HUNTSVILLE CITY COUNCIL MINUTES Regular Meeting - July 8, 2021 - 5:30 p.m. City Council Chambers, Municipal Building Huntsville, Alabama
Members Present: Dr. Jennie Robinson, President Mr. John Meredith Mr. Bill Kling Mr. Devyn Keith (Not present for entire meeting) Ms. Frances Akridge
Mayor: Mr. Tommy Battle City Administrator: Mr. John Hamilton City Attorney: Mr. Trey Riley
The meeting was called to order by President Robinson at the time and place noted above. (Councilman Keith is not present in the Council Chambers.) President Robinson asked that the record reflect that Councilman Keith would be arriving late to the meeting, but there was a quorum present. Dr. Toussaint Williams, Pastor with Oakwood University Church, led the invocation; Councilman Kling led the Pledge of Allegiance. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Approval of Minutes. The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Council on June 24, 2021, were approved as submitted.
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President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Resolutions and Special Recognitions. President Robinson recognized Mayor Battle. Mayor Battle asked Chief McMurray to come forward for the presentation of life-saving medals. Chief McMurray asked Officer Tyler West and Officer Kendall Wagahoff to come forward, along with Sgt. Yuliya Zaremba. Chief McMurray stated that Sgt. Zaremba had put these officers in for this recognition. Chief McMurray stated that on April 20, 2021, Officer Wagahoff had been dispatched to a possible overdose on Indiana Street. He stated that the caller had advised the 911 dispatcher that a man had overdosed on heroin and collapsed, and that Officer Wagahoff had discovered the victim unresponsive and not breathing. He stated that Officer Wagahoff had immediately started chest compressions and had continued with this for several minutes, until HEMSI personnel arrived on the scene, and the paramedics had administered Narcan to revive the subject, and the subject had become conscious and was transported to the hospital, and he was alive at this time.
Chief McMurray stated that Officer Wagahoff's quick response to the actions needed at the scene had contributed to preserving the life of this individual, and at this time Officer Wagahoff would be receiving the life-saving medal to formally recognize a job well done. Chief McMurray stated that actually Officer Wagahoff would be receiving two life-saving awards at this time. He stated that the second incident had occurred with his squadmate, Officer Tyler West. He stated that on April 8, 2021, these two officers had responded to a possible overdose call on Newson Road. He stated that a man had
-3- called 911 and advised that two of his roommates were unresponsive. He continued that upon the officers arriving on the scene, they had found one man unresponsive on the couch and had quickly moved him to the floor, and Officer West had started chest compressions while Officer Wagahoff administered Narcan. Chief McMurray stated that not all of their officers had Narcan in their kits, but Officer Wagahoff was one of their field training officers. He stated that Narcan could be administered by their supervisors and field training officers, and they had them spread throughout the department so they could administer it, carefully, if needed. He stated that the man had regained consciousness, and he was transported to the hospital. He stated that the other man, unfortunately, had been pronounced dead at the scene. Chief McMurray stated that the officers' quick response and action at this scene had contributed to the preserving of life, and they were not only thankful for what these two officers had done, but he wanted to formally thank HEMSI for training their officers, as they were a vital part of what they did at the Huntsville Police Academy. He stated that the training they received in life-saving measures was like nothing he had ever received when he was coming through the academy. He stated that these were advanced life-saving procedures. He stated that the Mayor and the Council allowed them to purchase the Narcan and to get the trauma kits, and that that, along with the training through the paramedics that HEMSI provided for them, was life-saving, and it was paying benefits. Chief McMurray thanked Officer Wagahoff and Officer West for their outstanding service, and Mayor Battle presented the life-saving medals to the officers. Mayor Battle stated that one of the biggest honors they could have was by saving someone's life, and he thanked the officers for what they had done. President Robinson thanked the officers for their service and also thanked their
-4- families, noting that they were aware of the sacrifices they made as well. Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution recognizing Joy McKee for her outstanding contributions and beautification efforts for the city of Huntsville, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-592) Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson called for a roll-call vote on Resolution No. 21-592, and the following vote resulted: AYES: Kling, Meredith, Akridge, Robinson NAYS: None ABSENT: Keith President Robinson recognized Councilman Kling for the presentation. Councilman Kling stated that it was his honor to recognize an outstanding department head and employee and who he was certain would be a future Beautification Board member, Joy McKee, for what she had done in 22 years of outstanding service to the community. He stated that she had done so much in helping the neighborhoods, noting that she had put him to work on numerous neighborhood cleanups. He stated that she had also established Operation Green
Team, which was used to promote youth education programs, recycling awareness, and anti-litter campaigns. He stated that she had a great can-do attitude, and that many of the programs she had helped to create were designed to raise environmental awareness, including a phone-in hotline that allowed citizens to report littering as it happened. Councilman Kling stated that Ms. McKee had worked to create many new outdoor recreation spaces, that she had partnered with Toyota Manufacturing to
-5- create a new kayak/canoe launch site in the Flint River, to improve citizens' access to that 40-mile recreational gem, and she had added the Dallas Fanning Nature Preserve to the City's resources. He stated that she was the true essence of a servant leader, and she often encouraged employees to think and reach beyond complacency. Councilman Kling stated to Ms. McKee that it was his privilege at this time to present the resolution to her. Ms. McKee thanked the Council for the recognition, and she stated that it had been her honor and privilege to work with each of them. She stated that the Mayor had actually proclaimed a Joy McKee Day. She stated that she had worked with so many great people, and they were still calling her, and she did not mind that because she wanted to be a help to the community. Ms. McKee stated that it was only because of the employees that she had gotten to be where she was at this time, and she thanked them. Mayor Battle stated that when he had first come into office 13 years prior, Ms. McKee was head of Landscape, and she just had so much energy that they needed something to keep her busy, so they had also given her Cemetery, and then, of course, she had Green Team. He stated that as Ms. McKee was leaving, they had had to replace her with three people.
Mayor Battle stated that Ms. McKee was someone who had really taken on the work of the city and loved the city. He stated that if people wanted to see someone who would track someone down if they littered on the streets, it was Ms. McKee, that she had chased people by car, by foot, et cetera, and she had made sure the city stayed beautiful. Mayor Battle thanked Ms. McKee for all she had done for the city. President Robinson stated to Ms. McKee that they would miss her, and they were grateful for her service.
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Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution honoring Keith Atchley for his many years of service to the City of Huntsville through his accomplishments in Community Development, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-593) Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson called for a roll-call vote on Resolution No. 21-593, and the following vote resulted: AYES: Kling, Meredith, Akridge, Robinson NAYS: None ABSENT: Keith President Robinson recognized Councilman Kling. (Councilman Keith is now present in the Council Chambers.) Councilman Kling stated that Mr. Atchley was another person who had done great things for the city. He stated that everyone on the Council was very concerned about neighborhoods and making sure they had the best neighborhoods in their respective districts, as well as in the city as a whole, and Mr. Atchley was ground zero for this. He stated that he had served in many capacities, and he was ground zero as far as anything related to Code enforcement, and he would also make sure that things got to the appropriate person to be handled. He stated that because of Mr. Atchley, neighborhoods throughout the community were much better off. He stated that he had been great about helping to revitalize the city, that so many great things had taken place in neighborhoods because of Mr. Atchley's enforcement, that many great things had taken place in central neighborhoods throughout the city. Councilman Kling stated that it was bittersweet to be able to present this resolution to Mr. Atchley. He stated that they all wanted to thank Mr. Atchley so
-7- much for what he had done for the community, noting that it was all about neighborhoods, that they had to do what they could for the citizens of the community. He stated that all the Council members very much appreciated what Mr. Atchley had done over the years, and he stated that he would be greatly missed. Mr. Atchley stated he certainly appreciated this recognition of his career, noting he could not have done it without the Mayor, Mr. Hamilton, and the support of the Council. He stated that they had always had their backs, that they had a tough job, but no one had ever wavered in their support, and the job had gotten done. Mr. Atchley stated that he had always had a wonderful staff, and he certainly wanted to recognize them, noting that they were tough, resilient, that they did a good job, and they never failed. Mr. Atchley stated that he also wanted to recognize his wife, noting that he appreciated her for putting up with him through these 30 years, that she was the one who had always had the hardest job. President Robinson thanked Mr. Atchley for his service, and she stated that he would certainly be missed. President Robinson stated the next item on the agenda was Announcements. President Robinson stated that Councilman Keith was now in attendance at the meeting.
President Robinson stated that item 15.t on the agenda had been deleted. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Public Hearings to be Set. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 4.84 acres of land lying on the north side of Winchester Road and east of Bradford Lane to Highway Business C-4 District, at the August 26, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows:
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(RESOLUTION NO. 21-594) Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-594, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-595, zoning 4.84 acres of land lying on the north side of Winchester Road and east of Bradford Lane to Highway Business C-4 District. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 0.57 acre of land lying on the south side of Old Hwy 431 and east of US 431 S Hwy to Residence 1-A District, at the August 26, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-596) Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-596, and it was unanimously adopted.
Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-597, zoning 0.57 acre of land lying on the south side of Old Hwy 431 and east of US 431 S Hwy to Residence 1-A District. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced a resolution to set a public hearing on the vacation of an alley off of a portion of White Street, East Huntsville Addition, Blocks 77 & 79, 300 & 400 Blocks of Pratt Avenue, Lots 1-16, at the August 12, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows:
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(RESOLUTION NO. 21-598) Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-598, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced Resolution No. 21-599, assenting to the vacation of an alley off of a portion of White Street, East Huntsville Addition, Blocks 77 & 79, 300 & 400 Blocks of Pratt Avenue, Lots 1-16. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-600, vacating an alley off of a portion of White Street, East Huntsville Addition, Blocks 77 & 79, 300 & 400 Blocks of Pratt Avenue, Lots 1-16. (Whitfield) Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-601, vacating an alley off of a portion of White Street, East Huntsville Addition, Blocks 77 & 79, 300 & 400 Blocks of Pratt Avenue, Lots 1-16. (Damson Park Investment, L.L.C.) Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-602, vacating an alley off of a portion of White Street, East Huntsville Addition, Blocks 77 & 79, 300 & 400 Blocks of Pratt Avenue, Lots 1-16. (3T, L.L.C.)
President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was
Communications from the Public. President Robinson stated that anyone wishing to address the Council and who had signed the public communications roster prior to the meeting would be given three minutes to address the Council. She stated that each speaker shall state his or her name and address for the record. She stated that this time was provided for making comments to the City Council or bringing items to the attention of the Council relating to City business, whether or not such items were on the meeting agenda, that
-10- this was not a time to engage in dialogue with Council members or the Administration. She stated that non-agenda items that could not be addressed during a regular Council session could be referred to the City Administration, or a Council member could choose to schedule a meeting for discussion with an individual. President Robinson asked that persons please address their comments to the Chair and to refrain from making any comments regarding the good name and character of any individuals. President Robinson stated that for those persons who had not signed the roster prior to the meeting and wished to speak, a second roster was available at the front desk for persons to sign up to speak at the end of the meeting. She stated it should be noted that this would not be a time for a speaker to speak a second time. Dr. Chris Brown appeared before the Council, stating that he wanted to first thank the officers who had been recognized earlier in the meeting, and he also wanted to thank the officers who had arrested an armed suspect without any bloodshed on June 28th. He stated that they all applauded the efforts of these officers. Dr. Brown stated that the last time he appeared before the Council, he had received a little admonition from the Chair, and he was not entirely sure why, but, nonetheless, if he had come across poorly, he wanted to apologize.
Dr. Brown stated that it might have been thought that he was exaggerating, so he had brought something to this meeting to show them, noting that it might be a little bit hard to see. He displayed what he stated was an editorial cartoon that had been in "The Birmingham News" in 1967, and that depicted Dr. King as a rioter. He continued that when he had said that some speakers today sounded like their forebearers from 60 years ago, he meant that literally. Dr. Brown stated that, also, Chad Chavez was stopped in the middle of his comments for some reason. He stated that he would have to say that at times it
-11- seemed that the rules of decorum depended more on who was speaking than on what was being said. Dr. Brown stated that he really appreciated his councilman and the conversations they had had, and he even appreciated Mr. Keith, and he prayed not to end up on his Instagram feed during a meeting. He stated that he also appreciated Mr. Kling, who seemed to really listen to his constituents. Dr. Brown stated that he had thought that at this time he would say something about the City's response to the HPCAC report, but it turned out that there was not much to say, since the response was the same denial and deflection they had already heard from the City Administrator, and the so-called Actions of Response, that they would keep doing what they were doing. He stated that that was not a real action plan, nor did that response take seriously the report from the HPCAC. Dr. Brown stated that it seemed like this was a year-long, $650,000 joke to the City. He stated that in another sick joke, it was reported that support for a murderer ran so deep that the Chief might have been soliciting leave donations from officers. He stated that "disgust" was not a strong enough word to describe his reaction to this. Dr. Brown stated, concerning the topic of the HPCAC, that he hoped something would be taken up for consideration at this meeting, although he had heard that that might not happen. He stated that he hoped the proposed changes to the HPCAC would be taken up and be supported by all of the Council members. He continued that a lot needed to be done in that regard, but at least this would be a step in the right direction. Dr. Brown stated that there was another ordinance change on the agenda for this meeting, concerning Council bylaws and meeting agendas. He stated that item 13.a on the agenda appeared to be nothing but a blatant restriction of the public's ability to address the Council. He stated that with the Chair's past history of
-12- restricting public comment on the School Board and her misleading answer to a speaker's question concerning the change at the prior meeting, which he noted was at the 42-minute mark on the video if someone would like to go back and watch it, it was hard to see this as anything other than an attempt to quash public input. He continued that he completely opposed Section 9 of the proposed bylaw changes. Dr. Brown stated that hearing from constituents less was never the right direction for City government, and if they were tired of hearing from the public on certain issues, they might want to spend more time addressing their concerns rather than trying to avoid hearing them. He stated that he would guarantee them that whatever changes might or might not happen to the bylaws, they were not going to stop hearing from CCJR until real reforms were enacted. Dr. Brown stated that he had also noticed that the ordinance change was updated on this date without changing the revision number, which he noted was just poor configuration control. Dr. Brown thanked the Council and asked that God bless them all. Ms. Sarah Colletti appeared before the Council, stating that at the prior Council meeting she had spoken concerning the bus system, and this week she saw that they were discussing further limiting access to speak at City Council meetings. She stated that the Council might be aware of this, but for persons who had driven to this meeting and did not require the bus, she wanted to let them know that the Huntsville bus ran until 9 o'clock, and that one had to be at the bus depot no later than 8 o'clock in order to catch a ride home. She stated that for those who relied on the bus, to conduct their business and to attend City Council meetings, there would be little to no chance they would be able to do so. Ms. Colletti stated that the update that had been offered earlier in the day concerning item 13.a on the agenda said that some of the City employees lived outside
-13- the city limits and arrived at work by 6 a.m. or even earlier. She stated that she fully supported the ability of people who lived in Madison, as well as Limestone County and Morgan County, to come to Huntsville and work as City employees, but she did not understand why it was that they would not allow such persons to speak in front of the Council. Ms. Colletti stated that she appreciated the Council's time, and she hoped they would address her concerns later in the meeting. President Robinson thanked Ms. Colletti for her comments. She stated that a couple of the speakers had mentioned that there were items on the Council's agenda regarding restricting comments, and that was certainly not the case. She stated that when the Council got to those items, they would see that there would actually be two opportunities for persons to speak, and they would continue to have three minutes to speak, that they would not limit anyone from speaking to the Council who wanted to speak. President Robinson stated that she believed Ms. Colletti's reference to City employees was from a media release that had been attached to the agenda items which referenced the hours the employees put in, that it did not have anything to do with public comment.
