By STEPHANIE BRUMFIELD / Staff Writer

COLUMBIANA – The Columbiana City Council approved a one-time pay increase for city employees for the month of December and a one-step pay increase effective Jan. 1 at a city council meeting Dec. 3.

Columbiana Mayor Stancil Handley said the one-time pay increase for December will be $215 for full-time employees and $115 for part-time employees. The one-step pay increase effective Jan. 1 will be 3.5 percent for all city employees, Handley said.

“This will be the first pay raise city of Columbiana employees have received since 2008,” Handley said just prior to the council unanimously approving the pay increases. “We all feel like the most valuable commodity the city has is her employees, so this is a well-deserved raise. I’m just happy to say that it was a unanimous decision of this whole council, and we just appreciate what you (the city employees) do.”

In other business:

-The city of Columbiana will introduce its new trolley at the city’s Christmas parade Dec. 5. The parade begins at 7 p.m., and Public Works Supervisor Allen Reynolds will be at the wheel. Columbiana senior citizens will ride in the trolley, Handley said.

-The city council unanimously approved a resolution approving the funding of half of a new “Welcome to Columbiana” sign to be located on Alabama 25 west of the city.

Handley said Alabama 25 west is the only entrance that doesn’t currently have a welcome sign, and the Beautification Board approached the city about rebuilding one.

The Beautification Board will provide funds for the rest of the cost of the sign, which is estimated to cost $5,800 total, according to council member Ouida Mayfield.