Mayor Brian Young announced an electrical utility rate decrease during Tuesday night’s city council meeting. The per kilowatt rate will see a reduction of 5 percent down to 9.5 cents per kilowatt hour.

Young said that the city is increasing the sewage base rate from $5.10 to $7.50 for residential customers and from $9.50 to $14.40 for industrial customers, but says that the increase in the sewage base rate will not offset the savings made by the reduction in the electrical rate. The changes will take place beginning in May.

“It will come out to a savings,” said Young. “Some people who aren’t on city sewage will see an even greater savings,” he said.

Utility manager Lee Young said the city was able to lower the electrical rate due to a savings in fuel charges the city has seen. He said the base rate increase on sewage was done because a cost of service study the city had done last year showed the city sewage to be underfunded. Young said that the other utilities were subsidizing the sewage service, and it needed to be raised.

“We just like for everything to pay for itself,” said Lee Young.

The council approved the nomination of Michael Ingram to the Piedmont City School Board. Ingram currently serves as the Minister of Students and Education at the First Baptist Church of Piedmont. Ingram will be replacing Martha Garner on the board.

“I think he’ll do a good job. He is a good solid person,” Young said.

The council approved a motion for tree removal and sidewalk reconstruction in front of 404 South Main Street. Bernice Green says her husband, Alfred, is confined to an electric wheelchair and the roots of three large trees that line the sidewalk in front of her house have caused large chunks of sidewalk to crack and raise, making it impossible for her to get her husband out of the house. The city has received estimates of the cost of the tree removal and sidewalk reconstruction and say it may cost $12,000 to $13,000 to complete the work.

The council approved a motion to accept a contract with the new Etowah County animal shelter. The city currently places impounded animals at the animal shelter in Anniston, and Chief Steven Tidwell said the cost of transporting the animals to Anniston, both in man hours and gas, can be reduced with the change. The new Etowah County animal shelter is located on Highway 278 West, approximately 7 miles from Piedmont.

In other business, the council paid bills in total of $451, 850.13.