President Robinson stated that they would discuss these things later in the meeting. Ms. Catherine Knowles appeared before the Council, expressing appreciation to Mayor Battle for his outstanding leadership of the city, noting that Huntsville loved him, which was why he had received 80 percent of the vote in the last election. She thanked him and Downtown Huntsville, Inc., for making downtown incredibly beautiful and welcoming for all to enjoy. Ms. Knowles thanked Chief McMurray for keeping the streets safe, especially
-14- during the riots the prior June. She stated that as citizens, they were grateful that no building had burned, no business was looted, and no one had gotten hurt. She stated that she hoped that if something like that occurred again, they would treat the law breakers the same: spray them, make them cry and go home to their mommies. She stated that otherwise, all of the time, effort, and taxpayer money they had spent to revitalize downtown would have been wasted, and they would go back to the dark cave downtown Huntsville had been 10 years prior. Ms. Knowles thanked President Robinson and President Pro Tem Meredith for reaching out with genuine concern and having Huntsville Police’s back. Ms. Knowles stated to Councilman Kling that he had claimed that someone else had made him approve the $655,000 budget for outside counsel, and that he was only complying with others. She stated that he had a voice, and he should use it and not follow the lead of others. Ms. Knowles stated to Councilwoman Akridge that her email stated: "I was a teacher at one time and learned to ignore bad behavior we don't want to see and reward behavior we do want to see." She stated that this type of teaching was precisely why the education system was failing. She stated that Huntsville Police could use another 125 officers to keep up with Huntsville's population growth. She stated that she did not believe Councilwoman Akridge's Washington, D.C., views would support more police, and she believed her constituents would figure that out. Ms. Knowles stated that as a book author, she had promoted her books at different festivals and venues in Huntsville and surrounding areas for the past six years, and as a way of saying "thank you" to her readers, she had given over 100 free walking tours to the historic locations in downtown Huntsville that were in her books. She stated that as a self-appointed volunteer ambassador for the beautiful downtown, she often promoted new businesses and restaurants to these groups and
-15- clubs on her tours, as well as on social media. She stated that she was mentioning all this because up until this time, she had always felt safe. She stated that this was not Portland, that this was Huntsville, a welcoming, hospitable melting pot of people from all over the world. She stated that they wanted their streets back, and she asked that the Council please pass laws that protected innocent citizens and businesses and to stop giving the rioters and thugs hiding behind BLM banners a pass. She stated that the police had assured her that there would be more presence downtown. She asked, since they had seen the video of Black Lives Matter on June 11th, what had they done to protect the streets and make her feel safe again. Mr. Remus Bowden appeared before the Council, stating that he was a taxpaying civilian of District 5. Mr. Bowden stated that he wanted to address a few things at this time. He stated that he could speak on Ms. Knowles' barrage of foolishness, but he was going to stick to the facts. Mr. Bowden stated that the fact was that with the change that would be happening, it was granted that they would have two opportunities to speak, and it was granted that the opportunity the Council would like for them to speak in would be at the end of the day, when everybody was done, and gone home, because they could not work past six, or whatever the case might be. He stated that this was a suppression, and it was no surprise, that when accountability was not their priority, anything that challenged that seemed to become a threat to their existence. He stated that it was a good idea to quiet all of them, even the rhetoric that came out of some of the other people who were present, to just quiet them all down, that there was no need for any type of accountability here. Mr. Bowden stated that they were continuing to ask for police reform, and the Council spent a lot of time getting other ordinances passed, and they had actually had
-16- more than a year to do something, but nothing had been done, that his group was still waiting. He stated that the Council had now picked up the torch and had started trying to move pieces around to get things done, when they had actually had a year to be doing these things. He stated that when this whole HPCAC report had been done with, the Council members could have said, "Hey, this is what we have to move on, and this is what we are moving on.” He stated that they had done none of that. Mr. Bowden stated their priority was, as his group had all stated and had known, new development, and they continued to work in that vein, and he got it. He stated that bringing in more dollars was great, but he asked who was going to want to come to Huntsville if they had police officers who were spraying these BLM wannabe Portland protesters here in the city. Mr. Bowden stated that he appreciated the $650,000 they had spent on the report, but he asked what had come of it, what were they doing with it. He stated that they had given a report back, and no one had been held accountable. He stated that fingers were pointed, recommendations were made, but, again, they were still in the same place they were the very first time he had spoken before the Council, that nothing had been done. He stated that there was only one thing that had changed, and he would like to thank the Mayor for taking down the statue. He stated that that had happened, and he appreciated that, that they had made a move on that, but, again, everything else was still in the same place that it was. He stated they were elected by the people to do something for the people, but the only people who were benefitting were those who were putting money in their direction for the things they were considering to be the highest priority. Mr. Bowden asked that they make police reform a priority since it was a danger and a threat to those who looked like him. He stated that they could continue to go after those dollars as well, but he asked that they put the people above the profits and
-17- work toward actually doing something to make some meaningful reform. He asked that they stop paying those who were convicted of murder with taxpayer dollars. He stated that they could make Huntsville this place and no longer this black hole, or whatever place it had been 10 years prior. Ms. Angela Curry appeared before the Council, stating that she wanted to talk about what she believed was item 15.e on the agenda, and she also wanted to ask some questions about item 15.h from the May 27th agenda, noting that the City Attorney was going to seek an opinion from the State Attorney General about a police records accounting system. She stated that she wanted to know if there was a data repository that held the results and updates of agenda items or if they would have to email the Council about each individual item when they had a question. Ms. Curry stated that she had noticed that Ms. Knowles had addressed individual people on the dais, and she thought she had read in the bylaws that that was not allowed, but there was no call for decorum. Ms. Curry stated that for her entire adult life, she had listened to elected officials speak about a lack of citizen involvement and input on a myriad of things, especially when it came to parent participation in public education, and then input regarding matters related to the city. She stated that she recalled the Mayor saying something about people came, and they checked a box, and then they did not show up anymore. She stated that she had watched election cycle after election cycle of minimum involvement in local elections, where barely 10 percent of the population had participated in that mayoral election that Ms. Knowles had mentioned where over 80 percent had voted for Tommy Battle. Ms. Curry stated that as a result of this, she had resolved long ago that she would be an active citizen as it related to being involved, but she had also in that time frame seen where it was like there was this catch-22, like there had been an
-18- abusive cycle, where citizens were admonished for not giving their input, and then when citizens began to give their input, they were admonished or discredited, or actually even looked at as being annoying because they were showing up and giving their input. Ms. Curry stated that her question regarding the ordinance about the change in public comment was that the agenda came out Tuesday at 5 p.m., and persons had to then sign up an hour before the meeting versus calling in. She stated that she had just left the hospital, to pick up someone, and she had come to this meeting, and if she had had to be here an hour before, she would not have been able to participate. She stated that the hindrances that were involved with leaving the Arsenal and going through traffic, trying to get down by 4:30, and then sitting until whenever the meeting would be over were not conducive for citizen involvement. She stated that citizens were not being compensated, that they were in attendance at the meeting because they cared about the city, just as Ms. Knowles did. Ms. Curry stated that the citizens did not necessarily agree with them all the time, but that did not mean that they should not be valued and their voices prioritized. She stated that she just wanted to know what kind of examples they had of City business being interrupted, and/or laws. She asked if they could provide that information, from a data standpoint, or if they would just say things, and then the citizens had to just go with whatever they said. President Robinson thanked Ms. Curry for her comments. President Robinson stated that she understood Ms. Curry wanted information concerning item 15.h on the May 27th Council agenda., and she stated that if Ms. Curry would send an email concerning the item number and her specific questions, they would get that information for her. Ms. Jackie Reed appeared before the Council, expressing appreciation to them
-19- for allowing public input, noting that she thought that was a great, great thing. She stated that she had heard rumors that they were about to change the ordinance and put the people on the tail end of it. She stated that if they did, the citizens wanted to be the ones to question all their presentations and what they were doing, that they did not want them to just sit up there and vote on things, and that if they left the citizens to the end of it, then they would get to know what was going on. She stated that it was a two-way street, any way they looked at it. Ms. Reed stated that she was very sad to see Joy McKee leaving the City, after 22 years. She stated that she had been great, that she had had over 170 employees, that she had had the cemetery, all the grass, and everything. She stated that she would like to see if the Mayor would hire her three days a week and let her help this new guy. She stated that she had already seen the hillside, and it was not going to please anybody, so it would be good if they would put Ms. McKee in to work two or three days a week and let this gentleman know that they cared, and they wanted to keep him. She stated that Ms. McKee had done a great job. Ms. Reed stated that the Coke property would never leave her mind. She stated that she wanted all the paperwork on what they had done over there, that she just wanted it in her hands. Ms. Reed stated that she was hearing that the parking garage behind her was going to be torn down in September. She stated that Dale Strong wanted to keep that parking garage, and she asked if any of them had ever heard that, if he had talked to them about it. She stated that he had nowhere for people to park. She stated that she understood they were going to move City Hall over there, and she wanted to know what they were going to do with the property City Hall was on at this time. She stated that if they did not find out and tell the public, she was going to have to do something drastic, make a drastic mistake. She stated that the people wanted to know why they
-20- were not building the City Hall back on the same property. She stated that it was too good to be torn down and given to some of their friends, because that was what they were doing with a lot of this property when it was called surplus. She stated that she knew what they were doing, that they were setting their friends up in business. Ms. Reed stated that she had two or three more problems, and that one of them was the streets, and then there was traffic, roads, and speeders. She stated that persons would just run over you in this city, and she asked that they all be careful because persons were speeding like crazy. She stated that she did not blame the police officers for not wanting to give a ticket, that persons took on the police officers, and they did not want to do what was right, that they did not respect their uniform, that they wanted to talk back to them and fight. She stated that it was a two-way street out there, and those cops had personalities just like everybody else did. Ms. Reed stated that they needed to do something about the speeding. Ms. Reed stated to Councilman Kling that she knew he was going to do something about the roads. Ms. Reed stated that she hated to be so bad and so mean, but she had been coming to Council meetings for 30 years, and she was not going to quit any time soon. Mr. Justin Weil appeared before the Council, stating that he would like to take this moment to thank the City Council for letting him speak in opposition to the amendments proposed for Divisions 2 and 3 of Article III of the City Council Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville. Mr. Weil stated that he would first say that these amendments sent a clear message to the people, that they sent the message that the City Council did not want to hear from them, and it also sent a message that the elected officials did not want anything to do with them until the very end of everything. Mr. Weil stated that it was disgusting and insulting that these amendments had
-21- been proposed and put forward, and he believed if these amendments were passed, the Council members should take a pay cut. Mr. Weil stated that he would like to remind the Council members that they were elected officials, there to represent the people, and they could all be replaced with one simple election. Mr. Weil stated that the last time he had checked, this country was a bastion of liberty and freedom, not a place of corruption and authoritarianism. Ms. Tiffany Noel appeared before the Council, stating that she was appearing before the Council representing the Republican Women of Huntsville, the largest Republican Women's Club in the state of Alabama, with 320 members. She stated that she was representing a huge group of Republican conservative women in Huntsville. Ms. Noel stated that as Republicans, they believed in the Constitution, the First Amendment, that they believed in freedom of speech and the right to assemble and the right to petition the government for the redress of grievances. She stated that they believed in protecting speech, even speech they disagreed with. Ms. Noel stated that the prior year, they had watched with great concern as cities around the nation burned, the streets were full of violence, and businesses were looted. She continued that while they strongly supported the right of allowing protests by all citizens, and they were glad that in Huntsville those citizens were allowed that opportunity, they were grateful to Chief McMurray and Sheriff Turner for shutting that down when they felt it was becoming dangerous. Ms. Noel stated that as Republican women, they supported law and order, and they supported the police, that they did not believe in defunding the police but in funding them more. She stated that they believed the vast majority of those police were heroes who ran toward danger, allowing the rest of them to run away to safety. Ms. Noel stated that she was familiar, from working in politics, with the concept
-22- of only hearing from people who were upset, and she was just in attendance at this meeting to say thank you, and thank you to the Huntsville Police, and to ask them to keep up the good work. Mr. Alberto Duarte appeared before the Council, stating that he did not have a complaint but, rather, a kind request. Mr. Duarte stated the last time he had come before the Council, on April 22 of the current year, that right after his presentation, he had been asked to close the loop with Mr. Shane Davis, who was the representative from the Planning Department. He stated that he had gone outside in the corridor with Mr. Davis, and they had spoken for about an hour, and they had exchanged emails and phone numbers, and Mr. Davis had promised him the following: to have the Vanderbilt neighborhood road resurfaced in the current year, during the summer; to provide some funds for the installation of drainage pipes for Monroe Street, at the opposite side where the proposed MAPCO station on Governors and the Parkway would be; to work with the right authorities to resolve the issue of closing the back access to the parking lot of the Baumhower's Victory Grille, which connected to the Vanderbilt Drive neighborhood; to expedite the request they had for the construction of the sidewalks around the Vanderbilt neighborhood. Mr. Duarte stated that he had lost contact with Mr. Davis since that time, that he had not had a chance to communicate with him since that date, noting that this was not because he had not had a chance to look for him. He stated that he believed Mr. Davis had dozens of voice messages that he had recorded, and that the messages were in English. He stated that he had sent emails, and he had never received a response, and these were written in English as well. He stated that at this time he was coming before the Council to verify with them if Mr. Davis had the same job, and if he had not been on vacation since the day he had met him.
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Mr. Duarte stated that he was not supposed to be at the Council meeting, but he was really concerned. He asked if he had said anything that had hurt Mr. Davis, if he had done anything wrong. He stated that, seriously, this was embarrassing, that this should not have happened. He stated that perhaps Mr. Davis or the department needed additional assistants, that perhaps Mr. Davis needed to delegate more. He stated that whatever the situation might be, that office needed to improve its service. President Robinson stated to Mr. Duarte that his time had expired. President Robinson stated that Mr. Davis was in attendance at the meeting, that he was the Director of Urban and Economic Development, and he was one of their finest employees, and he did remarkable work in the community. President Robinson recognized Mr. Davis. Mr. Davis stated that he was aware this was not the time for comment so he would be very quick. He stated that he had spoken with Mr. Duarte on numerous occasions, and the reason he had not taken these requests any further was because Mr. Duarte and the neighborhood had filed an appeal, through the courts, concerning the MAPCO situation, and with that being ongoing, the City did not want to do anything in the neighborhood to affect that case, so they were having to let that matter play out before they looked at other things in the neighborhood. He stated that this was the reason they had kind of cut off contact, and he had shared that during their last conversation. President Robinson thanked Mr. Davis for the clarification of the situation. President Robinson stated to Mr. Duarte that it would not be appropriate for Mr. Davis to have further communication with him until his court case was finalized, that at that time that communication could resume.
Councilman Keith called for a point of order, stating that this was a good moment of comparison. He stated that recently they had heard about a statement
-24- made about one of the department heads, and this was a comparable perspective about the issues of a department head. He stated that Mr. Duarte had gone on for three minutes, saying the name. He stated that he just wanted to be sure they were being consistent with statements they made to the public, that they had stopped individuals for saying names of department heads. President Robinson thanked Councilman Keith, noting that she appreciated the correction. Councilwoman Akridge stated that, also, as well as not just saying names but using clarity on the shaming of somebody rather than simply asking for help to reach this person. President Robinson recognized Councilman Kling. Councilman Kling stated that if Mr. Davis could not talk to Mr. Duarte, he wondered if the City Attorney or someone in his office could communicate with the attorney, so at least the attorney for that neighborhood would be aware of what was going on, since there was a lawsuit. President Robinson asked Mr. Riley what options Mr. Duarte had to communicate with the City. Mr. Riley stated that if Mr. Duarte needed to communicate, if at all, with the City, he should do so through his lawyer if they were involved in litigation. He stated that that would be his recommendation. He continued that he would also be precluded from speaking directly with Mr. Duarte, that he was represented by counsel, and he was involved in an adverse setting with the City of Huntsville, so he would not want to do things the wrong way. He stated that if there was a lawyer representing Mr. Duarte in that matter, he could certainly have that lawyer contact him, and whatever discussion could occur would happen then. Councilman Kling stated that he believed the issue was a civil issue not against
-25- the City, if that made any difference. He stated that they would let the lawyers work that out. President Robinson stated that that was what they needed to do. Mr. Tom Borcher appeared before the Council, stating that he had some photos to present to the Council. President Robinson asked Councilman Kling if he would get those from Mr. Borcher, and she stated that they would see that the Council members would get them. Mr. Borcher stated that he was on the Board of a homeowners' association, the Heatherwood Townhomes Home Owners' Association, located on Bailey Cove Road. Mr. Borcher stated that the issue he wanted to address was the cable installation program throughout the city. He stated that the cable companies directly impacted the safety of the community in the way they left cables after installation. He stated that he had been trying for years to get the cable companies to bury the cables after they installed them, but to no avail. He stated that the problem was that the cable companies made their money by selling the cable services to a customer and installing it, and once that was done, they had no financial incentive to come back and bury the cable they had installed. Mr. Borcher stated that the photographs he had passed out to the Council were examples of what existed at their complex for several months, and that it happened year after year, every time someone got a new cable installation. Mr. Borcher stated that over the past few years, he had spoken to many City officials, including Dr. Robinson, who had been kind enough to hear him out, and he would say that within a week of talking to her, 80 percent of their cable problem had gone away, but the 20 percent still lived. Mr. Borcher stated that he had also spoken with the City’s “cable guy,” as he
-26- understood it. He stated that he wanted them to know that he had done his homework before coming before them at this stage of the game. Mr. Borcher stated that the message he had been getting from pretty much everyone he had spoken to was that the installation problem with the cable companies was a well-known and citywide problem, that it was not strictly with his townhomes, that he understood this was a condition that was all over the city. Mr. Borcher stated that he would like to present a proposal. He stated he understood that the franchise agreement with the cable companies might be in a redrafting stage, in anticipation of when the cable companies' contracts expired. He continued that he would hope that with this new contract there would be some teeth placed in it, such as, for example, a $100 fine for every day they did not bury the cable after a seven-day period after installation. He stated that they would install the cable, and they would have seven days to bring their crew back and bury the cable, and if they did not, then a $100 per day penalty. He stated that he did not know the legalities of this, but this was his proposal. Mr. Borcher stated that this was a citywide problem, that he knew every district faced this, that he had talked to enough people. He stated that individual complaints were just not working, that the customer service reps were happy to take the complaints, but this needed the collective power of the City Council and the Mayor.
