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VALLEY — The City of Valley has made a commitment to make major improvements in its city-owned cemeteries.

On Monday, the council approved the paving of the road at Shawmut Cemetery. A contract for $12,320 was approved for Chris Clark Paving & Grading.

The overall plan is to spend close to $150,000 to resurface existing roads in the cemeteries at Fairfax, Langdale and Fairview. A road in the new portion of Fairview Cemetery will also be surfaced. Ponder’s Nursery will be doing landscaping work in the city cemeteries this spring.

This ongoing project was discussed at Monday’s meeting of the Valley City Council. Members of the council also heard an update from Public Works Director Patrick Bolt on the status of 29th Boulevard in Shawmut. The street was set to be resurfaced this spring. Work was underway but was halted due to some unexpected problems because of excessive groundwater.

Harris Gray, an engineering, surveying and project planning company from West Point, is assessing the situation for the city and will come up with a plan of action to finish the resurfacing. Half of the street was paved last year and the plan was to finish the rest of the street this year.

“We are asking people to be patient until we have a permanent fix,” Bolt said.

Valley Parks & Recreation Director Laurie Blount informed the council that a weekend softball tournament was a big success despite rainy weather Saturday morning. The Saturday portion of the tournament was delayed until 4 p.m. The scheduled games were played at a different time with play continuing until around 1 a.m. The tournament finished as scheduled on Sunday. By contrast, the portion of the tournament that was played in Jacksonville, Florida was rained out.

“We have a great staff working for us,” Blount said. “They were able to assess the situation on Saturday and get all the games in later in the day. The entire tournament turned out really well. Teams really enjoy coming here to play. They are always complimenting us on the way everything is run.”

A seven-team girls softball tournament will be taking place this weekend at Valley Sportsplex; a boys baseball tournament is set there for the following weekend.

Valley Parks & Recreation youth play is also underway. Rec league play takes place at the Sportsplex on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday evenings.

“We are really busy on the athletic side right now,” Blount said. “We are also certifying people to be lifeguards. Anyone interested in doing this can contact Bobby Poer at the Community Center. We are short on life ]guards right now. If you pass the course, there’s a good chance we can hire you.”

Police Chief Tommy Weldon said that new Ford Explorer police vehicles had arrived.

“We now have six new ones and five older ones still running,” he said.

In other action taken on Monday, the council approved a three-item consent agenda. Included was a budget amendment to include an amount of $5,931.24 in insurance for automotive repair, the dedication of a new street and approval of the city’s participation in this year’s Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday. The road has been named Harmon Street and is located in the Rehobeth Heights neighborhood off Huguley Road. It’s in an area a little more than one acre in size and is in a subdivision plat for the Chattahoochee Fuller Center Project (CFCP). Some Fuller Center homes have been built in the area and more could be going up in the future.

That state’s Back to School Sales Tax Holiday will be taking place the weekend of July 16-18. State and local sales taxes will not be assessed on a host of items related to kids going back to school (clothing, school supplies, etc.).

The council will have a work session at 6 p.m. on Thursday.  The council’s next regular meeting is set for 6 p.m. on Monday, April 26.