Opp’s city council approved a lease agreement with Southern Quality Construction (SQC) to erect between two to three billboards in the city.

Opp Mayor John Bartholomew said the city will look at the lease agreement, and decide whether it will rent a sign from SQC.

“We’ll be able to rent a sign from him without costing the city any money, but only for rent,” Bartholomew said.

Bartholomew said the city will be leasing the property to SQC, which is owned by Don Cotton of Andalusia.

SQC will be erecting the signs for free, Bartholomew said.

As far as the terms for renting the sides of the signs, Bartholomew said the city will work out the terms with SQC, adding that only local people will advertise on the signs.

SQC owns 12 signs in the area. Most boards are 24 feet across, and 10 feet wide.

Cotton was asked about the signs’ warranty during the workshop.

“We’ll have to address them,” Cotton said. “I own them.”

Cotton said his company has a $1,000,000 umbrella policy that covers damage to the signs or caused from them.

Bartholomew said with the agreement, the city is saving $38,000 for each sign.

In other business, the council:

• approved a garbage truck lease with Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC for $222,937. The city will have to pay back the residual amount, or 50 percent, of the loan at $111,468.50;

• adopted a resolution to establish a $300,000 line of credit with Southern Independent Bank that’s up for renewal;

• adopted a TAP sidewalk improvements grant proposal to Civil Southeast LLC for engineering design and to begin work on the project;

• adopted a resolution on the AG’s opinion. Bartholomew said the city wanted to know if it had bought the billboard signs from Cotton’s company, whether the city would have to rent the signs to the citizens of Opp. Now that the city has entered into an agreement with SQC, Bartholomew said the city probably won’t use the opinion;

• declared a 1985 Ford F-150 truck as surplus; and,

• approved $14,900 of air conditioning units be installed at the police station