Ms. Emma Steelman appeared before the Council, stating that she first wanted to say thank you to Councilman Meredith, Mr. Erwin, and CRO Alexander for their willingness to meet with her and some of her friends to discuss issues they had witnessed concerning how the homeless were treated within the city, and to also talk about the solutions she and her friends had proposed and that they were very excited about. She stated that she looked forward to talking with them more in the future. Ms. Steelman stated she was once again disheartened, along with many other
-27- voters in the city, with the daily headlines of horrific decisions being made by the City, the hateful and insensitive words made by many of the Council members that were directed to citizens, and their sheer stubbornness in not listening to voters. She stated that they were all there because they wanted the job, that they had run for office, and the whole point of the job was to work with citizens, work for the citizens, listen to their concerns, and then build the type of Huntsville they were all dreaming of. Ms. Steelman stated that the irony was that only two of them actually seemed to maintain that job description, that the others demeaned, talked down to, and insulted the intelligence of their constituents any and every time a concern was brought up. She stated that they should be ashamed of themselves. She continued that it was honestly embarrassing when she had her friends emailing them and then getting the same response that she did. She stated that gaslighting would only get them so far, that if they had to resort to insulting people and groups in their responses to voters, maybe they should be reflecting on why they had to demean others in order to defend the resolutions and ordinances they were proposing. Ms. Steelman stated that she had brought to them concerns on the topic of the public comment section in the proposed bylaws ordinance, and she wanted to dive in a little bit more about some of the problems she was worried about. Ms. Steelman stated that shuffling the order in which they did things was not going to shorten the meeting times, that it was just going to rearrange them. She stated that if they put public comments at the end, then they were completely stopping themselves from being able to respond directly to the comments within the same meeting period time. She stated that pushing public comments to the end would also have a negative impact on those who had responsibilities such as caretaking for children and the elderly, those with conditions that affected mobility, and those who were disabled, such as herself. She stated that people like her could not sit for
-28- extended periods of time, for example, to the very end of the meetings. Ms. Steelman stated that she got that there were a handful of good things in this ordinance, but the negative ones could not be ignored, nor should they be passed. She stated that they were supposed to be working in the best interest of the public, and they had not asked for this ordinance at all, and they were not asking to be pushed to the very end of meetings, making it harder for people to participate in the betterment of the city. She stated that this should be welcomed and encouraged, not punished and put at the back of the line. She stated that all the persons present who were engaged wanted Huntsville to grow better and to thrive, that they were not a hindrance, and they did not appreciate being treated as such. Ms. Steelman stated that she was asking that the Council not vote for and support the rearranging and limitation of public comments. Ms. Steelman stated that, for future consideration, she would also ask that they all go to sensitivity training. She stated that she had had multiple conversations during the week with many of them, and it was clear from the derogatory speech that she and others had received that this type of training was greatly needed. Mr. Jordan Steelman appeared before the Council, stating that he was going to echo Remus Bowden, in talking about priorities. He stated that the City's actions as of late had been interesting and very telling as to priorities. He stated that they had made strides in the development of City services, that they had been proposing new plans for Joe Davis, the Coke factory lot, Mill Creek, the amphitheater, City Hall, the FBI and HPD shooting range, the HPD training facilities, and some hiring initiatives for the City and HPD. He stated that what he could not help but notice in these things was the willingness of the Council to talk about, get involved in, and legislate for these issues, and the willingness to take credit and glee in the good things going on, the exciting things going on, but he stated the reality was that they did not prioritize
-29- listening to and solving problems. He stated that all this development was cool, and they all felt really good about it, but he asked what about the issues that lingered: police brutality, housing instability, the widening income gap, diversity, mental health, and wellness programs, just to name a few areas. Mr. Steelman stated that the prior year, they had had protests that were wrongly and egregiously dispersed; two separate brutality incidents that were recorded by bystanders; multiple stories of police harassment in these chambers; an officer convicted of murder; and the promotions of police captains to deputy chiefs within HPD, one of whom had defended the convicted murderer's actions on the stand. Mr. Steelman stated that he knew what would happen in their comments to the public, that they would quote WellStone, the Continuum of Care, CIT training, and the CNI grant right back at him and dismiss his concerns, but the fact of the matter was that they had not addressed any of the specific concerns he had mentioned. He stated that they were not prioritizing solving the hard, controversial issues the citizens repeatedly brought to them, that, in fact, they were at this time trying to make access to speak in this chamber about those issues more difficult, through bylaw changes in item 13.a. He stated that they were actively trying to stop hearing about how they had a salaried, convicted murderer on the City payroll, and potentially on PFL and/or
FMLA leave. He stated that they were trying to repress those who would remind them that multiple citizens were brutalized by HPD this past year, that they were trying to silence those persons who promoted meaningful change about any issue that did not help the business of the City. Mr. Steelman stated that if they wanted them to stop, changing the rules was not going to make it better, that it was going to make it so much worse for them. He stated that to make it stop, they should solve the issues.
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Mr. Steelman stated that the following was what they wanted: body cam ordinances; fire the convicted murderer; HPCAC reform; police brutality to be addressed systemically; IA and IRB reform; homeless services to be improved; a homeless bill of rights; DEI funding; affordable housing, et cetera. He stated that this was the same stuff they had said all year, the same issues they had spent their time researching and relaying implemental solutions to them, in this chamber and in private meetings. Mr. Steelman stated that if they wanted them to stop, they should actually do their jobs, that they should stop obstructing what was right and get their priorities straight because theirs were not changing. Ms. Tia Turner appeared before the Council, stating that she wanted to thank Councilman Meredith, CRO Alexander, and Mr. Erwin for meeting with them over the last two weeks. She stated that they had been able to cover a lot of ground, do a lot of research. Ms. Turner stated that she was appearing before the Council at this time to just ask for their support for some of the plans they had talked about with Councilman Meredith. She stated that they had some really great things they had been planning and researching that were working in other cities and states. She stated that they had the ability to render homelessness almost rare, brief, and nonrecurring if the
Council members had the willpower and the appetite to do so. She stated that there was a lot to be done, noting that they had been just putting band-aids on the issue of homelessness, with providing nonprofits with funding that was not necessarily trying to eradicate homelessness. She stated that they could do a lot more, and she was urging them to get a sense of urgency on this.
Ms. Turner stated that, also, they had the eviction moratorium that would be ending at the end of the month, and there were landlords who were not accepting
-31- housing vouchers, so they were asking that they encourage those landlords to accept those vouchers. She stated that there was a lot they could be doing, that she was excited for what the City could actually get done as far as social issues. Ms. Turner stated that when she came back from law school, she planned on raising a family in the city, so she was working toward making sure this was a great place for her future family. Ms. Turner stated that she had something she wanted to read quickly, and she read as follows: "When it comes to homelessness, I hope tents are replaced with homes, band-aids are replaced with health care, and attention overwhelms displacement. May we learn to embrace this beloved community without feeling they are not a part of the whole community." Mr. Harold Kemp appeared before the Council, stating that he would like to address his councilman, Bill Kling, in District 4. He stated that he just wanted to congratulate him for being a great politician, a great person that could be called on. He stated that America had failed the people with their politicians, that they lied to them every day, that they treated them less than human. He stated that Councilman Kling had really answered the call, that they talked about how they were going to restore their community. He stated that some people were getting in touch with Councilman Kling that were not even in his district.
Mr. Kemp stated that to hear the comments spoken, all he could think about was there so much racism, and he always called it out every time he saw it. Mr. Kemp asked why the Council was even having an ordinance about the meeting of the City Council, why that was even on the agenda. He stated that it was a free-speech opportunity, that Ms. Reed said she had been doing it for 30 years, and then all of a sudden, they wanted to do this when minorities and lower income people were coming before the Council to speak their voice. He stated that there was no
-32- reason to put an ordinance in if it had been that way for 30 years. He stated that now that certain people were doing this, they wanted to change it. He stated that this just showed how heartless they were about the speakers' emotions, that it was like the Council took them as a joke. Mr. Kemp stated that he had called out the Director of Recreation, Steve Ivey, who did not want to do anything for minorities, and they had called decorum on that, that they had said he could not talk about the Mayor any more, that he could not do those things, but then Ms. Knowles came in and went straight at it, and they did not say a word. He asked how he was supposed to believe that was not racism. He stated that Mr. Brown came in from McMullen Cove and pressed an issue, and he was stopped in 1.3 minutes, and someone went out and talked to him, because he was rich and white. He stated that he did not get it, that they had to explain that to him. Mr. Kemp reiterated that he wanted to thank Councilman Kling, and he stated to him that he saw that he was going to get a trip to D.C., and he asked if when he went there he would ask President Biden to cut the reparations check for him, because if he thought he was not black enough to vote for him, he thought it was time to cut that check. He stated that he was tired of playing with Democrats, that they abused the emotions of Black people to get them to vote for them, telling them that they were so repressed, that they were so this, when they were as strong as they had ever been, that they had come from slavery, from syphilis, and all these other things, and they could still be adverse, come through all this adversity. He stated that Councilman Kling could use the City funds to go to D.C., and he wanted him to tell President Biden that he wanted him to cut that check. Councilman Kling stated that if he saw President Biden, that would be the first thing he would raise with him. Mr. Kemp stated that there was an election that was coming up in 2022, and he
-33- stated that there had once been a councilman named Richard Showers who had ignored them as well, and now there was a young man named Devyn Keith there, and there could be a young man named Harold Kemp there. Mr. William Honea appeared before the Council, stating that he lived on Barcody Road in Huntsville, Alabama. He stated that he had not written down anything to come and speak at this time, that he had wanted to come and speak to the Council members and to thank them for having an open-forum meeting. He stated that he wanted to speak to the Mayor and all of them and just speak from his heart. Mr. Honea stated that he had first come to the city in 1988, that he had looked at the city as an opportunity to come to Alabama from Tennessee, where he had grown up, a hundred miles from Huntsville, to work. He stated that he had not had to, but he had chosen to. He stated that in 1989, he had come down and operated a company for 10 years, a Fortune 500 company, and the entire time he wanted to move to Huntsville. He stated that he lived in Scottsboro and drove to Huntsville for 10 years, that he had worked here, in all of North Alabama. He stated that it had meant a great deal to him to move to Huntsville. He stated that he had gotten the opportunity to move to Alabama in the year 2000, and he had moved to Scottsboro because that was where he had initially set up his business. He stated that he was operating there, and he had enjoyed Scottsboro, enjoyed Alabama, but he loved Huntsville, that he always wanted to be in Huntsville because everybody knew Huntsville was where the world was coming to, that it was where the business part of Alabama was, the smart people, the educated people, the kind and loving people. Mr. Honea stated that in 2007, he had opened a business in Huntsville, and he still had it to this day, that he operated in the city of Huntsville. He stated that he was very proud to say that he was here, that he was very proud of what the Council did, noting that he knew it was not an easy job. He stated that he wanted to thank the
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Mayor, and he wanted to thank the Police Chief for what he did, noting that it was not an easy job that he had. He stated that, by any means, it was not easy to have to deal with people in a riot situation, that had complaints. He stated that they all wanted to get along, but they all had to be respectful. Mr. Honea thanked the Council for allowing him to speak, and he thanked the Mayor and Chief McMurray. Mr. Chad Chavez appeared before the Council, stating that he wanted to speak at this time about the proposed change to the bylaws because he was concerned about the steps being taken by the City to eliminate voices it did not want to hear. He stated that he had seen this escalate over the past few weeks, from the overapplication of decorum rules, to stop people from talking about decisions made by HPD, despite adherence to Robert's Rules of Order, to the Mayor's office talking about limiting access to protest permits. He stated that they were seeing a city that not only refused to address its citizens but preferred not to see or hear them. Mr. Chavez stated that now there was a proposed change to the Council bylaws that would restrict access to signing up to speak, both via time and method, and kick non-agenda public comments to the end of the meeting. He stated that initially the pushback was that these public meetings were for doing the business of the City, not for public comment. He stated that the idea that public comments were not City business was frankly farcical. He stated that the amendment altered a section titled "Order of Business." Mr. Chavez stated that when people called for police reform, they were talking about the largest personnel expense in the City's annual budget. He stated that if it was a matter of stewardship of public resources, these were things that were important, even if they could not convince a member of the Council to create an agenda item like someone building a building might. He continued that then came the
-35- idea that, actually, citizens did not need a forum for public redress because they could just call or email or meet with their representatives. He stated that this was not enough, that public comment was important because it added accountability to the things the Council members said. He stated that frequently the things citizens were told in private by members of the Council and by the City were directly contradicted later by the public comments these persons made. He stated that he had experienced this, that the Rosa Parks Committee had experienced it, and they had seen it behind the ever-changing reasoning for keeping a convicted murderer on the payroll, which he had read earlier in the day had changed from a constitutional issue to an FMLA issue that persons could donate hours to. He stated that they had also seen this in the promises to review an HPCAC report that remained largely unaddressed. Mr. Chavez stated that sunlight was a powerful disinfectant, and that getting comments from the Council after public comments was important so that citizens would know they were being heard, that it was important to get the Council members on the record. Mr. Chavez stated that he had reached out to the Council members through email a lot during the week, asking them to vote down this proposal, and he hoped that what they had heard from people concerning this would really make them consider that they would be cutting off access to citizens, whether they were poor, whether they were disabled, or whether they just worked at night, or worked a little bit later than when these meeting started, that what this amendment would do would be to make it harder for all those people to participate in the City. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Board Appointments to be Voted on.
Councilman Meredith read and introduced a resolution to appoint Sally Warden to the Huntsville Sports Commission, City Council Appointment, for a
-36- three-year term to expire April 14, 2024, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-603) Councilman Meredith moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-603, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced a resolution to reappoint Lisa Shedd to the Animal Services Advisory Committee, Place 4, for a three-year term to expire July 8, 2024, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-604) Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-604, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution to appoint James Lomax to the University of Alabama in Huntsville Public Educational Building Authority, for of a partial term to expire November 8, 2021, as follows:
(RESOLUTION NO. 21-605) Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-605, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilman Meredith read and introduced a resolution to appoint Greg Brown
-37- to the University of Alabama in Huntsville Public Educational Building Authority, for a partial term to expire November 10, 2025, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-606) Councilman Meredith moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-606, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Board Appointment Nominations. President Robinson stated that Councilwoman Akridge and Councilman Kling were nominating John Johnson for reappointment to the Von Braun Center Board of Control, for a four-year term to expire August 27, 2025. President Robinson stated that Councilwoman Akridge and Councilman Kling were nominating William Sullins for reappointment to the Von Braun Center Board of Control, for a four-year term to expire August 27, 2025. President Robinson stated that Councilwoman Akridge was nominating Charlie Bonner for reappointment to the Museum Board of the City of Huntsville, for a six-year term to expire August 13, 2027.
President Robinson stated that Councilman Kling was nominating Anne Burkett for appointment to the University of Alabama in Huntsville Public Educational Building Authority, for a partial term to expire November 13, 2023. President Robinson stated that she was nominating Robert Burton for reappointment to the Educational Building Authority - Madison Academy, for the remainder of a six-year term to expire November 10, 2025. President Robinson stated that she was nominating Terry Davis for
-38- appointment to the Educational Building Authority - Madison Academy, for a partial term to expire November 13, 2023. President Robinson asked if there were any further Board Appointment Nominations. There was no response. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Approval of Expenditures. Councilman Keith read and introduced a resolution authorizing expenditures for payment, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-607) Councilman Keith moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-607, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson read and introduced a resolution authorizing travel for Councilmember Bill Kling to Washington, D.C., September 19 - 21, 2021, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-608) President Robinson moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Keith. President Robinson asked Councilman Kling if he would like to describe the purpose of this trip and how the City would benefit. Councilman Kling stated that this was the Chamber of Commerce trip that he believed the Mayor and the Council members had also received communication concerning. He stated that he had put this on the agenda early because the earlier it was on, and assuming it would be approved, the earlier he could begin working on
-39- airfare, and, obviously, he could get a better price the further out he would be able to make the reservation. He stated that he would certainly encourage other Council members who were planning on attending this event to do likewise. President Robinson stated that those persons who were planning on going should get their reservations as early as possible in order to get the best prices. Councilman Keith stated that it was important that the Council members go on these trips in order to have interactions with lobbyists, and he stated that this opportunity at this time was going to be big for them. He stated that it meant a lot to be with colleagues in Washington and to meet the congressmen and the senators and have discussions. He stated that he was certainly going to join Councilman Kling on this trip, and he would urge the other Council members to think about it as well. President Robinson stated that they should probably also note that a meeting with President Biden was not on the agenda for this meeting, but they would have the opportunity to meet with other representatives and hear speakers from both the Senate and the House regarding matters of interest to the City. President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion on this resolution. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-608, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was the Finance
Committee Report, and she stated that she believed Councilwoman Akridge wanted to bring up an item. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she would like to hear about item 15.e on the agenda at this time. Ms. Penny Smith, Director of Finance, stated that item 15.e on the agenda was a reimbursement resolution, to reimburse the 1990 Capital Projects Fund of the City for expenditures prior to the borrowing. She stated that this was a useful tool that they
-40- used from time to time, and that, basically, it enabled the City to start construction on projects that were in their plan, and that way they could effectively decide on the cost to borrow. She stated that they had done this in January, with the VBC, that they had adopted a reimbursement resolution that was basically funding the arena project and the back of house for the VBC. She stated that they had now paid for those projects. She stated that they could reimburse themselves when that borrowing occurred, which was a planned borrowing. She stated that in that way, they knew exactly the cost, that it saved interest, and, actually, debt service, ultimately, to the taxpayers, whenever they cash-flowed those through their liquidity beforehand. She stated that this allowed them to do that. She stated that these were planned borrowings, and they were also planned capital expenditures that they had. President Robinson asked if there were any questions for Ms. Smith. President Robinson thanked Ms. Smith for the presentation. President Robinson recognized Councilman Keith. Councilman Keith stated that Ms. Smith would be giving a presentation on something they had discussed at the last Finance meeting. He stated that this concerned the employees' concerns, questions, and interests, as to what money from the Rescue Plan could be spent specifically on incentives, on payback, and on bonuses as well. He stated that he had asked the Director of Finance to give clarity on this so the Council could discuss this in moving forward with the City employees. Ms. Smith stated that if they would allow her to back up for just a minute, she would give an update on the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). She stated that a portion of the funding and the initial guidance was issued in mid-May of the current year, and a comment period had been set by the U.S. Treasury Department until
July 16, later in the current month. Ms. Smith stated that they were continuing to review information as it came
-41- out, and that, literally, there were 35 pages to date of Frequently Asked Questions that they had put out, questions and answers from the U.S. Treasury Department. She stated that they stayed in contact with their consultants on this plan, and they had advised them to wait until the comment period was finished, and then they would decide, that until the final guidance was out, they would not actually spend any funds. She stated that, obviously, they did not want to push funds out for expenditures that they would ultimately have to reclaim. Ms. Smith stated that with that being said, it was her understanding that Birmingham, Prattville, and Mobile had provided one-time bonuses to all their employees. She stated that there was a place in the ARPA plan that discussed premium pay for essential workers. She stated that just to give them a sense of the complexity around "premium pay," as it was defined in this plan, it talked about the criteria for the recipients, identifying those essential workers. She stated that they were those in critical infrastructure sectors who regularly performed in-person work, interacted with others at work, or physically handled items handled by others. She stated that the interim final rule emphasized the need for prioritized premium pay for lower income workers, as defined by the plan currently. She stated that, again, this was all subject to change, based on the comment period. She stated that the premium pay could not exceed 150 percent of the residing state's annual wage, as written justification to the Treasury. She stated that according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Alabama's annual wage for all its occupations was $46,840. Ms. Smith stated that their understanding, as they read the ruling at this time, was that only those employees making at or below this annual wage would be eligible to receive premium pay. She stated that did not mean a City could not provide premium pay, but that the City would not be using ARPA funds in order to pay what was above that threshold.
