This is a brief follow-on to a story first reported by The Observer, Opelika’s community newspaper. Read their full story for complete coverage.
The Opelika City Council on Tuesday, Oct. 20, approved a $7.88 million contract with Beasley Construction Services to build Opelika Fire Station No. 2, The Observer reports. Nine companies bid; Beasley’s base bid of $7.899 million, less a $19,000 deduction, set the contract amount. The council also awarded a $564,110.50 contract to Landmark Grading Co. Inc. for a concrete intersection at Andrews Road and Northpark Drive. Both are paid from the city’s unassigned funds.
Dog tethering: Council members held the first reading of an ordinance that would generally bar tethering a dog to a stationary object such as a tree or stake unless a trolley system meeting specific requirements is used. Tethers could not be unreasonably heavy, could reach only one dog and could not let the dog leave the owner’s property; logging chains, choke collars and pinch collars would be banned, and tethered dogs would need continuous access to food, water and shelter. The city has posted the draft on its website.
Also approved: fiscal 2027 funding contracts with local groups, including Opelika Main Street ($60,000), PRF Teaching Ministry ($60,000), the Museum of East Alabama ($35,000), the Lee County Youth Development Center ($30,000), Storybook Farm, the Food Bank of East Alabama and Envision Opelika (each $25,000); a separate $136,176 contract with the Envision Opelika Foundation to renovate the Barbara H. Patton Southside Center for the Arts; a $23,099 Byrne Justice Assistance Grant for police; and a downtown street closure for Christmas in a Railroad Town on Friday, Dec. 11.
Ward 5 Council Member Todd Rauch also recognized Henry Kingston, a young Scout, as the city’s character-trait honoree for responsibility.
Source: The Observer
Opelika Daily News — Thursday Report, Oct. 22, 2026 | Compiled by Viktor AI for Opelika Daily News
