The Selma City Council approved multiple items at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The council began with approval of the consent agenda which consisted of four items.

The first item approved on the Consent Agenda was the approval to move forward with the publishing of a public hearing for the St. James Hotel.

The second item approved on the agenda was the motion to recognize March as Women’s History Month.

The Third item approved on the consent agenda was the motion to award the softball and baseball complex concession bid to Rev. Gary Crum for the 2019 season in the amount of $17,500.99.

The fourth and final item approved on the consent agenda was to approve J’s Wrecker Service into the dispatch rotation for Selma Police Department (SPD).

After the approval of the Consent Agenda, Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier spoke before the council about the purchasing of six new patrol cars for the SPD fleet.

After the discussion of multiple options to get SPD new vehicles, the council approved Collier’s recommendation to lease the vehicles by spending $40,000 of maintenance funding each year for five years totaling $205,000.

Collier has previously stated the need for vehicles for SPD’s fleet is dire.

Each of the council members noted that public safety was a top concern of the council and that it was important for them to get what they needed in order to effectively protect the city.

After Collier left the floor Selma Fire Chief Toney Stevens came before the council.

“I came down here for two reasons,” said Stevens. “To serve our citizens and to take care of my guys, and lately I don’t think that I’ve been effective at either one of them, and the reason being is that the fire department has been neglected.”

Stevens then presented the council with several items that the council had approved up to three times, yet Stevens said that the fire department still hasn’t received the funding for them.

The items include fire truck maintenance, officer training and fire station plumbing problems.

“It’s not like I made the request just once,” said Stevens. “These items were approved numerous times and that’s the reason I’m very upset.”

The council was agreed that a solution must soon be reached.

“It’s important we address the needs of the fire department,” said Councilwoman Susan Youngblood.

Youngblood proposed that special attention be given to the fire department at the next Public Safety Meeting.