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Ms. Smith stated that the guidance continued to change, and they were waiting and they were working to bring informed recommendations to the Administration as they finalized this. Councilman Keith thanked Ms. Smith for the presentation, and he stated that she had made it very simple because he had asked her a thousand questions. He stated that he was sure they would be discussing this as they got closer to budget time. Councilman Keith asked Ms. Smith if she could also give understanding to the things they were spending this money on, that they were certain of at this time. Ms. Smith stated that they had actually not put forth anything in writing to the Administration to date. She stated that the big question at this time within ARPA was lost revenue. She continued that there was a calculation of pre-pandemic numbers to current numbers, for revenue only, and there were things they could include in that, and there were things they could not include in that revenue calculation. She stated that once they got that number, those funds would be pulled in. She stated that according to the interim rule, at this time, even though they said this was the calculator, and these were the funds they could kind of pull in, they also had strings attached, as to what they could spend the funds on once they got them in. She stated that, therefore, she did not really have anything to put forth. Mayor Battle stated that they were going to be very, very careful with this, that with so much money going out, whether it was a Republican or Democrat administration, or whatever, there would be a movement that would make sure everybody that had received this funding had dotted every “i” and crossed every “t.” He continued that they did not want to spend this money in any way that they would come back to them and say they were going to have to pay something back. He stated that it would probably be somewhere in the September time frame before they would get final notice on some of these rules, and even after they got final notice,
-43- unfortunately, with Washington, sometimes that would still change. He stated that they were going to be very, very conservative until they got all this together. Ms. Smith stated that she could say that she was going to be a bulldog to get every single penny they could into the City. Councilman Keith stated that because of the complexity of what was coming in the next budget, projections that they had talked about arbitrarily, he would request that President Robinson put together a work session for August so that they could have an intentional discussion, so they would have no surprises about their intentions and things they wanted to support. President Robinson asked Ms. Smith at what point she would have enough information that such a work session would be beneficial. Ms. Smith stated that they had been meeting with outside agencies, and they would be commencing to meet with the departments, and that would go into the next three weeks. She stated that they would be working on revenues and starting to stand up the budget. She continued that at that point, along with recommendations, et cetera, from the Administration, they would then be working on the Capital program. Ms. Smith stated that if the Council wanted a session where they would be talking about priorities in funding, that probably earlier in August would be a good time frame. President Robinson stated that the work session could be held on either August 5 or August 19. Mayor Battle stated that August 5 would probably be best. He stated that that would be concerning the City's budget, not the Recovery Act money, because they would not have a clear definition on the Recovery Act money until the September time frame. He stated that if they were just gathering ideas about what they were
-44- looking to do with the Recovery Act once they got full definition, they could go into that at the same meeting, if that would help. Councilman Keith stated that this was separate from the Recovery Act, that this was just budget conversation. President Robinson asked Councilman Keith if August 5 would suit his time frame. Councilman Keith replied in the affirmative. President Robinson asked the other Council members if the August 5 date was one they could agree with. President Robinson stated that they would have Council staff schedule the work session for that date. President Robinson recognized Councilwoman Akridge. Councilwoman Akridge stated that rather than have this meeting focus on only a report from the Administration related to conversations with each of the department managers, she would encourage the Council members to meet with those department managers to clarify and see the feasibility of what they were requesting before they would talk about it in a Council session because there were things that those managers knew were a priority that the Council members did not know, and it would be very helpful and more productive if they would have a conversation, say, for example, with
Mr. McNeese, prior to the August 5 meeting so they would understand what they were facing, in the reality of today's labor pool, the cost of materials, et cetera. Ms. Smith stated that she was a little confused by Councilwoman Akridge's comments. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she was asking her counterparts to do that before they heard from Ms. Smith. President Robinson asked why the Council members would do that when that
-45- was Ms. Smith's job, to be working with the departments. Councilman Keith stated he did not want to get off base, that he thought they had agreed that August 5 was a good date, and he did not want to convolute with Ms. Smith, but he thought they all understood what Councilwoman Akridge was saying, and they could just move forward. President Robinson stated that it would be August 5, at 5 p.m., for the work session. Councilman Kling stated that there was nothing during Council member comments that would prohibit any Council member from just waving a flag about what was on their mind. President Robinson stated that it was correct that they could do that at any time, but that this work session would be an intentional, focused conversation regarding the Council's perspective on the budget. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Communications from the Mayor. President Robinson recognized Mayor Battle. Mayor Battle made the following reappointment and appointments: The reappointment of Adam Dauro to the Air Pollution Control Board, for a 5-year term to expire May 27, 2026.
The appointment of Stephanie Jordan to the Animal Services Advisory Committee, for a term to expire September 8, 2024. The appointment of Hollisha Green-Shannon to the Planning Commission of the City of Huntsville, to fill the supernumerary position currently held by Ryan Renaud, for a term to expire October 26, 2021.
The appointment of Ryan Renaud to the Planning Commission of the City of Huntsville, to fill the ex-officio position representing the Huntsville City School Board
-46- currently held by Carlos Mathews. Mayor Battle stated that there was a lot of concern out in the community about COVID-19, about the pandemic, about people not getting vaccinated. He stated that vaccination sites were still open at Huntsville Hospital, and at most of the pharmacies, both in drug stores and grocery stores, and they were encouraging everyone to get the vaccine. He stated that Alabama had one of the lowest response rates in the nation. He stated that Huntsville had done a little bit better, but there were still a lot of people who needed to be vaccinated. He stated that persons should not take a chance on this, that this was something that if one did not get vaccinated and then got COVID 19, or the variant, which was now most prevalent, there would be a danger to one's life. He stated that they would prefer not to see people take that dangerous path, so they were encouraging everyone to get the vaccine, for their safety and for the safety of persons around them. Mayor Battle stated that they would like to congratulate the cadets who would be graduating from the Police Academy on the following day and to welcome them to the police force. He stated that they were adding to the force, and they were going to need to do more. He stated that that would be one of the budget items they would talk about on August 5, what was needed in manpower, not only with the Police, but with Fire and other performance sections of the City, so they could provide the services they needed to continue to provide. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Communications from the Council. President Robinson recognized Councilman Meredith. Councilman Meredith stated that he had heard a lot from the community regarding the recent softball game that some folks sitting to his left had participated in, and it seemed that some people wanted more of this. He stated that he wished he
-47- could challenge the City of Madison to a game, but the old man sitting at the end of the dais had hurt himself at the last game, and he would not want to see him reinjure himself because at his age he might not recover as quickly as he could have in his youth. He stated that he was intending these comments with all love and affection. Councilman Meredith stated that he wanted to say to the good folks out in the Maple Ridge community that he heard them, that they lived out west, and they had issues that had not been addressed, and they felt neglected, that folks were speeding through their neighborhood, hitting parked cars, and they had a fear for their children's safety in their own neighborhood. He stated that all they were asking for was two three-way stop signs and sidewalks on Balch Road. He stated that he did not believe that was too much to ask for, and he would do all he could to work with the Administration and other jurisdictions to make each of these requests become a reality. Councilman Meredith stated that a short time ago, he had reached out to Limestone County officials with whom he shared a common constituency, and he was pleased to say that the collaboration had already paid dividends. He stated that on behalf of Commissioner Jason Black, as well as himself, he wanted to let the folks in the Rock House Landing area know that there was a plan in place to bring broadband service into that community, through a series of recently identified cell towers, two of which would be in proximity to their community. Councilman Meredith stated that the Commissioner and he were also concerned with fire protection coverage in their shared areas, and the foundation to addressing that issue had been well established. Councilman Meredith stated that his next Town Hall would be on July 13, at
6 p.m., at the Lake Forest Clubhouse, and there would be an update on two of their most favorite topics: Zierdt Road and Martin Road. He stated that after that, he
-48- would open up the discussion to any and all concerns persons might have. He stated that for those who could not attend in person, there would be a livestream on Facebook. He stated that he was looking forward to seeing the people at this meeting. Councilman Meredith stated that he was pleased to report that he had met with both HPD representatives and homeless advocates in an effort to garner different perspectives on this issue in the city. He stated that he had been provided numerous well-reasoned suggestions that he found great merit in. He stated that next he would be reaching out to West Huntsville Main, formerly the West Huntsville Highway 72 Business Corridor, and their task force on homelessness to get the business community's perspective on this issue. He continued that armed with all three perspectives, he would work to dovetail their ideas and passion into the City's Master Plan on the issue through Community Development, and also have the business community prop up this effort as well. President Robinson recognized Councilman Keith. Councilman Keith stated that on 7/31, they were going to have a paint day, and he was excited to go back to the wall. He stated they would be painting down Blue Spring a beautiful mural, and he asked that all hands be on deck, noting that this was going to be in three shifts. He stated that, potentially, in his opinion, this would be one of the most beautiful pieces because everybody would have an opportunity to be a part of this. He asked that persons come out on 7/31, and they would be given a paint bucket, with a particular color, and when they finished, it would be a beautiful mural. Councilman Keith stated that he wanted to thank Mr. Scott Erwin for the work he continued to do, that everybody in Meadow Hills was blessed to have him, and he did not get enough praise so he wanted to thank him at this time, and to thank Community Development.
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Councilman Keith stated that he thought he had just had one of his best town halls, that up north they might be getting a new little amphitheater, and he had heard about a development where the homes would cost $300,000, which he noted was too big for his pocket, but he was very happy at his meeting to see people excited about the development and redevelopment in places where they thought it would be impossible. He stated that the things they were going to see in Northwest Huntsville were going to attract people from outside the community, and that, internally, they would be places of pride for people inside the community, and he was very thankful for this. He stated to Mr. Davis and Mr. Hamilton that they had done a great job, and this was going to be something special that all his colleagues were going to be proud to talk about when they talked about what a blessing it was to be a leader in the city of Huntsville. He stated that he wanted to say to everybody that was involved in the meeting the prior evening that that was the culmination of 2 1/2 years, and they had put it all together in about 2 ½ hours. He thanked everyone for this, stating that it was certainly something special. President Robinson recognized Councilwoman Akridge. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she had heard, as other Council members had heard, that speeding, at least in District 2, was the most frequent complaint. She stated that she had met with Officer Joel Stephens and the new Captain Jerry King, and it was acknowledged in the South Precinct meeting, and it was the same topic that would go to the North Precinct. She stated that it was incumbent on each individual to model the behaviors they wanted to see. She stated that that was the best they could do at this point, until they solved the State's tying of their hands on cameras, if that would be the best solution. She stated that she would be working, starting in
Blossomwood, for a solution that would come up from community policing. Councilwoman Akridge stated that there had been some interest, in Five Points
-50- in particular, and she believed this might go citywide, in replacing trees that had aged. She stated that this was called "the green infrastructure," and it was critical for stormwater management, and it was critical for the health of the system. She stated that they had put together a class for citizen arborists to get a certification and be qualified to meet with neighbors to pick out the right tree at the right place, and then follow up with labor in the neighborhoods for these baby trees. She stated that that certification class would be taught by the Urban Forestry Association Arborists, and it would be at the end of July, and if persons would like to participate in this, they could just drop her a note, and she would provide the details. She stated that she was grateful to Brian Walker for obtaining baby trees for the fall planting. Councilwoman Akridge stated, concerning the discussion that would be coming up later about changes to the bylaws, that she wanted to point out that Ms. Jackie Reed appeared before the Council and that every time she said, "Thank you for allowing public comment." She stated that speaking before the Council was a privilege, and they valued that privilege, that it was not a right because this meeting was being conducted, by State law, in public. She stated that they valued everyone's opinions, and they would continue to do that. She stated that she wanted to thank Ms. Reed, and Mr. Honea, whom she had met long ago, for acknowledging that they appreciated this privilege. She stated that the Council would continue to value that interaction going forward, regardless of the decision of this body about the bylaw changes. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she had a long list of topics that she had participated in with the Police Department. She stated that as a huge advocate of the Police Department, she had invested time in the Citizens Academy, that she had done a class called "Why police do what they do." She stated that Officer Stephens was the one she had to deal with. She stated that she had also done the "Shoot, Don't Shoot"
-51- scenario, and she had topped this all off with a ride-along with a street crime unit. Councilwoman Akridge stated that this all gave her a perspective that helped her support the Police Department, not only spiritually but also through the budget. She stated that she would, however, be looking closely at those needs and asking the question if they could do some police work with technology. She stated that she was grateful for the Chief's initiation of what was called "NAMACC" (North Alabama Multi-Agency Command Center) because it was one of those technology solutions. She stated she was sure all of them were looking carefully at staffing plans, knowing that safety and security was the biggest request of the citizens. She stated that this was at the top of her list when she was a neighborhood advocate, and it was still a priority. President Robinson recognized Councilman Kling. Councilman Kling stated that he was continuing his walk through his district, making notes about neighborhoods. He stated that one of the earlier speakers had hit right on one of his points, that there were a lot of cable TV wires that were dangling from telephone poles, or that were even on the ground. He stated that he had called those in to ITS, and action was taken by that department, and that was appreciated. Councilman Kling stated he wanted to wave a flag about the upcoming budget. He stated that his thinking was that they were doing a lot of great things for growth, and he just wanted them to make sure they were taking care of their neighborhoods.
He stated that one of the things he would like to see incorporated into the budget would be a very large amount of resurfacing money that could be used for resurfacing streets in neighborhoods. He stated that they had a rating system that was set up by the Public Works Department, so they could use that to help neighborhoods throughout the city. He stated that, certainly, they would be talking more about that.
He stated that he believed everyone had seen neighborhoods that would benefit from additional resurfacing, if they could just direct some more resources that way.
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Councilman Kling stated that, additionally, there were drainage issues, that he believed there were areas where they would like to see sewer pipes placed to cover bare ditches. He stated that these were things that would enhance neighborhoods. He stated that he had seen places, such as the Westlawn neighborhood, where they had done numerous streets all at one time, and after that was done, people started fixing up their homes, and real estate values went up. He stated that they had also seen that in the Mayfair neighborhood, where several streets were resurfaced at one time, and about a year later, people had started repairing their houses, rebuilding, and great things had happened. He stated that this had also occurred in the Merrimack neighborhood. He stated that the thinking on this was that when bringing all the equipment in to do one street, it was not much more trouble to go ahead and do the street next to it and the one next to that, versus moving the heavy equipment from one area to another. Councilman Kling stated that these were things that could really enhance neighborhoods throughout the city. He stated that he was lucky to have seen some great things taking place in the district he represented, and it was something he wanted to wave a flag about to other Council members, and this was budget time, when they were starting to look at these things. Councilman Kling stated that Dr. Wisda was constructing approximately
100 homes located just to the west of Triana Boulevard and south of Drake Avenue. He stated that he was walking over in that area, and he was really impressed with these houses and the impact this was having on what used to be a cotton field. He stated that he believed these were going to be in the affordable range, from $150,000 to $250,000. He stated that these would be homes that would be available to many people that could not afford the $300,000 or $400,000 homes, and he thought this was going to be a great enhancement for that neighborhood.
