suitable for construction of the new access road to Veterans Parkway.

“I like to refer to Pell City as our ‘57 Cadillac convertible in 40 boxes; I think we’re down to about 20 boxes now in our reconstruction,” Hilliard said. “And in case you couldn’t tell, a ‘57 Cadillac convertible is my favorite car.”