Senator Dan Roberts presents the Leeds Library board with a grant of $10,000Photo by Jamie Browder

The Cawaco Resource Conservation and Development Council awarded the city of Leeds $25,000 at the city council meeting on Monday night.

The money will help repair a drain that was damaged in a tornado recently.

Senator Dan Roberts also presented a grant to the library for $10,000.

“This has been an incredibly challenging last few years for you guys, but I’m most grateful, and as we move along with education, getting our children to read is a critical function,” said Roberts.

In other business the board approved spending $95,000 to continue repairing the Southern Railway Depot. The city was originally repairing structural issues due to a sink hole under one of the supports.

After beginning repairs it was found that the building is also having issues with termites, which are weakening the base of the building as well.

“There’s some possibility that as we start getting deeper into this that we’ll find out more than this is needed. This resolution addresses the what we know now,” said Mayor David Miller.

Later in the meeting the board also approved granting the library and its board $150,000 to be able to successfully finish out the rest of the year. There was also some discussion about having the library open one day less a week, but no decision was made.

“We have a good relationship with the library board and we are doing everything to get the library back on track financially,” said Miller.

In other business the council:

Approved the 2022 “Back-to-School” tax holiday for 2022

Approved reimbursing the fire department’s training and education fund

Approved financing the city to buy outdoor fitness equipment