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Councilman Kling stated that he wanted to give a shout-out to John Olshefski and Huntsville Utilities for a leaning utility pole they had been able to step in and take action on, replace it before it fell over and caused a major outage for the neighborhood. He stated that, also, he had called in to them concerning tree limbs they had taken action on. He stated that he thought some of the actions they were taking at this time would prevent some outages from taking place when winter came. Councilman Kling stated that there was a problem with noise from a nightclub over on Jordan Lane, that this was impacting the residential area behind it, and the Police Department was taking action to take care of that problem so that the residents in that neighborhood could sleep. Councilman Kling stated that he also wanted to give a shout-out to the Community Watch coordinators, who were working together for the visibility of Community Watch chapters in the district he represented and in neighborhoods throughout the city. He stated that the visibility was very good, with those cars driving around, and also the people who could not drive but were sitting on their front porches for an hour or so, just to observe if there was anything improper happening. He stated that that visibility helped to make neighborhoods throughout the city safer. Councilman Kling stated that some good things were going on. He stated he was aware that in public comment, there were a lot of contentious issues they were hearing, that at this meeting they had heard two sides of some issues, people who had concerns, and they were all listening. He stated that people should remember they were all part of the same city, that they were all on the same side. President Robinson stated that she wanted to extend a special welcome to Captain Jerry King, who was the new Precinct captain for the South Precinct, as well as Officer Joel Stephens and Officer Matt Trocone and Sgt. Chris Davis. She stated that they had held a meeting during the week with Community Watch coordinators,
-54- and she thought it was probably the first such meeting they had had in years. She stated that she knew they were off to a great start because they had taken the initiative to put that together. She stated that they had coordinators from both District 2 and District 3 in attendance. She stated that she wanted to thank everyone who was involved in Community Watch, whether they were coordinators or others, noting that this made an incredible difference in the neighborhoods, and it impacted not only the crime rates but the engagement in the neighborhood and the level of pride that people took in their neighborhoods, and as a result, the home values. She thanked the South Precinct team for the work they were doing, and she stated that they were looking forward to a fabulous Halloween party and Christmas party. She stated that they were looking forward to those activities that would further engage the community. President Robinson stated that they had had a lot of communication during the week from the public regarding concerns about changes in the Council bylaws and how they were going to handle public comment. She stated that there had been a lot of misinformation about that, and they looked forward to clarifying that later in the meeting, and looking at why that was important. President Robinson stated that she wanted to remind everyone that there were many ways to communicate with the Council. She stated that she had met during the week with seven students from UAH, with their advisor, to talk about homelessness, and they had had a great conversation. She stated that Mr. Erwin was also part of that conversation. She stated that the students were just interested in learning more, and they were grateful to be able to provide that for them. She stated that Ms. Curry had asked to learn more about mental health, so they had set up a meeting for her the following week with Jeremy Blair at WellStone. She stated that they had heard from Mr. Borcher earlier in the meeting, noting that he had come to her to talk about cable
-55- issues. She stated that she had not realized they had taken care of 80 percent of his problem, noting that that did not happen very often. President Robinson stated that the City of Huntsville took freedom of speech, the freedom of expression, the freedom to assemble, and the freedom of redress very seriously, so in addition to those one-on-one meetings, small group meetings, emails and phone calls, they provided, as a courtesy to the public, an opportunity for comments at Council meetings. President Robinson stated that the Communication staff had done a quick survey of communities in Alabama and neighboring communities, in Nashville and in South Carolina, Louisville, and other areas, and the Council members had the results of that survey, and they could certainly make that available to the public as well. She stated that this was very extensive, that it looked at if they permitted public comment, when they had those comments, how long people had to speak, how much time was allotted, and how they signed up, all of the issues the Council members had been hearing about as they were making decisions about revising their agenda. President Robinson stated that the results of this survey were very interesting. She stated that the majority of these held these comments at the end of their meetings, and she stated this was because they were doing the business of the council first, and then they would have the time to listen to and attend to public comments. She stated that it was interesting that many of those cities either limited comments to 20 minutes or they limited the time to two minutes, and they limited the number of speakers on a particular matter. She stated that they had found that in Huntsville they were incredibly generous with their opportunities because they wanted to hear from the public, so they provided those opportunities. She stated that at this meeting they were going to be talking about providing not only one opportunity but two opportunities, to hear agenda comments as well as non-agenda comments.
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President Robinson stated that she had been asked why they were doing this, who was going to benefit from it, why it would be of benefit to do the work of the City first, who would be impacted by it. President Robinson stated that she would like to give a quick answer to that. She stated that, first of all, the staff was impacted. She stated that they had staff that was present all evening, to answer any questions or concerns any of them might have regarding agenda items. She stated that many of their staff lived out of town, and that some, such as Mr. Davis, lived quite a way out of town. She continued that some of the staff had to be at work at 6 o'clock in the morning to do their jobs, but they stayed and waited until the Council meeting was over, just in case they were needed to answer questions. She stated that they were using taxpayer dollars to pay those folks to stay until the end of some very long meetings. She stated that, first of all, the staff was impacted, and their families were impacted. President Robinson stated that, secondly, they had folks from other organizations present, that frequently the Chamber had representatives present, and Huntsville Utilities had representatives, as well as contractors who did business with the City might have representatives present, and they would stay until the business of the City was concluded. She stated that, also, the media was impacted, that sometimes they stayed so late that they could not even file a story they had come to report on because the Council would not get to it, that they would have to leave and do their reports and the Council would not have gotten to what they had come to report on, so it kept them from doing their jobs. President Robinson stated that there were citizens who wanted to know how the City was using their taxpayer dollars, and they also wanted to know about plans that might impact them or their quality of life. She stated that they needed to get that information, and sometimes they did not get it because the business of the City was
-57- being handled after 10 o'clock. She stated that when the business of the City was taking place that late, transparency could be threatened, and they did not ever want to look like they were trying to do the business of the City in the dark, literally. President Robinson stated that those were some concerns they had and would like to address by moving the business of the City up to the first part of the meeting. President Robinson stated that in one of the emails she had received, there was also a clip from 2014, when she was on the School Board. She stated that it was just a few seconds long, and it amazed her that someone would take the time to search out a video clip of a comment she had made on the School Board in 2014, and they had actually found it. She stated that this was a statement she had made at a Board meeting in which she had said, "This is a public meeting, but it is not a meeting of the public, and we need to do our business first." She stated that she was not sure why she was sent that comment, but that comment held for what was being considered at this time as well. She stated that their responsibilities, as Council members, were to be safeguards of taxpayer money, to ensure the quality of life for the community, and to take the time to thoughtfully do that work. She stated that they would balance that by then taking time, whatever time it would take, to hear from the public. President Robinson stated that that was how they had structured what they were doing, and that, hopefully, that would give a little bit of understanding.
President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was Unfinished Business Items for Action. Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of Ordinance No. 21-558, amending Division 2 of Article III, Council Rules, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville, Alabama, as amended, which ordinance was introduced at the
June 24, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows: (ORDINANCE NO. 21-558)
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Said motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson stated that she believed the best way to handle this would be to go section by section. She stated that the City Council had bylaws, that they were rules of procedure by which they conducted their business. She stated that many of these sections of the bylaws had not been addressed for decades, and as they had gone through them, they had found areas that were no longer relevant, and they had found areas that did not even reflect the way they were doing business, so to bring them into compliance, they had done a wholesale revision. She stated that what she would suggest was that they go through these section by section, and she would just briefly encapsulate what was going on in each section, the changes they had made, why they had made the changes, and then ask for any comments. Councilwoman Akridge asked if as they discussed each of these items, they could make their motions for revisions. President Robinson stated that they could do so when they got to each section, that she believed that would be the most orderly way to go through this. President Robinson stated that starting with Section 1, there was the Oath of Office. She stated that this was a section to bring them in compliance with what they were doing, because they were holding that Oath of Office during election years at all kinds of places and times. She stated that this simply said that it could be held at the place and time they wanted to hold it. She stated that that was the only change that was made there. She asked if there were any comments. President Robinson stated, concerning Section 2, that this was when the Council members would assemble for the first regular meeting, and it simply said the place and time to meet, whenever they were going to meet, following the oath of office, for the reorganization. She asked if there were any comments. President Robinson stated that Section 3 was a section that was really just
-59- about simplifying. She stated that there was a whole section on special meetings and emergency meetings, how they would set them and how they would publicize them, and at this time it just said, "No special meeting or emergency meeting shall be called unless the appropriate notification can be provided to the public in accordance with the Code of Ala. 1975, § 36-25A-3." She stated that this meant they would provide notification 24 hours in advance. She asked if there were any comments. President Robinson stated that Section 4 was “Time of meetings." President Robinson stated that she had just been informed that they needed to take a break. President Robinson stated that the Council would be in recess until 7:41 p.m. (Recess.) President Robinson reconvened the meeting. President Robinson stated that they had been reviewing the bylaw changes section by section, and at this time they were on Section 4. President Robinson stated that Section 4 was"Time of meetings." She stated that this was another section that had various meetings set out that were no longer held, and this section reflected the Council's current practice. President Robinson asked if there were any comments or questions concerning Section 4.
President Robinson stated that Section 5 had been revised to reflect the new council employee structure, how that would work. She stated that this was with regard to the staff, how the staff was managed; the supervisory responsibilities of the president of the council, as the department head; and the office administrator and her responsibility regarding other city council employees.
President Robinson asked if there were any questions concerning this section. President Robinson stated that they had an incredible staff, and they were
-60- really grateful to them and grateful for their help in revising these bylaws. President Robinson stated that Section 6 was regarding the reorganization meeting of the city council. She stated that they had discovered during the prior reorganization meeting that a number of the committees that were listed were no longer relevant, or even existing, so they had eliminated some of those and simply made a statement that from time to time, the Council shall elect members as representatives as required. She stated that they had deleted the Clean Community Committee, the Board Appointments Committee, and the Sports Commission. She stated that she believed the most important paragraph was (c), which was a whole new section on committees, which simply said, "The council president, with majority concurrence of the council, may create committees of members of the council to study any issue before the council." She stated that they probably did not use that function as much as they should, and it would serve them well to begin taking a look at how they could effectively use committees. She stated that this was a new section, and she asked if there were any comments concerning it. Councilman Kling stated that he believed that would be the same thing as an ad hoc committee. President Robinson stated that was exactly what it was. Councilwoman Akridge stated that that could help with specialization of interest and talent for Council members to interact with administrative staff. President Robinson stated that they could never have more than two Council members on any committee, but they could have staff members, and they could have content-matter experts from the community on a committee. She stated that there would be two ways that committees could take place: at the request of Council because of a particular issue, or a motion could be made to refer a particular resolution or ordinance to a committee for further work. She stated that there could be either a
-61- motion to commit or simply the formation of a committee at the request of council. President Robinson stated that Section 7 concerned the finance committee. She stated that there had been no description of the composition of the finance committee, and she stated that the finance committee would now be composed of two city council members, the director of finance, the mayor, and the city administrator. She stated that the president of the council would name the chairman of the finance committee. President Robinson stated that the responsibilities of the finance committee had been incredibly outdated, to include the members of the finance committee regularly reviewing the checkbook and the revenues of the City. She stated that they had worked with the finance committee to create a new description for the committee, which included that the finance director shall prepare reports of financial standing for the chairman to report to the council at its meetings, and that the finance committee shall review reports from the finance director and report the standing and obligations at each Council meeting and act as a liaison between city administration and council for in-depth looks at financial matters affecting the City of Huntsville. President Robinson asked if there were any comments concerning this item, particularly from members of the finance committee who had helped with this. Councilwoman Akridge stated that this was an opportune time to explain to the public that all of the council members had participated in a review of this, or had had the opportunity to participate in a review. She stated that this section, in particular, was something she had put a lot of thought into and had discussed with committee members. President Robinson stated that this had been a long process, that it was one they had begun late in the prior year, and there had been a lot of review and input from members of the Council. President Robinson stated that Section 8 was "Rule 1. Agenda," and it had a lot
-62- of pieces to it, and the first changes that were made, in Section 8. (a), were with regard to publishing the agenda. She stated that the original had suggested that they had to have so many column entries in "The Huntsville Times," and they had changed that because their notification procedures were changing. President Robinson stated that another major change that had been made with the previous amendment to the bylaws was that the agenda would start with an adoption of the agenda. She stated that many organizations did this as part of their work. She stated that they had been doing a lot of that when they did announcements, but this would give them the opportunity to actually adopt the agenda before they began the work of the Council. She stated that this would be where they would make any additions or deletions, or state that unanimous consent would be required for consideration of an item that was being introduced in order for it to be considered at that meeting. President Robinson stated that there was also included how resolutions or ordinances could be sponsored: by the administration, city utilities, departments, or council members. President Robinson asked if there were any comments or questions regarding any of this. Councilwoman Akridge stated that in the review of resolutions and ordinances, she was looking for a way to make sure they were clear that any present or future president would be cognizant of the council members' diligence in vetting these topics. Councilwoman Akridge moved to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 8, Section 2-92 - Rule 1. Agenda, by adding an additional item between items (c) and (d): "Resolutions and ordinances sponsored by council members shall be reviewed before introduction for compliance with local ordinances and state statutes.” Said motion was duly seconded by President Robinson.
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President Robinson asked if there was any discussion regarding the amendment. Councilman Kling inquired as to the advance notice given, such that he wanted to bring something up the Monday of a Thursday City Council meeting week. He asked if he would give that to the Legal Department, noting that he was assuming that that would be the appropriate place to go to comply with what they were talking about. President Robinson inquired of Mr. Riley as to how much time the Legal Department would need to assure compliance with State Code and local ordinances. Mr. Riley stated that that would be difficult to answer, not knowing what particular types of items would be considered. He stated that some of the items might be very simple to answer, that he could possibly answer in 10 minutes, but there would be other things that would be more involved and very complicated that would require a lot of study. He stated that he did not know that he could necessarily apply a particular time limit across the board. He stated that he believed what they had done here was not to saddle that with that sort of requirement but to just say that that process would be required. He stated that it might be that they would want to put some sort of generic term in there, which might be “to be provided within a reasonable period of time” or within a certain period of time, and if it could not be provided, that the city attorney would so report. He stated that those were just some suggestions.
He stated that he did not believe they needed to have a one-size-fits-all requirement. Councilman Keith stated that "reviewed" was a very arbitrary term, that he did not know who was supposed to be the reviewer. He stated that at the federal level, they proposed bills every day that came out of committee, and, inherently, they got passed, and then when they were in actuality, the law might then say that the bill did not work in functionality, and then it would be appealed. He stated that sometimes the bills that were put through Congress, out of committee, and supported, and
-64- televised, then ended up at the Supreme Court for consideration. He stated that no matter if it went through review, it still had to get onto the floor to be considered, and it still might not be something that could actually have functionality in the community. President Robinson stated that she was not sure they would want to use Congress as their example. Councilman Keith stated that they had made a copycat of the structure of two bodies, the administrative and the legislative branch, so he was using Congress as a larger point, to say that they had many more tools, they had many more individuals who put out bills, who put out legislation, and did that full time, whereas the Council did this part time. Councilman Keith stated that he believed this would convolute the process because either way, it was going to get reviewed, and if it did not have a legality of functionality, it would still get rescinded. He stated that they saw this with zoning ordinances being rescinded all the time, that they made changes to zoning ordinances and regulations because they did not fit a new building, did not fit a new Code, or did not fit over time. He stated that saying that they would have to have this would mean they would have to build another wing of the Legal Department just to handle ordinance review. President Robinson stated that she believed this was happening every day, that whenever an ordinance was presented, it should be going through Legal. She stated that she believed that would be a very low standard they should aspire to on ordinances and resolutions. Mr. Riley stated that he thought it was a good idea before offering a resolution or ordinance that was going to change the law that it would be presented for review by the Legal Department. He stated that that might be something that would take some additional time from time to time, but that was what they were there for.
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Councilman Keith stated that he was not taking that perspective as a step that he had not taken, that he was saying they would be the gatekeepers of the time frame, because until they would get review time, he could not present it, so then they would have become an arm of the government, inherently, which he did not see in the structure of the Alabama Constitution, that put out legislation or approved legislation. He stated that even if it was approved, that potentially it could get to the Council and then get shut down. President Robinson recognized Councilman Meredith. Councilman Meredith stated that he thought there was value to what both Councilman Keith and Mr. Riley were saying, and he would suggest perhaps a two-week max on the review, but if the review came back that they did not think it was legal, he still thought, like Councilman Keith had stated, that the Council should be able to offer it up, and then allow the court systems to vet it, eventually. Councilman Keith stated that as they talked about body cam footage, as they talked about anything, the Council's ability to address it in public was dependent upon it getting to an agenda. He stated that they could not do this, because of the Sunshine Law and regulations, behind closed doors, or they should not do it. Councilman Keith stated that getting it to the floor was actually the time and place that public input, as well as Council input, had the most value. He stated that he agreed they should make sure that the lawyers saw it, but they should understand that if they did not agree with it, they would just be giving them more power if they could not present it. President Robinson asked Councilman Meredith if he was moving to amend Councilwoman Akridge's amendment by adding that it should be at least two weeks before introduction. Councilman Meredith replied in the affirmative.
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Councilwoman Akridge stated that they could always thank a lawyer for their opinion about legality and choose, by risk analysis or good common sense, whether that would be a reasonable decision. She stated that this would give them the ability to have some courtesy for their Legal Department and still get to bring something to the agenda. President Robinson stated that the word used would be "reviewed," not "approved." President Robinson stated, "Resolutions and ordinances sponsored by council members shall be reviewed before introduction for compliance with local ordinances and state statutes at least two weeks before introduction." President Robinson asked Councilman Meredith if that was correct as to the wording of the amendment to the amendment. Councilman Meredith replied in the affirmative. Councilman Keith stated that he wanted to be very clear. He stated that if he were to have a quick resolution to recognize someone who had done something great in the community, and that would happen on a Friday, and they were to have a meeting on Thursday, and he wanted the family to be in attendance, they would want him to wait two weeks, for that introduction to be reviewed, because of this ordinance. Mayor Battle stated that it would be two weeks max.
