The Russellville Electric Board nominated and elected officers for the October 2022 through September 2024 term during its regular meeting Sept. 20.

• The newly-elected chairman is Nick Willis, who was previously vice chairman. The former board chairman was James McDuffa.
• The new vice chairman is Chad Wells. He was previously secretary.
• Bill Jackson was voted to be secretary/treasurer for the new term. Jackson was not an officer in the previous term.
• Leamon Mosely continues his role as a board member.

Administrative staff includes Charles Canida, general manager; Sherry Smith, executive assistant; and Tiffany Holt, accountant.

EXECUTIVE SESSION

Following the vote for officers for the new term, the board voted to go into an executive session.

The attorney for the REB, Jeff Bowling, made a statement about the board’s vote in favor of entering into an executive session, noting the board’s intention to discuss “the good name and character of certain individuals,” as permitted by the Alabama Open Meetings Act.

Following the executive session, Bowling reported matters were discussed “that would invoke the attorney-client privilege.” Bowling said no votes were taken, and no decisions were made, as required by the Open Meetings Act.

NEW BUILDING

“We’ve talked about our long-term plan for this warehouse facility for several years, and as part of that plan, it included the new doors that we’ve installed and closed in the truck bay,” explained Canida. “Discussions also included the construction of a separate building to house the remaining equipment and trucks to put them all in the dry.”

Canida said he’d like to submit for board approval “to propose a 40-by-100 metal building to be constructed at the south end, near the fence of the facility, out here where our old pole yard used to be before we moved it.”

He said if the board concurs with the construction of that building, he’d recommend they grant approval to advertise for bids for its construction. “And just as a side note,” added Canida, “that building will be paid for from remaining funds in the bond construction fund.”

The board approved seeking bids for the project.

NEXT MEETING

Canida requested moving the date of the next meeting forward a week, to Oct. 25, at the same time, 6 p.m., and the board approved the request.

Meetings are held in the conference room of the Russellville Electric Board warehouse, 1012 Jackson Ave. S., which is located across the street and just past the Russellville Utilities main office on South Jackson Avenue, right by Russellville Fire Station 1.

Those wishing to speak during a board meeting are subject to the new rules authorized during the REB’s May 24 meeting, which include:

• Contacting the office by noon a minimum of three days prior to the meeting.
• Requesting to be placed on the business agenda of the meeting.
• Any individual on the agenda to speak will be limited to five minutes.
• There is also a limit of one appearance per quarter/every three months “for the purpose of speaking during a board meeting.”
• Additionally, there is a requirement that while “making their oral presentation/speaking,” said individual “shall maintain decorum and respect.”

A documentation request policy is posted on a board inside the main office of Russellville Utilities, located at 721 S. Jackson Ave.

The policy reads:

“It is the policy of the Russellville Electric Board to direct any and all requests for documentation or records to our attorney, Bedford, Rogers & Bowling, PC, 303 Jackson Ave. N., PO Box 669, Russellville, AL 35653.

“Any copies of documents or records provided to any individual or entity will be provided by our attorney and will be subject to a copying and processing fee of $0.50 per page with a minimum fee of $1.50 per request as well as a researching fee that will be assessed at an hourly rate. The copying, processing and researching fees will be in addition to any copying, processing and researching fees that may be assessed by our attorney.”