Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Valley Grande has a check in hand for the community center it has been trying to sell for well over a year.

Mayor Wayne Labbe said Monday during their regular city council meeting that he has received a $60,000 check for the community center. The city will get to keep around $54,000 of the final total.

Labbe said that the city could use these funds for some of the projects that the city is eyeing.

One of those is adding storm shelters in the community following the Plantersville tornado earlier this year. On that front, Labbe reported that he talked with city officials in Centreville that had just recently installed a new storm shelter.

Labbe said they installed a storm shelter from Safe-T Storm Shelters, which is based in the north Alabama city of Hartselle. The storm shelter, which was 10 feet by 48 feet that holds 98 people, would cost about $90,000. Options for the bathroom would be to install plumbing or use a chemical toilet, similar to a portapotty.

The shelter would also have lights that could run on electricity or its own battery backup. If they installed it, Safe-T Shelter would have a “deep” foundation for the above-ground shelter to secure to withstand the winds of a strong tornado.

It is also possible that the city could receive some funding from FEMA to pay for the storm shelter. City officials will be planning to get with their contact in Washington, D.C., to obtain more details on any assistance they can get.

Other issues that the city could use the funds for also includes road repairs that were just completed by Dallas County. The city received a bill from the county in the amount of $14,550. Councilwoman Sara Day mentioned that she thought the invoice was higher that what they were originally quoted of $12,450.

Labbe said he would verify the numbers before the city reimbursed the county for their portion of the project.

The council also discussed whether they would give a cost-of-living adjustments to city employees. Day recommended that they do something across the board. The council agreed to the proposal.

The next council meeting will be on Monday, June 2, at 5:30 p.m.