President Robinson stated that Councilman Meredith had made a motion to amend, which was being seconded by the Chair. She asked if there was any discussion with regard to the amendment to add the “two weeks.” Councilman Kling stated that he agreed with Councilman Keith. He stated that they should keep in mind that although they did not always come across that way, they were responsible elected officials, elected by people of their respective districts, and he thought they should be given the benefit of the doubt as far as judgment. He stated
-67- that he did not know that they really needed to have a time limitation, that certainly if there was something major, of course it was going to take time, and they might hear, "I'm sorry, Councilman, but I can't have that ready for you by that time." He continued that similar to what Councilman Keith was talking about, they could say that on Monday afternoon something great happened that they would want to recognize at the meeting on the following Thursday, and a ceremonial resolution was something that could probably be done, and certainly Councilman Keith or himself should have the right to be able to place things on the agenda. He stated that they were the people who brought ideas to the table, that there were six of them with ideas, that they were elected officials. He stated that they might get shot down, noting that he had certainly been shot down his share of the time, with not enough time to do whatever needed to be done. President Robinson stated that there was a motion on the floor to amend the amendment being offered, and she called for the vote on the amendment to the amendment, to add at the end of the motion to amend "at least two weeks before introduction." Councilman Keith asked if it was reading "at least two weeks." President Robinson asked Councilman Meredith if "at least two weeks" was what he had said.
Councilman Meredith stated that if it was, he had misspoken. He stated that the "two weeks" for him was the maximum amount of time that could lapse between the Council member submitting it to Legal and them coming back with an answer. President Robinson stated that, then, the wording would be "two weeks before introduction."
Councilman Keith stated that he just wanted to be very clear, that, inherently, they could inversely say that they were giving the legal team two weeks to respond. He
-68- stated that, again, his point was that they would be giving the legal team two weeks, that they could take it to the max of two weeks, that they were not setting a response time, that they were giving them two weeks. He stated that, again, he thought they should talk to the legal team, but to give them two weeks would mean that they could respond to them and say that they still had another week. President Robinson stated that there was a motion on the floor to add the language of “two weeks before introduction,” and she asked if the Council was ready to vote on that. Councilman Meredith stated that Councilman Keith could have in his back pocket the language he preferred, but he was ready to move forward on what he had offered. President Robinson stated that, to be clear, the vote was on the amendment, regarding the time frame of “two weeks before introduction.” President Robinson called for a roll-call vote on the amendment to the amendment, to add at the end of the motion to amend "two weeks before introduction," and the following vote resulted: AYES: Akridge, Robinson NAYS: Kling, Meredith, Keith President Robinson stated that the motion to amend the amendment had not passed. President Robinson stated that they were back to the original amendment, which she stated was to amend the ordinance to include a section that would say "Resolutions and ordinances sponsored by Council members shall be reviewed before introduction for compliance with local ordinances and state statutes." She asked if there was any further discussion on the amendment. Councilman Keith stated that, just to clarify, he thought it should be what they
-69- were all doing very well on: "shall be sent for review to the legal team." He stated this would just clarify it, and that would be it. He stated that at that point, the legal team might have something where they could respond, subjectively, "This looks good; we have good examples of this; let's move forward,” or it could be, "We need time." He stated that he believed all of the responsible, wise, respectable Council members would say, "All right. I will hold it for two weeks." Councilman Keith moved to amend the amendment on the floor to read: “shall be reviewed by the legal team for response and before introduction.” President Robinson stated that Councilman’s Keith’s amendment of the amendment was that it would be rephrased to read: “Resolutions and ordinances sponsored by councilmembers shall be reviewed by the legal department before introduction.” Councilman Keith stated that this would give a respectful time frame to both the councilmember and the legal team. President Robinson asked Councilman Keith if that was a motion. Councilman Keith replied in the affirmative. President Robinson asked if there was a second. Said motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion.
President Robinson called for the vote on the motion to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 8, Section 2-92 - Rule 1. Agenda, as set out above, and it was unanimously approved. President Robinson stated that the motion carried, and the amendment was approved.
President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion regarding Section 8.
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President Robinson stated that under Section 9, “Rule 6. Order of Business" was the first part of the bylaws revision they had done, and it had actually been approved by the Council at the February 25, 2021, meeting, that they had approved the new order of the agenda, and the new agenda software had been set up to accommodate it. President Robinson stated that what they were introducing at this time was the idea that they could potentially change when public comments would occur, for the reasons she had tried to illustrate earlier. She stated that they had a lot of business to be done by the City, and they had a lot of people who had an interest in that business, whether it would be the staff or contractors or community organizations that worked with the City, or the media, or people watching at home who just wanted to know what they were doing with their taxpayer dollars, what they were planning and how it was going to impact their quality of life or the pothole in front of their house. She stated that they had an interest in that, and they did not want to wait until late into the night to see the City's business done. President Robinson stated that to that end, the first suggestion was that they permit comments on any business items, any agenda-related items, that, for instance, a contractor or a citizen who had a concern about a decision that was going to be made could comment prior to that agenda item coming to the floor, that they would simply sign up for that. She stated that people would sign up specifically to make those agenda comments, and they would have three minutes, just as they had at this time, and the sign-up would be specific to that agenda comment. President Robinson stated that non-agenda comments would be held until the business of the City was done. She stated that people would still have three minutes to speak, and they could sign up in advance. She stated that they could talk about the sign-up procedures and how those might change.
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President Robinson stated that that was what this section was about. President Robinson recognized Councilman Keith. Councilman Keith stated that this was very important, before they sent the wrong message. He stated that first he needed to commend President Robinson because although they disagreed on some things, this was actually a wonderful overhaul of the internal workings of the Council bylaws. He stated that President Robinson had been working hard on this, and he could not take that from her, by any means. He stated that as a Council member, he wanted to thank her for this. Councilman Keith stated that in the data that was given, the first perspective was that they had talked about other cities, but two variable points were not considered. He stated that in the other cities, the population was close to one million, so if there was a council meeting, and there were a million people living in the city, that, of course, they were going to shorten the amount of time an individual would be talking. He stated that, also, there was consideration of the number of council members serving, that if there were 43 serving, and they were all given five minutes to talk, it would certainly be a long meeting. He stated that they carried a number of such meetings into other days because of the time. He stated that this Council had only five members, but other cities he had seen, and even smaller cities, had up to nine members. He stated that, therefore, the variables these councils considered were different from theirs because they had more people and more council members, thus more business and more people to hear from, so they had to put a different algorithm on how they listened to those people. Councilman Keith stated that the issue he had in sending this message was that, really, they had the power to control this. He stated that he had seen before where they had pulled an agenda item for consideration, where perhaps an individual was
-72- not going to be present, or the mayor had to leave, or they wanted to make sure that a department head had time to give consideration before a meeting. He stated that at this time they had that same power. He stated that one could even argue that the power of the president was to decide, just as had been done at 7:30 that it was time to take a break. He stated that they could take a break from public comment, that President Robinson could say at this very moment that as the president, she was going to move to business and bring the items up, to give consideration for those individuals who were department heads, and if members of the public were 15 to 30, they would come back to these persons to speak before Council member comments. Councilman Keith stated that this step was actually not needed, and it would send a message that they were pushing their public comments to the end of the meeting. He stated that, also, he had an issue with one of the Council members, that Councilwoman Akridge had said that it was a privilege to address the Council. He stated that, inherently, she was saying that the privilege was also to be on the dais, in his opinion. Councilman Keith stated that they had Council member comments that were not structured to agenda items, that they publicly spewed those non-agenda item comments to individuals in the public, that they had about five minutes or so to do so. He asked if that was a privilege, or if they were just there for City business.
Councilman Keith stated that he thought they had to consider that they could always adjust the agenda for a certain meeting that day, through the power of the president. He stated that they had pulled items, that they had considered items when they had unanimous consent. He stated that the president could always stop public comment, that it could actually be stopped to the point they had done before, where they had said that due to COVID and such, persons could not even come into the chambers. He stated that they had always had that power.
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Councilman Keith stated that he would imagine that there were persons who could not come down and give public comment because thy worked two jobs, and every other Thursday it would be tough to get off from that second job. He stated that if there were individuals who were taking time to come down every other Thursday because they could not meet with the Council members, set up a meeting by email, because they had jobs, then this was the time they had taken out, projecting that they would have the opportunity to present to them. Councilman Keith stated that they could not depend on private meetings. He asked that they consider that there were five Council members, and a citizen could be trying to get a point across to every member and was working 9:00 to 5:00, and he asked how many days that person would have to take off to get to five members, and also the mayor. Councilman Keith stated that they were blessed that people were involved. He stated that he had been through this before, and he was really struggling with it. He stated that if he came in and there were six people on the list when he was the Council president, all of them would smile, and he would nudge the mayor and say that they might get out of the meeting at 8:30 or 9:00. Councilman Keith stated that if they came in at this time with this structure, that would, again, take away from what they were trying to create, in his opinion. He stated that if they had six individuals on the roster to speak, the meeting would go just fine, but if they had 30, they would have the chance, by the power of the president, to say that they wanted everybody to know that at 15 to 30 speakers, they were going to structure the agenda differently, that they were going to take the business items to consider up front because they wanted to diminish the time for their department heads to be present and increase their efficiency. He stated that he did not believe any citizen who was coming in later would not understand that, noting that the reason
-74- they would be 15 to 30 would be because they had come later. Councilman Keith stated that, also, for them to tell these persons they had to sign in in person was beyond, that for somebody to get somewhere from 4:00 to 5:00 in the city of Huntsville was too much, noting that he believed they were aware that the traffic might be an issue, child care might be an issue. He stated that he believed persons should be able to call in, and he agreed that the time should be from 4:00 to 5:00 when persons could call in or email to have their names added to a list. He continued that he also agreed that if an individual continued to call in but did not show up, they could give a number of times, whether it would be three or four, where they were added to the list but did not show up, and then after that, their name would be taken off, that they would have to show up the next time. He stated that there was a value to that, and he would agree with that, but to think that it was fair and equitable that someone had to get off from work early just to get down to sign up and sit and wait was not a reality. Councilman Keith stated that he actually did not think this section was needed. He stated that the power of the president was to control the whole room. He stated that this was not the Mayor's meeting, that this was the City Council's meeting. He stated that the Mayor was a part of the City Council, as a structure of the overall whole of the government, but this was the President's meeting to run, and at any point, she could muzzle the Council members, and, collectively, muzzle anyone else if she wanted to add to the efficiency of the meeting. Councilman Keith asked that they not send the wrong message to the public, that they were trying to restrict them. He stated that if they felt that way and had expressed that, that, in his opinion, it had validation. He stated that it was not a privilege, that it was a necessity. He stated that he had learned more from sitting and listening to people for three minutes than from anything else. He stated that people
-75- could not take off time to come and see him. He stated that they were really encouraging people to take off six times, to leave their job to come to their jobs. Councilman Keith stated that he was almost done, that he was just asking for a relevant understanding before he made his motion. He stated that President Robinson had to be aware that she had the power, and then it would be over. He stated that if there was ever a point, which they had done before, where they felt the meeting was not going in the right direction, or that they had to restructure the meeting so it was beneficial to the department heads, they could do it, but to tell the public they were subjugated to a certain part because they deemed the perceived impact of their presence being negative to the structure of the government and/or the efficiency of the night was not right. He stated that he was just asking for consideration of the awareness that at any time they could change the agenda. President Robinson stated that Councilman Keith had made a number of points, and one was with regard to the size of the city. She stated that if he would look at the data that was provided for them, Tuscaloosa was smaller than they were, as well as was Montgomery, and Mobile was getting smaller than they were, and there was Florence and Guntersville. She stated that all these cities that were smaller than Huntsville had their comments at the end of their meetings. Councilman Keith stated that they had more council members.
President Robinson stated that all of these cities, whether they were larger or smaller, with a lot of council members or not, had their comments at the end of the meetings. She stated that the school board, which had five members, would, at 5:30, before their meeting started at 6:00, limit the comments to nine people because that was all who could speak before the meeting started.
Councilman Keith stated that he had expected that response. He stated that he just wanted to say to be very aware that when the school board was talked about, they
-76- had now diminished the population of the city of Huntsville because a majority of the people who would show up to speak at the school board would be people who had kids. President Robinson stated that was wrong, that she had been there. She stated that, first of all, with regard to the size of the city, Councilman Keith's point did not work. She stated that adjusting the agenda every time people came to these meetings would lead to not only chaos but also a lack of trust. She stated that when they were doing business with people, the people needed to know what was expected of them, the staff needed to know what was expected of them, and the public that was watching these meetings needed to know what to expect, and that constantly coming in and changing the meeting every time would be wrong. She stated that they had done this, but they did not need to continue to do it when there was a better way to do it. President Robinson stated that there was a better structure, and it was the structure these other cities used, that they recognized they had responsibility to the taxpayers to be transparent and to do the business of the City up front. She stated that letting the public comment on the business of the City needed to be a priority, and then they could give attention to other comments that would be made. President Robinson stated that, also, she did not think the power of the president was something they needed to rely on. She stated that the president needed to be the servant leader of the Council, and as such see to the needs of the Council and see to the needs of all the citizens. She stated that this was protecting the rights of the minority while serving the needs of the majority, that that was really the role of the president. She stated that doing it in a capricious way would create chaos, and she believed would further increase the lack of trust. President Robinson stated that they also had other ways to communicate besides showing up at Council meetings. President Robinson recognized Councilman Kling.
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Councilman Kling stated that this was Huntsville, Alabama, and that with all due respect to the football team, he really did not want them to be following in the footsteps of wanting to be Tuscaloosa, Alabama, or wanting to be Birmingham, Alabama. He stated that they had a lot of great things going on in the city. He stated that he believed they had said at different times that they worked for the people out in the audience. He continued that a lot of things had taken place over the past year, and he would like to think there had been some bridge building that had taken place. Councilman Kling stated that they had all been waiting during the HPCAC process, before they came up with their ideas to deal with a very important issue that had brought many members of the public to the Council meetings. He continued that they had been starting to work on implementing things, such as mental health, riding with a cop, things such as that. He stated that they were trying to deal with this department, a good department, but they wanted to make it better, just like they had dealt with changes they had made to Planning, Inspection, Community Development, and so on. He stated that he thought they wanted to try to find a balance. Councilman Kling stated that this was not a formal motion, that it was just something for everybody to think about. He asked what would happen if they kept the agenda pretty much the way it was at this time, and then under item 4.d., Announcements, the president of the Council could ask the Council members if they had any items under item 15 on the agenda that they wanted to hold, and there might be some items held, and there would be a consolidation that would take place for the remaining items under 15. He stated that then the appropriate department heads could leave the meeting, unless the mayor told them differently. He stated that this would help a little bit but would not solve all the problems they were trying to handle.
Councilman Kling stated that he thought this would be finding a balance and giving a little break, as much as they could, to some good department heads and staff.
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He continued that with all the controversy and everything just in the past week, the misconceptions, and that people would see this being moved back as diminishing the importance of it, that what was being discussed was not the message the Council needed to send at this time. He continued that they had some things that had taken place, and they had been getting citizen input on some issues and things they were working on, and he thought this would be a step backward. He stated that his thinking was just to keep this the way it was but make the change he had suggested. President Robinson stated that was a procedural option they could possibly have. Councilman Keith stated that he had a question he wanted to ask of President Robinson and Councilwoman Akridge. He asked who would be the subjective decider of the correlation between the agenda item and the merit of the comments. He asked when that would be decided, if it would be two minutes into the comments. He stated that they had a pretty smart group of people who were coming to speak before the Council, and he would imagine they would stand up and say their name and that their name was on the list, and that they wanted to talk about an item under 15, which might have to do with the police buying a car and ask why they were buying this car for the police, and they would just keep going down that line. He asked if at some point President Robinson would decide if there was a direct correlation between the comments and the agenda item, if it was thought that there was a direct correlation. He stated that he thought what might eventually happen would be that individuals would find a way to make sure that items under 15 would correlate with the statements they were making. Councilman Keith stated that another part he thought was very important and that he was just asking for clarity on was if somebody had to wait until 9 or 10 o'clock, if they reasonably believed that would not have an effect on the number of people who
-79- could come down to the Council meeting, people who had kids or who could not stay up late because they had to get to work the next morning, et cetera. He asked if they thought that would have an impact, positive or negative. President Robinson stated that they should think about how long this was going to take. She stated that they started the meeting at 5:30, and the business of the City would usually take between an hour and a half and two hours, at the most, and then they would be open for citizen comments at 7:30. She stated that Councilman Keith should look at all the folks who were still sitting in the audience, even though it was well past that time. She stated that if they started citizen comments at 6:30 or 7:00, that would not be appreciably late, and she would guarantee them that there were kids' sports games at that time also. President Robinson stated that Councilman Keith's other concern was with agenda correlation, and another concern that had been expressed was with regard to sign-ups. She stated that she thought that was something that was maybe missed, that it was left over from the old bylaws, regarding signing up out front an hour before the meeting because that was how they had done it forever and ever, until recently, when persons could call the Council office. She stated that there might be a way to fix that by changing the way they did the sign-ups. President Robinson stated that the Council staff and the Communication staff had worked on an on-line portal that could be posted on the City Council page, where people could sign up online the day of the Council meeting, and they could indicate if it was an agenda issue or a non-agenda issue they wished to speak concerning, and they would state which agenda item they would be speaking on, and then when they arrived at the Council meeting, all they would have to do would be to initial or check off their name, that they were in fact present to speak on that item, and the entire process would go very smoothly. She stated that that would be one proposal they
-80- could make to change the sign-up process, and that would also give a heads-up to the department heads that somebody had a concern about a particular agenda item, and they would be prepared to speak to it. President Robinson asked if someone could take advantage of that process, and she stated that they very well might. She stated that all the cities that did agenda comments and then non-agenda comments had found a way to handle this, and they certainly could also. President Robinson recognized Councilwoman Akridge. Councilwoman Akridge stated that, indeed, they were the star of Alabama, and they needed to be setting a precedent, and although her comment was that it was a privilege, it was also a privilege to be on the Council, more than anything else she had ever imagined in her life. She stated that one of the things they could certainly do was do the consolidation, as Councilman Kling had suggested, that that was the power of the gavel to do that up front, and it would solve that problem, and they could go through everything quicker if they created that agenda up front. Councilwoman Akridge moved to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97 - Rule 6. Order of Business, (11) a., to read: Anyone wishing to address the council on any agenda item shall register to speak on the public communications roster prior to the meeting by contacting the council office during regular business hours on the day of the meeting. Councilwoman Akridge stated that persons could contact them however they wanted to, that they would set up as many platforms as they could, that they would just have people contact them, and in that way, there would not be this archaic method of showing up to sign up, and to hurry up and get there.
