By STEVEN CALHOUN/Staff Writer

Montevallo schools will participate in the Kettering Foundation’s community politics research program.

The city will receive a $20,000 stipend for participating. Montevallo’s schools are part of a small set of schools selected to participate in this research, according to principal Brandon Turner.

“We’re going to be hosting forums to strengthen our educational partnerships, to really highlight what we have going on here in Montevallo and to make us stronger and better together,” Mayor Hollie Cost said.

The Kettering Foundation is a nonprofit foundation focusing on cooperative research into what makes democracy work.

In other news at the Montevallo city council:

• Bills were paid.
• A range ball picker is being purchased for the golf course. There were multiple bids, the lowest of which was a design with the wheel in front. City clerk Herman Lehman said many users of this design complained of maintenance issues, and suggested the city get the next cheapest model that had a better design. There was a $700 difference between the two models. The back wheel picker was approved for $2,743.
• The donors of $25,000 originally intended for sod improvements have requested the money be moved to the Main Street renovation fund.
• The city is continuing negotiations with Alagasco on gas prices before it renews its contract.
• The council discussed expansion of the industrial board’s oversight into retail and more. This would require much reorganization and planning, according to Lehman. The industrial board would like to become more like an economic development board, and cited similar trends in Shelby County and Alabaster as reason to make the change.