DEMOPOLIS &8212; By a unanimous vote from the City Council Thursday, Ron Few, of East Point, Ga., was named fire chief of the Demopolis Fire Department. The vote followed a recommendation that Few be named chief presented by Councilman Thomas Moore. Councilman Melvin Yelverton was not in attendance at the meeting.

Few has had 30 years of experience in fire service, including time spent working for the Washington, D.C. Fire Department. Most recently, Few has worked with his family&8217;s construction business in Fulton County.

After the council meeting, Capt. Tommy Tate, who was also interviewed by the city council for the position after a recommendation from the Personnel Committee on July 5, congratulated Few on his new position.

Tate served as interim fire chief since December 2006, when then fire chief John Davenport retired. In May, Tate stepped down as interim chief, but has continued to oversee administrative and operational duties of the department.

Shortly before recognizing the new fire chief, the council made a presentation to the family of the late Dolly Ward, who died Saturday. The council passed a resolution in honor of Ward&8217;s 22 years of service to the City of Demopolis as city clerk.

After making presentations, the council moved on to other agenda items. An issue that came up for review from the last council meeting regarded the lighting situation near the property of Bill and Kathy Robertson. The Robertsons submitted numerous complaints about the brightness of lights near their home, which is in front of the Demopolis SportsPlex property.

At the last meeting,the council decided to investigate either putting up a lower wattage bulb in the lights in question or removing them altogether. Parks and Recreation Department Director Mark Pettus said that the department currently does not have the equipment, such as a truck that would elevate his staff to the level of the light, to make any replacements for the lights.

Pettus said that in the past, they received several complaints about the area, which is a four-way stop, and which prompted them to install the lights in the first place.

Since the Robertsons came to the council, the Parks and Recreation Board has not met and was not involved in the decision for this case.

In other business, the council:

Passed a resolution to authorize a temporary bridge loan at Robertson Bank for $300,000 to pay for ongoing costs of construction at the new fire station.

Approved the issuance of bonds by the Industrial Development Board for Jackson Paper Co.

Approved the recommendation of an award from Goodwyn, Mills and Cawood for the Demopolis Scenic and Riverfront Development Phase I to Cardwell Corporation in Montgomery in the amount of $538,872 contingent upon a renegotiation of costs to $504,000.

Amended the Business License Reform Ordinance to include the license fee code for delivery businesses.