Councilwoman Akridge's motion was seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there were any comments concerning the sign-up
-81- process. President Robinson recognized Councilman Keith. Councilman Keith stated that he just needed some clarity. He stated that a speaker had just stood up and made comments about Mr. Davis, and his issue was not on the agenda, so he would have to be waiting until they finished the meeting to talk about an issue he had. He stated that the motion read "Anyone wishing to address the Council on any agenda item," that at the beginning of the meeting, it had to be an agenda item. He stated that maybe he was just disagreeing on this. He stated he had seen value that the speaker had three minutes to discuss that, that he could get in and get out and go back home. He stated they were now saying that because that was not an agenda item, the speaker would have to wait until they were done with the business to speak. President Robinson stated that that was exactly how this would work. She stated that the business of the City would be conducted in an hour or an hour and a half, and the Council members would restrict their comments, and then they would hear comments from the public. Councilman Keith thanked President Robinson for the clarity. Councilman Kling stated that he thought it was a philosophical thing. He asked if it would be more businesslike, professional, to do this, or if they wanted to go the other way and show that they were giving high priority and precedence to the members of the public to speak, since it was their government. President Robinson stated that the question on the floor was in regard to the sign-up process. Councilman Keith stated that this read as a sign-up process, because somebody would not sign up before as an agenda item. He stated that in the comparison he had just given, Mr. Davis would still need to be present at the end of the meeting because
-82- there was an issue with him. He stated that this would defeat the purpose. President Robinson stated that when persons signed up, they would indicate what issue they would be talking about if it was a non-agenda item, just as they did at this time. Councilman Keith stated that they would still be keeping a department head until the end of the meeting. President Robinson stated that they occasionally would, but not all of them. She stated that, also, all the other stakeholder groups would be served. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion regarding the amendment to change the sign-up process. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she wanted all of them to keep in mind that sometimes people who came to speak before the Council were simply expressing their opinion, and that was still valuable. She stated that if all of the Council members wanted to help people solve problems, they had town halls, that they actually met with the Administration where those solutions got ferreted out and implemented, but to badger her into something with constant lectures was not helping to get anything done. She stated that that was why she would like to see that they had this structure, that they would get their business done, that they would allow people to sign up as smoothly as possible, by whatever method they would choose, and then they would have them speak, so that the Council members could actually focus on what they were saying and listen and make appointments with people, or go see them on their front porches. President Robinson stated that the question on the floor was with regard to the process of signing up any time during the regular business hours on the day of the
Council meeting, using a variety of methods. She asked if there was any other discussion on that.
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President Robinson called for the vote on the motion to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97 - Rule 6. Order of Business, (11) a., as stated, and the following vote resulted: AYES: Kling, Meredith, Akridge, Robinson NAYS: Keith President Robinson stated that the amendment had been approved. She stated that the sign-up would be on the day of the regular council meeting. President Robinson asked if there were any further comments with regard to Section 9. President Robinson recognized Councilman Keith. Councilman Keith stated that he believed this was going to take time, as to how it was orchestrated, because he believed not necessarily that it was going to backfire, but it was going to take time and understanding. Councilman Keith moved to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97 - Rule 6. Order of Business, as follows: “to actually take effect at the first meeting in October of 2021.” President Robinson stated that Councilman Keith had made a motion to amend. Councilman Keith stated that it was specifically Section 9.
President Robinson stated that they were not yet to that point, that it should be Section 11. Councilman Keith replied in the negative. He stated that as to the one they were reading, his motion would be that it would not take effect, that perhaps it should read at the end of Section 9 that it would not take effect.
President Robinson stated that Councilman Keith had moved for an amendment with regard to the enactment date, that any action taken in Section 9
-84- would not become effective until October 14, 2021. President Robinson asked if there was a second to Councilman Keith's motion. Said motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson stated that her question was why it was the date of October 14, 2021. Councilman Keith stated that with consideration of what was coming up with the budget and consideration of what they would be doing in August and September, he believed it should be October, that considering it was a change, that would be the best time, and that it would also give individuals time to prepare for that. He stated that they had people who had tried to be at the Council meetings at certain times, and they had altered their schedules around that, and to have those individuals have consistency and awareness, to give them 30 or 60 days, noting that he was open to any other change of the date. He stated that he thought 30 or 60 days was a reasonable time frame to give respect to people who had not known this was going to change. He stated that an example would be that they had changed the time of the Council meeting, and they had given three months' notice, so for them to make this change immediately, in his opinion, was not respectful. President Robinson moved to amend the amendment on the floor by striking the date “October 14, 2021” and inserting the date “August 12, 2021.” President Robinson stated that this would give the staff time to set up a new sign-up portal, and it would give the public the opportunity to become familiar with what was going on. She stated that that was actually two meetings away. She stated that that would give them a month or more to make whatever adjustments would need to be made. Councilman Kling stated that if there was going to be a change, if this thing was
-85- going to pass, why not make it at the beginning of the new fiscal year, that that would be a new fiscal year, a new budget, a new Council format. He stated that it seemed that at least that would have some continuity. President Robinson stated that that would be months in which they would not have transparency with the public regarding the business of the City. She stated that they had stakeholders who would be waiting around, and the media would be impacted, noting that they were looking at their watches at this time because they had to file this story, and the Council was still going. President Robinson stated that all the folks who would benefit from this would lose months of benefit. Councilwoman Akridge stated that the people who cared about this particular topic already knew about it. She stated that they should have an official start date, but she thought that waiting that long to change this procedure was onerous, and she would recommend a different date. President Robinson again moved to amend the amendment on the floor by striking the date “October 14, 2021” and inserting the date “August 12, 2021.” Said motion was duly seconded by Councilwoman Akridge. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for a roll-call vote on the motion to amend the amendment on the floor by striking the date “October 14, 2021” and inserting the date “August 12, 2021,” and the following vote resulted: AYES: Akridge, Robinson NAYS: Kling, Meredith, Keith President Robinson stated that the motion had failed.
President Robinson stated that they were back to Councilman Keith's amendment that the enactment date would be October 14, 2021.
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Councilman Keith stated that it would be whatever the date would be of the first Council meeting in the new fiscal year, in October. President Robinson stated that the first Council meeting in October would be October 14. Councilman Keith stated that the Council would have only five potential meetings between this date and the first meeting in October. President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion on Councilman Keith's amendment. President Robinson called for a roll-call vote on the motion to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97 - Rule 6. Order of Business, moving the enactment date to October 14, 2021, and the following vote resulted: AYES: Kling, Meredith, Akridge, Keith NAYS: Robinson President Robinson stated that the enactment date had been changed to October 14, 2021. President Robinson stated that it should also be noted, with regard to agenda changes, that after citizen comments, they had inserted an agenda item that said, "Other Business to come before Council," which she noted would provide Council members the opportunity to comment on non-agenda concerns that had been raised by citizens. President Robinson stated that they would at this time go back to item (11) b. President Robinson recognized Councilwoman Akridge. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she had an amendment that was in the interest of setting up expectations, which she noted was consistent with her overview of this topic, organizing the meeting. She stated that she wanted to make sure that people had a positive experience on what they were asking them to do.
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Councilwoman Akridge moved to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97, Rule 6. Order of Business, (11) b., by replacing a sentence therein with the following: “Speakers shall use this time to offer opinions, concerns, or ideas about city matters. Council members shall listen without engaging in dialogue. Appointments to engage in dialogue will be honored. Speakers shall refrain from making comments regarding the good name and character of individuals.” President Robinson stated that just to be clear, Councilwoman Akridge’s motion was, on Section (11) b., that the statement “Speakers shall not enter into a dialogue with councilmembers or City staff and shall refrain from making comments regarding the good name and character of any individuals” would be replaced with the statements: “Speakers shall use this time to offer opinions, concerns, or ideas about city matters. Council members shall listen without engaging in dialogue. Appointments to engage in dialogue will be honored. Speakers shall refrain from making comments regarding the good name and character of any individuals.” Said motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on the above motion to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97, Rule 6. Order of Business, (11) b., and it was unanimously approved.
President Robinson stated that the amendment had been accepted by the Council. Councilwoman Akridge moved to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97, Rule 6. Order of Business, (22) b., by replacing the sentence “Speakers shall not enter into a dialogue with councilmembers or City staff and should refrain from making comments regarding the good name and character of any individuals” with: “Speakers shall use this time to offer opinions, concerns, or ideas about city
-88- matters. Council members shall listen without engaging in dialogue. Appointments to engage in dialogue will be honored. Speakers shall refrain from making comments regarding the good name and character of any individuals.” Said motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on the above motion to amend Ordinance No. 21-558, Section 9, Section 2-97, Rule 6. Order of Business, (22) b., and it was unanimously approved. President Robinson that they would move to the main motion, to amend the bylaws as they had been presented and amended. President Robinson called for a roll-call vote on Ordinance No. 21-558, as amended, and the following vote resulted: AYES: Meredith, Akridge, Keith, Robinson NAYS: Kling President Robinson stated that the changes to the bylaws were approved. Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of Ordinance No. 21-559, amending Section 2-1402(b) of Division 6 of Article VIII of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville, to add place numbers to the Beautification Board, which ordinance was introduced at the June 24, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows:
(ORDINANCE NO. 21-559) Said motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked the Council members to please note that item 15.y on the agenda was a resolution which actually assigned these place numbers. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion.
President Robinson called for the vote on Ordinance No. 21-559, and it was unanimously adopted.
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Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of Ordinance No. 21-560, authorizing certain equipment to be destroyed, based on the Environmental Mitigation Trust Agreement for State Beneficiaries and the City of Huntsville Scrappage Plan, which ordinance was introduced at the June 24, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows: (ORDINANCE NO. 21-560) Said motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Ordinance No. 21-560, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of Ordinance No. 21-561, declaring certain equipment surplus and to be sold at public auction, which ordinance was introduced at the June 24, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows: (ORDINANCE NO. 21-561) Said motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she would like to know more about the criteria for declaring something surplus and to be sold because she was eager to hear that they were being judicious in getting rid of something instead of keeping it pieced together, noting that at some point there would be a loss return on that investment. President Robinson recognized Mr. Ricky Wilkinson, Director of General Services. Mr. Wilkinson stated that the ordinance before the Council at this time included eight vehicles and eight pieces of equipment they had deadlined through their Fleet Services Department. He stated that essentially what that meant was that they no longer had value for City use. He stated that in some cases these were vehicles
-90- that had been damaged beyond repair that would go for auction. He stated that another red flag for their Fleet technicians was if they had spent more on repairs to a vehicle than what they had actually paid to purchase the vehicle. He stated that this allowed for personal discretion of their technicians, and they valued their opinion, and obviously had consideration for that. Councilwoman Akridge asked if they were making a decision based on replacement value, similar to what an insurance company would do. Mr. Wilkinson stated that there was a little more to it, that it was really the cost of repairs versus what they had actually paid for the vehicle. He stated that it did not make sense in a lot of cases to invest more in repairing a vehicle than what it would cost to purchase a new one. Councilwoman Akridge asked if Mr. Wilkinson had confidence in his staff's assessments. Mr. Wilkinson stated that he absolutely did. President Robinson asked if there was any other discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Ordinance No. 21-561, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson moved for approval of Ordinance No. 21-563, annexing 9.69 acres of land lying on the south side of Cap Adkins Road and east of Norton Road, which ordinance was introduced at the June 24, 2021, Regular Council Meeting, as follows: (ORDINANCE NO. 21-563) Said motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked Mr. Shane Davis, Director of Urban and Economic
Development, if he would share with them the details of this annexation. (Mr. Davis made a PowerPoint presentation.)
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Mr. Davis stated that this was a tract of property in South Huntsville which was 9.69 acres, with a single-family residential dwelling, and the owner was asking to be annexed, to come in for City services and schools. He stated that as they could see on the display, it was surrounded by the Huntsville city limits already, that it was off the Hobbs Island Road area. President Robinson asked if there were plans for this particular property for development. Mr. Davis stated that this had been requested by the landowner, and it was a single-family residence. President Robinson stated that, then, they did not know of any plans for development. Mr. Davis stated that was correct. President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion. Councilwoman Akridge stated that on every single annexation, it stated in the document that got signed that it was to benefit the public, that it actually said that it had been determined that it was necessary and proper and in the public interest that the property be brought into the corporate limits. Mr. Davis stated that was correct, and he asked if he could explain how they got to that wording.
Mr. Davis stated if they had a property owner come into the Planning Department to fill out paperwork to request annexation in any part of the city, that was not automatically brought before the Council, that that person filled out the form, the request, and they furnished a survey of where the property was located, and then the Planning staff would actually send this request to every department in the City, that there was a mass email that went out to Police, Fire, Public Works, Sanitation, Landscape, Engineering, that they would give notice that this request for annexation
-92- into the city had been requested by the property owner, and to please provide comments, as a department head, in the business they conducted for the City, if this would be detrimental in what they did, or it would add more cost in what they did, if this was a bad thing for them to consider. Mr. Davis stated that this process had been in place for many, many years, probably the last 15 years. He stated that it had not always been that way, but when they had gone through the large growth in the late 1990s or early 2000s, they had implemented that to make sure they were not doing something that they could not afford the infrastructure, or that they could not afford to maintain, or they could not afford to provide the services they were providing in the existing portions of the community. He stated that they had that internal process in place. He stated that Planning would get all that data back in from those departments, and then they would make a determination, based on the location and what it would take. He stated that, for example, on this one, they were already picking up garbage on the street, that they were already providing services, that this was just a next-door-neighbor that had always been in the county and wanted to come into the city. Mr. Davis stated that even when they were looking out west, or a stretch across the river bridge, they would look at that internally before they would bring that recommendation to the Council for consideration.
Mr. Davis stated that the language in front of that was trying to say "staff," and not just the Planning staff, but it had already gone out to Police and Fire, like he had said, and emergency services, and it had asked if they could handle bringing this property into Huntsville and if there was an increase in value, meaning property taxes, development potential, maybe sales taxes, if there would be a benefit back to the taxpayer versus what they would have to provide in services. Councilwoman Akridge stated that initially he had just said if there was a cost,
-93- and she stated there was always a cost to provide services. She stated that, however, they were indeed evaluating whether or not that would add somehow to the tax base. Mr. Davis stated that was correct. Mayor Battle stated that at this time single-family homes were at a premium in the market, that it was a seller's market because of the growth they were having, that they needed places for people to live. He stated that one of the values of this one was that they were bringing in property that would give them another little bit of growth corridor so that they could continue to grow the city of Huntsville and grow it in such a manner that they could provide workers, a workforce. President Robinson stated that this was in District 3, and she would note that it was in an area where across the street had been development of another Wisda property, and there was development all along that Hobbs Island Road area. She stated that this supported what they were trying to do at Ditto Landing as well. Mr. Davis stated that even in master planning and zoning and land-use plans they went through, some annexation and continuing to try to add some land mass to the city was a good process. He stated that they always talked about attainable housing and affordable housing, and if they just said that this was going to be their envelope of the city limits and no more, and they got that developed, with the growth they were having, affordability would become harder and harder to achieve. He stated that at this time it was always a seller's market, that there was no new product coming online to keep a value-add in the residential market. He stated that this was one of the reasons they had had great success, that the cost of living was relatively low as to a lot of communities they competed with, and some of that was due just to the land mass, that they had the ability to create new subdivisions and kind of keep that price point pretty balanced. Mr. Davis stated that if they looked at a 10-year cycle of homes, they were not a
-94- roller coaster, they were kind of flat, as to just a slow growth. He stated that they could not say that about all communities that just kind of put up a fence and said that it was all redeveloped and all remodeled, that to live in that community, live in that city limits, might not be affordable. Mr. Davis stated that they had taken the view of controlled growth so they could try to control costs. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she would accept Mr. Davis' answer at this time, but she just wanted it known for the record that she was still skeptical because a lot of planners had established that spreading out was not sustainable, and there was an affordability index, that they could have those same houses but built in the county, and people would still be getting a product. She stated that she was still not convinced as to why it was a benefit to continue to annex, although she would accept the explanation at this time. Mr. Davis stated that he was hearing Councilwoman Akridge's comments, but he would ask her to compare when she heard that Huntsville could certainly be a very urban city, that they could say that that was what they wanted to be, that she should note the rates to rent a multi-family unit downtown, if they were going to say that that was what they were going to be, that they were going to be that planner that said they were going to be very dense, that before they sprawled, they were going to densify everything. He stated that there were some cases that said that was the way they should grow a city, and they were going to have a very elitist core of the city because not everybody could afford $2,000 a month in rent. Mr. Davis stated that they wanted to have a diverse community that had a variety of market availability, in his opinion.
