“So much money, energy, and time has been spent on the legal situation with Fairfield,” begins Teague resident Doris Nealy. “Does anyone here care to spend money on the issues related to the citizens and the beautifucation of Teague?”

She continues saying, “If the City can spend money for a legal battle with Fairfield, why can’t they spend money to take care of the City? It seem that as salaries go up, the quality of services goes down.”

Several Teague citizens gathered at city hall on Monday, June 3, 2019 to ask questions of city department heads. On hand were Police Chief Dewayne Philpott, Director of Public Works Jacob Cowling, and members of the office staff. City Administrator/Secretary Theresa Prasil was present via video chat.

Some of the topics brought up during this meeting include the following:

–City Water Meters – Currently the City has radio read water meters. The radio has gone down, therefore, public works employees have been manually reading meters. Plans are in the works to have new, more effecient water meters and reading system installed beginning in July.

–City workers seen in City vehicles without seatbelts – Cowling stated that if caught, employess are written up for not wearing seatbelts.

–Only downtown area gets cleanup – Other areas around town need trash picked up, intersections cleared of overgrowth, and drainage issues need fixing.

–City should be utilizing employees efficiently, especially since it is understaffed.

–Residents aren’t putting their trash cans away once they are emptied. This makes the town look trashy.

–Sidewalks that are not located along a State Highway are the responsibility and liability of the property owner.

–Applications are currenlty being reviewed for the position of office personnel at the police department.

–Due to the Freestone County Jail being temporarily depopulated, the City has had to add an additional $10,000 to the Police Department budget in order to handle transportation needs to Limestone County Jail.

The City of Teague asks its residents to please contact City Hall for any questions, concerns, issues, crime reports, work orders, and the like, instead of resorting to Facebook. City employees do not monitor Facebook feeds and therefore will not receive the information needed to properly handle an issue.

City Hall is open for water payments from 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To pay a ticket, visit between 9:00-11:00 a.m. Monday and Wednesday, or between 8:30 a.m. and noon on Thursdays.

Once the PD Personnel position is filled, their office will be open from 8:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. and 2:00-5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

To view the two-part video of this meeting, please visit the City’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/cityofteague.