A plan to lower the cost of health insurance for families of employees from 50 percent to 15 percent was approved by the Falkville Town Council at a regular meeting Sept. 8. No charge is made to the employee for his or her coverage. 

Effective Oct. 1 the cost for family coverage will drop from $609.45 to $127.26 per month. The additional cost to the town will total $214,921.91 annually. 

The council also authorized Mayor Ken Winkles to pay the balance of eight loans totaling $149,522.90, with payments to be made on due dates in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.  

The loans and balances are listed as follows 

–Bank of Carbondale: $31,677.88 and $8.962.24 

–Cadence Bank: $26,866.52 and $6,757.74 

–Farmers Bank & Trust: $12,518.98 

–Bancorp: $15,353.60, $22,640.27 and $24,747.67 

In other council action, a quote of $6,800 was accepted from Goodwyn Mills and Cawood to prepare a Sanitary Sewer Overflow Response Plan for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, and a quote of $35,431 was accepted from Peck Glasgow Insurance for annual liability insurance. 

The council also: 

–approved an annual contract renewal with the Morgan County Emergency Management Communications District for $1,832,60. 

–approved a request from the police department to declare a 2001 Ford Crown Victoria as surplus property and create a closed bid process for its disposal.  

–approved the purchase of a Cub Cadet 400XL from Ryan Equipment Center for $6,224. 

–approved payment of $18,938 to Local Government Corporation for annual software service for all departments. 

–approved a resolution to enter into an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for right-of-way mowing. 

–authorized the mayor to contract with USGS, United States Department of Interior, for one year at a cost $15,500