By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Some City of Alabaster retirees soon will receive a one-time, lump-sum bonus from the city of Alabaster, after the City Council approved funding for the payments during a Sept. 11 meeting.

City Council members voted 6-0 in favor of passing the resolution, with Council President Scott Brakefield and council members Sophie Martin, Kerri Pate, Russell Bedsole, Rick Ellis and Stacy Rakestraw voting in favor of it. Greg Farrell, an Alabaster Fire Department retiree, abstained from voting.

The bonuses came as a result of a bill passed by the Alabama Legislature during the 2017 session allowing employers who participated in the Employees Retirement System to provide a one-time, lump-sum bonus to city employees who retired before May 1 of this year and who are receiving or are entitled to receive a monthly allowance from the state Employees Retirement System.

The move came a few days after council members discussed the matter during a Sept. 7 work session.

Through the resolution, eligible city retirees will receive $2 per month of service to the city, or $300, whichever is greater. The maximum payment retirees can receive is $884, city of Alabaster Human Resources Director Candace Connell said during the work session, noting the bonuses will affect about 55 eligible city retirees.

Beneficiaries of deceased eligible city retirees will receive $300.

Providing the retiree bonuses will cost the city a little more than $31,000, according to the resolution, and all payments will be disbursed in December, Connell said.