ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — A measure passed by the Robertsdale City Council at its meeting Dec. 5 stands to improve the way the city’s electrical employees are trained while saving the city money, according to city officials.

The city council approved unanimously a contract with the Electric Cities of Georgia for its lineman school.

“Right now, we are sending employees for training to Montgomery, but they will come here and train employees using our own equipment,” said Scott Gilbert, the city’s director of Public Works. “Now, all we’re getting is classroom training. It will also cost less than what we’re currently doing.”

City officials agreed that changes to the way city employees are trained is necessary as the city moves forward with upgrades to the city’s electrical system, which should be completed by the end of the year.

The council approved three bids in October, including bids for poles, transformers and pole line hardware.

The electrical system expansions, which were approved last year, include:

• Retain the 115 KV service point at the County Road 48 Substation, located just west of College Avenue.

• The East Substation, which is currently built to step down from 46 KV to 12 KV, will be dismantled, leaving the County Road 48 Substation as the only delivery point.

• All remaining downtown four KV distribution lines would be converted to 12 KV distribution lines.

• The city’s two four KV substations, the North Substation, located at St. Paul Street, just south of Michigan Street; and the South Substation, located on St. Paul Street, just south of Nebraska Street, would be dismantled using in-house labor.

• Several of the existing distribution lines would be upgraded.

The city will also begin an eight-year contract in 2018 with the Municipal Electric Association of Georgia (MEAG), which was approved in September. The offices of Electric Cities of Georgia are located in the same building as MEAG, officials said at the Dec. 5 meeting.

The contract will run through Dec. 31, 2025. The contract covers only power generation fees, not power transmission, or SEPA fees, which are fixed by federal law, said Mayor Charles Murphy.

The city will continue to contract with the Southern Company for those fees, officials said, while the new contract with MEAG should bring the city’s electrical rates back to 2012 levels.

By lowering costs and improving training, city officials hope to be able to pay their employees more money, which will allow them to keep trained employees, officials said.

“Right now we are paying around $15 per hour,” said Mayor Charles Murphy. “If we can get that up to $18 per hour, it will improve our chances of being able to keep people. If we can get it up to $20 per hour, we will definitely have a better chance of keeping people.”

The council also voted in September to approve bid results with Stewart Engineering electrical consultants, based in Anniston, for system upgrades.

In other business Dec. 5, the council:

• Agreed to donate $500 to the Robertsdale High School Naval Junior ROTC program to help with improvements to an obstacle course training facility currently being constructed at the school.

• Agreed to donate $500 to the RHS boys’ soccer team.

• Approved an ABC License for the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Banquet on Jan. 19 at the Baldwin County Coliseum.

• Approved a half-day for city employees on Dec. 30 for the Jan. 1 holiday, which falls this year on Sunday.

• Approved advertisement for bids for a 2014 TAP Grant for sidewalks on College Avenue and Fairground Road.

• Selected a consultant for construction observation required by the 2014 TAP Grant.

• Approved 2017 utility account write-offs.