President Robinson thanked Mr. Davis for the presentation, and she asked if there were any questions or comments.
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President Robinson called for the vote on Ordinance No. 21-563, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilman Kling moved for approval of Ordinance No. 21-564, amending Article XI of Chapter 2 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville, for the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council, which ordinance was introduced at the June 24, 2021, Regular Council Meeting. Said motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. Councilwoman Akridge moved to postpone consideration of Ordinance No. 21-564 until the Regular Meeting of the Council on July 22, 2021. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she and Councilman Meredith had work to do on this ordinance, to see if they were making this what would be most effective going forward. Councilwoman Akridge's motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson asked if there was any discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on the motion to postpone consideration of Ordinance No. 21-564 until the Regular Council Meeting on July 22, 2021, and it was unanimously approved. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was New Business
Items for Introduction. President Robinson read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-609, annexing 1.17 acres of land lying on the east side of Slaughter Road and north of Farrow Road. President Robinson read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-610, to amend Sections 8.13 (Holiday Pay) and 10.9 (Holiday Leave) of Ordinance No. 04-315,
Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual. President Robinson read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-611, to amend
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Ordinance No. 89-79, Classification and Salary Plan Ordinance. President Robinson read and introduced Ordinance No. 21-612, to amend Budget Ordinance No. 20-811, to modify the authorized strength of a department. President Robinson stated that the next item on the agenda was New Business Items for Consideration or Action. President Robinson asked if there were any items any of the Council members wished to hold for separate consideration. Councilwoman Akridge asked to hold items 15.e, 15.f, and 15.i. Councilman Meredith asked to hold items 15.m, 15.s, and 15.v. President Robinson stated that items 15.e, 15.f, 15.i, 15.m, 15.s, and 15.v would be held from the consolidation. President Robinson moved for adoption/approval of the following consolidated items, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling and was unanimously approved: Resolution authorizing travel expenses, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-613) Resolution authorizing the acceptance of donations, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-614) Ordinance amending Budget Ordinance No. 20-811 by changing appropriated funding for various departments and funds, as follows: (ORDINANCE NO. 21-615) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into agreements with the low bidders meeting specifications as outlined in the attached Summary of Bids for Acceptance, as follows:
(RESOLUTION NO. 21-616) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter an agreement between the City of
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Huntsville and Miller and Miller, Inc., to provide construction services for the Brahan Spring Park Development, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-619) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into an agreement between the City of Huntsville and the Alabama Department of Transportation for maintenance of passive warning devices, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-620) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Riah Rose Home for Children, Inc., for CDBG - CV funding provided from the CARES Act of 2020, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-622) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and the ARC of Madison County, Inc., for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1084, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-623) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and the Catholic Center of Concern, for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution
No. 20-1086, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-624) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and Family Services Center, Inc., for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1088, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-626)
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Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and HAPPI Health, for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1089, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-627) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and the National Children's Advocacy Center, Inc., for the use of CDBG-CV, funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1090, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-628) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and CASA (Care Assurance System for the Aging and Homebound) of Madison County, for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1093, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-629) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and Harris Home for Children, for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1094, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-630)
Resolution authorizing the City Clerk-Treasurer to invoke Bryant Bank Letter of Credit No. 1298 for Trailhead Huntsville, Phase 3, Subdivision, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-633) Resolution authorizing the City Clerk-Treasurer to invoke First National Bank Letter of Credit No. 562459900 for Preserve at Inspiration, Phase 3, Subdivision, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-635)
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Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a Petition to Vacate Right-of-Way, among the City of Huntsville; Damson Park Investment, LLC; Anne Whitfield; and 3T, LLC, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO.21-636) Resolution assigning place numbers to the current members of the Beautification Board, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-637) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the Special Employee Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Larry Trippe, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-638) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into a Special Employee Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Karen Monks, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-639) Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a Special Employee Agreement between the City of Huntsville and Valerie A. McGrath, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-640) Request for authorization to advertise and fill Public Safety Dispatcher positions (Huntsville Fire & Rescue), to provide for authorized strength. Request for authorization to advertise and fill Firefighter positions (Huntsville
Fire & Rescue), to provide for authorized strength. Request for authorization to advertise and fill vacant Full-Time Special Populations Recreation Coordinator, Grade 10 (Parks and Recreation), at higher than minimum if necessary. Request for authorization to fill Equipment Operator III, Crew Leader positions
(Public Works), at higher than minimum if necessary. Request to advertise and fill two regular full-time positions of Animal Services
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Customer Support Clerk, Grade 9 (Animal Services). Request to advertise and fill vacant Manager of Landscape Management position, Grade 20 (Landscape Management), at higher than minimum if necessary. President Robinson stated that the Council would now consider the items that had been held from the consolidation. Councilwoman Akridge read and introduced a resolution authorizing a portion of the proceeds of certain future borrowings to reimburse the 1990 Capital Projects Fund of the City for expenditures incurred prior to borrowing issuance, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-617) Councilwoman Akridge moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by President Robinson. President Robinson stated that Ms. Smith had previously made a great presentation concerning this item, and she asked if the Council members had any questions concerning it. Councilwoman Akridge stated that she had not recalled they had already had this presentation. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-617, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilman Meredith read and introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville and Schoel Engineering Company, Inc., for the John Hunt Park Kids Space redevelopment, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-618) Councilman Meredith moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling. President Robinson recognized Mr. Ricky Wilkinson, Director of General
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Services. Mr. Wilkinson stated that this was a modification to the design contract that was currently in place with Schoel Engineering Company. He stated that the Council had previously approved the design contract for master planning for the Kids Space area. He stated that when he talked about "Kids Space," this was not specific to just the playground, that it was the adjacent parking lot and, really, kind of that whole quadrant within the park area there. Mr. Wilkinson stated that the Council members would recall that some time ago, Parks and Rec's 501(c)(3) organization, Friends of Parks and Rec, partnered with The Community Foundation to accept a donation from a private individual of $1 million for the construction of a skate park within this area of John Hunt Park, so this would take the master plan concept further. He stated that they had plugged in where the skate park would be located within the area there, and this would take them through all the design coordination, from civil/electrical infrastructure, which would be required to take that skate park through design construction documents. Mr. Wilkinson stated that the amount of this modification was $87,200. President Robinson asked if there were any questions or any comments. President Robinson recognized Councilwoman Akridge. Councilwoman Akridge asked when they would be promoting this Friends of
Recreation in a more fervent manner, to bring a public-private partnership to fruition. Mr. Wilkinson asked if that was specific to funds raised for the skate park. Councilwoman Akridge replied in the affirmative. Mr. Wilkinson stated that they had actually held two public meetings, and he had been a part of the second one. He stated that he was aware that The Community
Foundation had been involved in both meetings. He stated that, obviously, the Director of Parks and Rec, Ms. Bernita Reese, had been involved in the second meeting
-102- as well. He stated that during these public meetings, they had gotten quite a bit of public input, and they had expressed a desire to raise additional funds. He stated that he did not recall the amount, but they had received a pretty significant donation, of 10 to 20 thousand dollars, just before the second public meeting. He stated that there was some information out there between The Community Foundation and Friends of Parks and Rec on that effort. President Robinson asked Mr. Hamilton if he wished to comment on this matter. Mr. Hamilton stated that specific to the skate park, The Community Foundation was leading that fundraising effort, going out and soliciting matches back to the $1 million. He stated, concerning the question on marketing, that the Skate Park, specifically The Community Foundation, was really more leading the fundraising effort for the private donations to come in, but he thought the question got to a broader issue. He stated that as Ms. Reese, being new, was drinking from the fire hose, one of the things that he would soon insert into her fire hose was to expand the marketing of the existence of this 501(c)(3). He stated that he believed the point inside Councilwoman Akridge's question was that a lot of people did not even know it existed. He stated that it was not an entity that had been heavily marketed, and that was an effort that they needed to take on, that that task was out there for them, and they needed to expand that. He stated that, really, Ms. Reese needed to lead that effort, and they were pretty busy with a few other things at this time, but they would get to it. Councilwoman Akridge asked if it was correct that this design was going to include better engineering for Kids Space, the inclusionary playground.
Mr. Hamilton replied in the affirmative. He stated that there were three major programming aspects that would go into that particular zone of John Hunt Park,
-103- within the Master Plan. He stated that there was the existing Kids Space that needed to be completely rebuilt. He stated that at this time he saw that as they were building the Capital Plan for the following year, he envisioned that as an FY 22 project, the playground specifically. He stated that, obviously, the Skate Park was moving forward in design, and he believed the execution of that would be in FY 22 as well. He stated that the third thing, which he did not have a specific date for but which needed to be within the foreseeable future, was the bike pump track that would go in kind of the northern third of that particular property. Mr. Hamilton stated that this civil engineering contract would take the master plan and go to full construction documents for all the civil engineering aspects. He stated that it was expansion and improvements to the parking lot, that it was the stormwater management within the site, and that it also brought in all the electrical upgrades and things, and some improvements that needed to be made to the restroom facility that was there. He stated that it was a whole bunch of improvements that would ultimately serve all three of those pieces of the program. Councilwoman Akridge stated that that would be the playground, the pump track, and the skate park. Mr. Hamilton stated that was correct. President Robinson asked if there were any other questions or comments.
President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-618, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilman Keith read and introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a professional services agreement between the City of Huntsville and Frye Environmental, LLC, for professional consulting services related to HUD environmental requirements, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-621)
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Councilman Keith moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling. President Robinson recognized Mr. Scott Erwin, Manager of Community Development. Mr. Erwin stated that every project funded with U.S. Housing and Urban Development funds had to have an environmental assessment, determining what its impact would be on the environment, whether that was an office administrator which would have no impact on the environment or a project that created housing, and multi-family, that would have to go through a statutory 16-point list to determine the effect on the environment. Mr. Erwin stated that this particular contract would be hiring a consultant that would guide them through some of the more complex projects, to determine the impact on the environment from those HUD-funded items. Councilman Keith inquired as to what some of these items were. Mr. Erwin stated that it could be a single-family home, a multi-family development, or it could be a deferred rehabilitation program, if it exceeded a certain amount, depending on exactly what those looked like. He stated that if it was having any impact on the environment, it would be covered, or if it was more administrative and office, then it would be exempt, or not subject to the 16 statutory items.
Councilman Keith stated that he also wanted to use this as a chance to piggyback. He stated that they had been on a number of calls, and he was so excited about the CNI grant, and he wanted to commend Mr. Erwin, stating that he did not believe he got enough recognition for what they were doing behind the scenes for affordable housing.
Councilman Keith asked if Mr. Erwin could give the Council members a time frame of where they were, a quick update as they talked about HUD, the CNI grant,
-105- and the first draft. Mr. Erwin stated, concerning the CNI planning grant, which they were awarded two years prior, that they had developed a community-driven plan to address the transformation of Butler Terrace and the surrounding areas. He stated that it was a 28-acre site, and that with community input, they had put forth a plan that would allow for that transformation. He stated that this was only a plan, that it was a working document, and it was before HUD for review at this moment. He stated that as he had told everyone he had met with, where this was today and where this community would take it in two, three, five, or ten years would be substantially different. He stated that they were still going through that process, and it would be a multi-year, multi-phase project as they moved forward. Councilman Keith asked if it was correct that Mr. Erwin had said that the plan was before HUD. Mr. Erwin stated that it was before HUD, and they would review it, probably for 60 days, and give them their input. He stated that once that input was complete, the planning grant would be over. He stated that they had gotten a grant to plan, and they had planned and put forth the project. He stated that one of the requirements of HUD was that they would have a mechanism to implement some of the aspects of the plan, so there would be some aspects they would move forward with, and then they would have the opportunity to compete for an implementation grant, which would probably make it a larger and a more rapid implementation going forward. He stated that this could be a difference in 2, 3, or 5 years and 10, 15, or 20 years. Councilman Keith stated that it was $30 million, that Mr. Erwin could say it out loud.
Councilman Keith stated that he just wanted to let the Council members know that he was going to be the liaison for the Council on this, that he was going to take
-106- time, in each of their districts, to sit down with this plan and discuss the excitement and the potential of this and the work that had been done for the past two years. President Robinson thanked Councilman Keith for volunteering for that role. Councilman Kling stated he did not want to throw rainwater on the party, but there appeared to be extreme opposition from the Lowe Mill Neighborhood Association, that they felt there was a concentration of affordable housing within their area. He stated that he thought this was something everyone needed to be aware of. President Robinson stated that that would probably be more appropriately discussed at a later time. She stated that they had an agenda item on the floor at this time. President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion concerning the resolution on the floor. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-621, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson read and introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and Community Action Partnership of Huntsville/Madison & Limestone Counties, Inc., for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1087, as follows:
(RESOLUTION NO. 21-625) President Robinson moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson recognized Councilman Meredith. Councilman Meredith stated that he would like to know a little bit more about the Huntsville/Madison and Limestone Counties, Inc., as to what they did, that partnership.
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President Robinson stated that this resolution was specific to the extension of the deadline, that it was just a modification to the agreement. She stated that, actually, items 15.k to 15.s on the agenda all involved that same modification to agreements. Mr. Erwin stated that, as President Robinson had explained, the prior year's contracts were before the Council to approve CARES Act funding for the local non-profit organizations that were involved in the prevention, preparation, or response to the Coronavirus. He stated that, specifically, Community Action Partnership had been awarded $130,000 to use for rental and mortgage assistance programs. He stated that they still had funding left on this contract, and it was to expire on June 30th, and they had extended it for one additional year for those who might be in need of those services. President Robinson stated that they should note that the Council also appointed someone to the Community Action Partnership board, and she believed that appointment was Councilman Keith. President Robinson stated to Councilman Meredith that if his interest was particularly in the Community Action Partnership, she believed Councilman Keith could discuss that with him. President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion.
President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-625, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson read and introduced a resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute Modification No. 1 to the agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and NACH (North Alabama Coalition for the Homeless, Inc.), for the use of CDBG-CV funds, as adopted and approved by Resolution No. 20-1095, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-631)
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President Robinson moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Meredith. President Robinson asked if there were any questions regarding this resolution. She stated that this was similar to what they had previously discussed, that it was the same modification. Councilman Meredith asked what the North Alabama Coalition for the Homeless did. Mr. Erwin stated that in this particular grant, they were awarded $85,000 for hotel vouchers, for those individuals who might need to separate from their living environment, to have some separate area, that perhaps a family member had the virus, and they needed to get out of that particular environment. President Robinson stated that this would modify the agreement to June 2022. President Robinson asked if there was any further discussion. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-631, and it was unanimously adopted. Councilman Meredith read and introduced a resolution authorizing the City Clerk-Treasurer to invoke Center State Bank Letter of Credit No. 2630976351 for Town Madison South Subdivision, as follows: (RESOLUTION NO. 21-634)
Councilman Meredith moved for approval of the foregoing resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilwoman Akridge. President Robinson recognized Councilman Meredith. Councilman Meredith asked what this money would be used for. He stated that when they said "Town Madison," one would think Madison and not the city of
Huntsville. Mr. Davis stated that it was not a Madison subdivision, that it was a city of
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Huntsville subdivision. He stated that these were pretty routine. He stated that most letters of credit they saw were invoked for street trees in subdivisions or sidewalks, where they would like to see uniformity in a subdivision, for street trees, which were required two per lot. He stated that a lot of times when a subdivision got built out, the developer would hold back and put up a letter of credit for the street trees, so that the City would know they would get installed, and the City could either invoke the letter of credit and get those streets installed, or a sidewalk extension, or the developer would go ahead and do that work. Mr. Davis stated that what would happen in many cases would be that the Council would approve to invoke a letter of credit, and once that had been affirmed, they would give notice to the developer, or the holder of that subdivision, that the letter of credit had been requested to be invoked, and that would trigger a date for the developer to say that they were at the stage that they needed to install that. He stated that at that time, typically, 60 percent of the homes would have been put in that new subdivision, so it would be time to start that, so they did not have the start/stop gaps for sidewalks, with a lot of patchwork, and then also the street trees. Councilwoman Akridge asked why they did that rather than a bond. Mr. Davis stated that they had previously taken bonds, and they would sit in a filing cabinet, and whenever you would call one, you would get laughed at. He stated that they required letters of credit from a local bank, so if they had an out-of-town developer, they would know that if they needed to call it, if they needed that cash, they would get it. Mayor Battle stated that taking the example of the trees, that many times it was not the season for the trees to be planted, so they would put up a bond to say that they would finish that, and when the season came around, they would actually do the planting and get their letter of credit back, or the City would call it during that time.
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Mr. Davis stated that it was rare that they would actually take the cash once the Council voted on one of these. He stated that it was a trigger date, set up in a subdivision process, of their accepting a subdivision. He stated that there was a process in place, where they put up these letters of credit, and the City would give them 12 months or 2 years, depending on what it was, and when that date hit, it would come before the Council to give their approval to call that, and then typically action was taken. He stated that it was very rare that they would take those funds. Councilman Meredith stated that he would assume that this was in that small area that Huntsville had in the Town Madison area. Mr. Davis stated that was correct. President Robinson asked if there were any further questions or comments. President Robinson called for the vote on Resolution No. 21-634, and it was unanimously adopted. President Robinson stated that that concluded the agenda items, and that no one had signed up to speak at the end of the meeting. President Robinson asked if there was any further business to come before the Council. President Robinson stated that hearing none, the meeting was adjourned.
______PRESIDENT OF THE CITY COUNCIL ATTEST:
______CITY CLERK-TREASURER