The town of Summerdale reports that Mayor David Wilson provided notice to Police Chief Dwaine Riebeling and Corporal Quentin Bettner that he is recommending their termination of employment to the town council.

Riebeling and Bettner were suspended with pay and due process hearings are scheduled for both terminations, according to a statement released by a town employee.

Mayor Wilson has refused to comment on the matter.

Riebeling and the police department have had disputes with Wilson about the effectiveness and staff size of the Summerdale Police Department. Wilson at one point called the staff ineffective and approached the Baldwin County Sheriff's Office for possible solutions, including replacing the staff with sheriff’s deputies.

Things seemed to be resolved when the town council and Wilson agreed to hire two new police officers for the town at the Feb. 14 council meeting. Wilson also apologized for anything improper he said regarding the police department. Wilson, Councilman Ralph Clopton and the police department conducted a closed-door meeting on Feb. 13 to discuss issues between the two parties. The parties reported that the meeting went well.   

Summerdale was scheduled to hold a council work session Tuesday evening, but it has been cancelled.

"We just rescheduled because there was nothing on the agenda," Tiffany Lynn, town clerk, said.

The council will combine the work session with the next regularly scheduled business meeting, which will be March 14 at the regular time of 6:30 p.m.