A March vote paved the way for an election and the first meeting of the Kilpatrick Town Council
By DONNA THORNTON, Editor
Kilpatrick’s first mayor and town council took oaths of office Tuesday night, as the municipality voted into existence in March held its first meeting before a standing room only crowd, with more people watching outside.
DeKalb County Probate Judge Ronnie Osborn administered the oath to Mayor Richard Bruce, as well as council members Fernando Guzman, Kim Hunt, Tina Malone, and Rachel Bloodworth.
Kilpatrick became the 17th incorporated municipality in DeKalb County through a vote of the people. Out of 300 citizens in the town limits, 39 voted to incorporate. Bruce said only three people voted against it, about the same total number of votes as those cast there in other elections.
After swearing-in was completed, the council took some organizational actions, authorized the mayor to enter a lease on the town hall building and to obtain a loan, designated signees for town accounts and appointed Mary Smith as town clerk – sometimes double-checking with attorney Watson to ensure they were following proper procedures.
Pressing concerns
When the floor was opened for public comments, the first question dealt with roads: What’s going to be done about potholes? People questioned how they could get repairs for a road so bad the county school system has notified them it will not travel there to pick up children unless something is done. Bruce pointed out that there were two members of the DeKalb County Commission present – Brent Rhodes and Ron Safferite – who might be of more assistance on the road issues for now. Another question dealt with a traffic problem – an area where lots of accidents occur. Bruce said that spot is on a state highway, and he noted that state Sen. Andrew Jones, R-Centre, was in the audience as well.
People also asked just where the town borders lie.
Bruce explained that a lot of what is considered the Kilpatrick community is not included in the town limits. He said he’s working with DeKalb 911 to get a map that will be displayed at Town Hall showing the town boundaries.
Town limits?
He said he would describe them to the best of his ability:
Starting at the Victory Baptist Church sign (located on Alabama Highway 68 going toward Crossville), the Kilpatrick town limits extend down AL 68 and turns left on CR 478 at the dollar store, then loops around the Dollar Store road, and instead of making the sharp curve, goes a little way down to CR 336, then straight back to CR 95. From there, it turns and goes up CR 379, then turns left on CR 1999, then right again on CR 479 and back up to Alabama Highway 168.
The mayor said initially the hope was that all that is considered the Kilpatrick community could be brought into the city limits. It’s a long-standing community; Bruce said both sides of his family had lived in the area, farming, for at least 150 years.
But looking at the enormous cost of infrastructure, the decision was made to limit the area incorporated now, Bruce said, with the plan to expand as the town becomes established.
Bruce did not know the exact size of the city in terms of square miles, but Kilpatrick had 39 businesses in the town limits when the incorporation process began, and he estimated it has between 40 and 50 now.
Some revenues will come to the town now that it is incorporated and has a governing body in place, but it may not start until the first of the year, Bruce said.
William Adams was one of the many people at last night’s meeting.
“I think we will have a lot more police presence,” Adams said, when asked what the incorporation will do for the community. He said it’s a good community, noting a recent cleanup day that brought out people who teamed up and filled a huge dumpster with trash.
Bruce said for now the town will continue to lean on DeKalb County Sheriff Nick Welden’s department for law enforcement.
The mayor said there will be no big, visible changes in life in Kilpatrick right away, but the council plans to make things better for residents in time.
Birth of a notion
It took six-and-a-half-years for Kilpatrick to become a town.
Discussion of incorporation began among leadership of the Kilpatrick Volunteer Fire Department. Bruce said he and Kim Malone are on the department’s board. For the last four years, he said, Kilpatrick’s fire department has had more calls than any other in the county, but the funding volume is nowhere near as high as the call volume. He said the state supplies some funding, but they wanted to get money to improve the department.
He said they began going door-to-door with petitions, and working with Rocky Watson, now town attorney, about fulfilling the requirements to seek a vote on incorporation.
Bruce said the response was great, but the process lagged for a couple of years. The state gave its OK in late 2024, the vote was conducted in March, and municipal elections were set.
Improvement will start with the same place that prompted discussion of establishing a town – the volunteer fire department. Bruce said a grant has been obtained to buy some badly needed new turnouts for firefighters.
The first meeting brought out supporters. In addition to Osborn, Jones, Safferite and Rhodes, Collinsville Council member David Bowen attended, offering any assistance he could provide, as did David Gulledge, chairman of the DeKalb County Republican Party.
As the inaugural meeting drew to a close, Bruce announced the Kilpatrick Fire Department will host a Truck or Treat for Halloween, and there will be a rodeo at the Kilpatrick Center, at 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1. He and council members, he said, would be available to answer more questions and talk to residents after the meeting.
The council’s next meeting was moved because of Veteran’s Day to Wednesday, Nov. 12.
“It’s exciting when you have a new town being born, building up out of the ground,” Jones said. He said he wanted to be there to support the town leaders in any way he can. “There will be some growing pains, obviously. They need to get rolling, finds some revenue sources, they need to work on their streets. We’re going to be here to help them every step of the way.”
In the inaugural meeting Oct. 14 of the Kilpatrick Town Council, a packed house watch council members Fernando Guzman and Kim Hunt, Mayor Richard Bruce, council members Tina Malone and Rachel Bloodworth tackle necessary steps in the establishment of the new town government. Photo by Donna Thornton l The Leader
