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VALLEY — Two items of business at Monday’s meeting of the Valley City Council cost a little more than $1.2 million. One of the purchases was for some valuable real estate on Highway 29 and the other was an emergency purchase of an HVAC system for city hall.

The land being purchased is a little more than four acres in size. It’s on the east side of Highway 29 next to Chambley’s. It’s the site of the former Hungry Boy restaurant and has lots of potential for redevelopment. It’s in the form of two two-acre lots and is being purchased from the Estate of Shahid Chohan for $605,000. It’s anticipated that this property will be used in municipal operations that will be beneficial for Valley residents.

The emergency purchase is for a new HVAC system for city hall. An entire unit must be replaced and will cost $460,667. The existing unit isn’t working and there’s no air conditioning in the building.

“This is excessively high, but it must be done,” Mayor Leonard Riley told the council.

Council Member Kendall Andrews asked why it cost so much. Planning & Development Director Reid Riley said the entire unit had to be replaced and it’s very expensive to do that. The unit being replaced is very large and contains lots of copper wiring and freon. It’s an outdoor Trane unit that has lots of duct work, insulation, VRF control boxes and condensing units. The new system is designed in such a way that the north side of the building and the south side will have separate units. This new system will allow for simultaneous cooling and heating from zone to zone throughout the building.

A second emergency budget amendment approved on Monday will allow for some repairs to septic tanks at the Public Works building on Fairfax Bypass and to hook up with East Alabama’s sewer system. The project is expected to cost $34,150. Public Works Director Patrick Bolt told the council that the current system has two tanks and a pump. A baffle in one of the tanks has collapsed. That tank and the pump will have to be replaced.

Budget amendments were also approved to recover some needed repairs to a bucket truck and to cover the cost of some needed upgrades at the Chattahoochee Humane Society’s animal shelter on Fairfax Bypass. The bucket truck repair costs $13,595 and the improvements at the animal shelter $80,000.

Reid Riley informed that council that all needed work at the shelter should be completed by next week. Lots of painting has been taking place there, a new exhaust fan has been added, and the dog kennels have been expanded.

Another budget amendment adds a $2,386.23 insurance recovery to the city budget. This involves an expense for vehicle repair.

Three Valley Police Department vehicles were declared surplus. They include a 2013 Ford Explorer with 142,841 miles on it, a 2014 Fo9rd Taurus with 169,141 miles on it and 2020 Ford Explorer with more than 100,000 miles on it.

The council approved a resolution declaring a public nuisance and authorizing action to remove a dilapidated structure and clean up a site on Bennett Street. The cost to the city for doing this can be placed as a lien on the property. A public hearing was called for just prior to the April 28th council meeting to confirm the cost of an abatement on Hodges Street.

The council unanimously approved two proclamations, one in support of the Hike/Bike/Run fundraiser for Valley Haven School and another in support of recognizing April as Sexual Assault Awareness Month.

The 49th annual Hike/Bike/Run for Valley Haven will be taking place on Saturday, May 3rd. The proclamation calls on citizens of the city to join with thousands of other individuals to help provide the matching funds needed to support Valley Haven. What’s raised locally can be matched with state and federal funds to support the school.

Valley Parks and Recreation Director Laurie Blount said that Clean Up Valley Day would be taking place on Saturday, April 26th. Employees of the Public Works Department will be at the Farmers Market Pavilion from 8 a.m. till 3 p.m. that day, and a shredder truck will be there from 8 a.m. till 3 p.m. that day. Limbs and yard debris left by the curb will be picked up the following week. Anyone who wants to be part of a litter pickup detail on selected city streets can be at the Community Center at 8 a.m. on Clean Up Day. They will be given gloves to wear and bags to fill.

Blount said that a girls’ softball tournament had taken place this past weekend at Valley Sportsplex and that a men’s tournament would be going on there the weekend following Easter.