It was a new beginning for Cedar Bluff as the town officially administered the Oath of Office to Ethel Sprouse as the new mayor during the Nov. 9 meeting.

In the Aug. 26, 2008 municipal election, Sprouse received the most votes but failed to receive enough to avoid a run-off with Steve Lay who finished second in the race.

Soon after the election, Jimmy Wallace, who came in third, file a lawsuit because of alleged mishandling of absentee ballots. Lay, unfortunately, passed away before the lawsuit was heard.

More than a year later, Attorney General Troy King’s office issued a ruling declaring Sprouse as the winner.

Attorney Bill Hawkins, before a standing-room only crowd, administered the Oath of Office to Sprouse who pledged to “support the Constitution of the United States and Constitution of the State of Alabama so long as I continue a citizen thereof and that I will faithfully and honestly discharge the duties of the office of Mayor of the town of Cedar Bluff, Ala., upon which I am about to enter to the best of my ability.”

“I want to take a few minutes and thank everybody, every single one of you for coming here tonight for your encouragement, your support,” said Sprouse. “Your friendship has meant a great deal to me. We are beginning a new future. It is a time of hope and a time of anxiety for me and maybe for you too, but I want each and every one of you to know that you are special. This office of mayor belongs to you the many folks of Cedar Bluff and I thank you very, very much for allowing me to serve.”

A run-off for Cedar Bluff Town Council District 1, 3 and 4 has been scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 8.

“I was overwhelmed with the support and very pleased that everyone came,” said Sprouse. “I really appreciate their support. I think everyone is looking forward to the future and getting our runoff election completed. It is a time of hope and anticipation.”

The council, upon the recommendation of former Mayor Martha Baker, approved an ordinance authorizing issuance of a general obligation warrant, Series 2009, for the town’s new fire truck.

“We have been working on this for quite some time,” said Baker. “We have been finalizing the loan paper work for the fire truck for which we got approval in September. It has taken a while to do this. We got a local loan until we get loan finalized through FDA. We got a loan for $155,700 and got a grant for $29,250. We are very thankful for that. That is step number one.”

“Then it has to go to a bonding company and this is the bonding company out of Birmingham that has actually done work in the town before,” said Baker.

“They actually go out and secure the bond that will let USDA accept the loan because the bonds will secure the loan we will be paying back and the bonds will stay in place until such time as we get the debt paid off. The debt amounts to $12,430 that will be paid each November for 12 years.”

Mayor Sprouse gave the building report for October. The town issued two building permits in October with a total construction cost of $6,000. Total construction cost for building permits in 2009, to date, is $348,000.

For October, Cedar Bluff Fire Chief J.P. Curry reported one grass and woods fire, 10 medical alarm calls and seven wrecks or accidents for a total of 18 total runs and 16 payable runs. “We had a good month,” said Curry.

Cedar Bluff Police Chief Steve Walden reported that his department, for the month of October, issued two DUI (driving under the influence) citations, five speeding citations, 16 speeding warnings, four warnings for running a stop sign, one improper/no tag warning and 10 improper equipment warnings.

As for arrests, Cedar Bluff officers, in October made two arrests for drugs, two for disorderly conduct, one for public intoxication and one issued one misdemeanor warrant.

Monthly reports included two domestic, two for theft, one for burglary, seven for harassment, two for assault, two traffic crashes and four others.

Calls with no report taken included four alarms, four for disturbance, 11 other calls and 11 agency assist calls.

In other business, the council:

-Considered the Municipal Workers Compensation Fund 2010 Statement of Commitment.

-Adopted a resolution declaring certain items of personal property no longer needed for public or municipal purposes (1987 Quality Duplex Pumper).

-Approved a request from Rickey Steele on behalf of Faye Hawkins Gossett for a 90-day extension to clean up property located at 4500 Alabama Highway 68.

-Approved accepting the Cedar Bluff Utility’s Board’s offer to transfer the garbage collection service to the Town of Cedar Bluff.