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At Monday’s meeting of the Valley City Council, a new recreation director, John Neal, was introduced and an agreement was approved on the sale of property for a new subdivision off 30th Street.

Neal succeeds Laurie Blount, who retired at the end of May after a lengthy career with the city.

Neal is 32 years old and is from Munford, Tennessee. He’s a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UT-C). He and his wife, Georgia, have two small children: Knox, five, and Alana, three.

Last week, Neal hit the ground running as the new Valley Parks and Recreation director. The Community Center’s indoor pool was open for the first time in 2025 after some lengthy repairs and drew some good crowds. Over the weekend, Valley Sportsplex was a busy place as it hosted a tournament with over 40 teams participating. Last Friday, Valley hosted the District Masters Games and the Valley swim team will host a meet on Thursday, June 12.

Neal told the council he was pleased to be in Valley and involved in the city’s recreation program.

The project agreement that was approved is between the city and Kobeck Properties LLC for a 16-acre site off 30th Street. The project is for Phase II of a housing development. Kobeck Properties purchased the site for just over $150,000.

Phase I consisted of thirty new homes and 40 more will be added in Phase II. Kobeck will build new streets and see that adequate water, sewer, gas and electricity are provided to the new homes.

The new homes are near the river off 30th Street.

Phase III has a purchase price of just under $165,000. The city will receive around $315,000 from the sale of the property in Phases II and III.

The city will conclude its part of the process when the sale of Phase III is finalized. From there, Kobeck will handle the subdivision development. A timetable is in place for the different phases to be completed by 2027 or the property will revert back to the city.

The council also approved a new contract with the Chattahoochee Humane Society (CHS). With the new contract, the city will receive animal control services provided by CHS for just under $6,500 per year. CHS has agreed to provide for the care, control, management, registration, and if necessary, the “merciful disposal” of animals taken to the local shelter from the city’s jurisdiction.

Public Works Director Patrick Bolt discussed the abandonment of a natural gas line that’s taking place in parts of Valley. It’s in Districts 2, 4 and 5. Southern Natural Gas is abandoning a gas line on city rights-of-way and private property. They hope to finish the project by July 1. Property owners will be compensated for the work that will be done. Bolt said there are some above-ground structures that will have to be capped to be made as safe as possible.

Letters are being sent to the affected property owners explaining what will be happening.

Bolt added that some new gas lines are going in at the subdivision site off 30th Street. Spire is taking care of this.

“They have new equipment and are good to work with,” said Mayor Leonard Riley.

Valley Police Chief Mike Reynolds told the council that his department will soon have some new faces. A new animal control officer and two new police officers will be joining VPD in the coming days.

The council approved a ten-item consent agenda. These items included confirming the cost of an abatement on Bennett Street ($2,500), a contract with Tinsley’s Amusements for the 2025 Christmas Merry Go Round ($32,000), budget amendments to replace a PoolPak fan for the Community Center pool ($9,869.18), to replace an ice maker and refrigerator for the Valley Senior Center ($7,724.21), to purchase some new benches for Fairfax Park ($10,497.73), and to provide for some needed repairs to a bucket truck ($12,169.35), a contract with Chambley’s Display Fireworks for the July 4th fireworks show ($18,150) and $11,205.97 for Alabama Power to install a new street light in the Overbrook Subdivision near old Shawmut Airport.

A Community Center bus was declared surplus and a weed lien was imposed on a lot on 32nd Street.

City Clerk/Treasurer Cathy Snowden reported that qualifying for the August 26 municipal election opens on Tuesday, June 10 and will end on June 24. The office of mayor and six council seats will be on the ballot.

Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Carrie Wood previewed some upcoming Chamber events. She said that Saturday’s children’s fishing rodeo at Hardley Creek Park had been a big success. A total of 150 children registered for the fun event. They were accompanied by parents, grandparents and other family members. More than 600 people lined the banks of the dogbone-shaped pond below West Point Dam. Some kids left with some nice-sized catfish in their coolers.

The kids did the fishing, but the adults helped out with baiting the hooks, casting the lines and taking fish off the hooks.

Wood invited members of the council to two upcoming Chamber events. On Tuesday, June 24, at noon, there will be an open house at the new ALA-GA Insurance office on Highway 29 in Valley. On Thursday, June 26, they will be in downtown Lanett for a ribbon-cutting at MustardSeed Mercantile. On August 14, the Chamber will hold a ribbon-cutting at the Humane Society animal shelter on Fairfax Bypass to celebrate some major improvements.

Mayor Riley said he was glad to see these upgrades and was pleased the city could help in getting things done.

Riley also thanked Sara Crutchfield and The Valley Local for holding the ValleyFest event at the Sportsplex. “I was there on both days, and was glad to see it taking place,” Riley said. “I’m just tired of all this rain we’ve been getting and how it interferes with anything that’s going on outside.”

Council Member Jim Jones invited everyone to come out to the Valley Arts Council’s first Saturday Market taking place from 7 a.m. till noon on Saturday, June 21, at the Farmer’s Market Pavilion in front of the Langdale Mill site.

Riley said he is hoping for a good crowd. “We’re having the Farmer’s Market on Friday afternoons,” Riley said. “I’ve been there for them, and they have been going good so far.”