October 29, 2019
Lee Fuller
Jacksonville City Council Work Session
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- Call to order
- Roll call – All present
- Acceptance of minutes - No corrections
- Acting City Treasurer - Mayor Smith suggested that Laura Copeland to be appointed as acting Treasurer since she has been unofficially doing the job. Burt Grant will be oversight for this position.
- Public Safety Complex Detention Pond - A request from the contractor requesting to get paid the full amount of their invoice. No action is required tonight.
- Snip-It Ticket Program - This program was started by the county to reduce costs for spay and neuter of cats and dogs. The county has decided they will no longer pay the difference in the $15 ticket and the actual cost. The county is asking for a $3000 contribution from Jacksonville City. The residents will now have to pay the difference instead of $15 with this change. 22 Jacksonville residents have participated since October. The $3000 contribution will cover 200 people getting a voucher reducing cost by $15.
- Keep America Beautiful Program – Denise Taylor spoke from the Keep American Beautiful Program. She noted that she and her program are the State Affiliate for the natural program. They will provide all the tools to clean up the community. These tools will be provided to residents. They will provide vests, pick up sticks, and gloves. They go into the schools and provide bags to go in your vehicle to store trash and they also provide bookmarks showing ways to take care of the community. Year round they also provide trash bags and 5 gallon buckets. This is a free program that Jacksonville could participate in on a state level. If Jacksonville would like to join the national affiliate program there is a one-time cost fee. This does offer opportunities for more grants. The fee would be $1000. After that it would be around $175 a year.
- Any Other Business
- Coty Galloway mentioned a lot of people applied for the city clerk position. Discussion was held on the best way to fill this position.
- Mayor Smith mentioned construction signs on Mountain Street. Also they mentioned that the signs were taken down. He noted that there were a couple of problems that were causing increased costs. Research is still being done to determine where the responsibility of cost would come from. One area to look into would be to see if ALDOT would be covering the increased costs. Until that matter is resolved the project is on hold.
- The Mayor mentioned another issues in front of “Red’s” house were due to pipe issues. The ground is so hard it is creating a delay in this repair project.
- A meeting was held regarding JSU and recruiting more students. The Mayor felt it was a good meeting and one of the main points was to create a new committee to replace the Town and Gown Committee. This would be to strengthen the relationship between JSU and the city.
Jacksonville City Council Meeting
- Call to order
- Invocation: Rev. Jim Wilson RMC Chaplain
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Roll call - All present
- Adoption of minutes – October 14th Meeting – Unanimously approved
- Adoption of agenda – Unanimously approved
- Proclamation:
- West Side Baptist Church 100th Anniversary Day – November 3, 2019
- Public comments concerning agenda items - No comments (zoning comments will be held during the public hearing)
- Public Hearing regarding Zoning Amendment for 311 Nesbit Street, NW (The Roost Apartments) to be Rezoned from R-1 Single-Family Residential District) and R-3 (Multi-Family Residential District) to B-2 (General Business District) - Mark Stephens mentioned that this zoning has already gotten started. The changes were presented to the planning commission.
- Consideration of Ordinance to Rezone Certain Property from R-1 (Single-Family Residential District) and R-3 (Multi-Family Residential District) to B-2 (General Business District). (First Reading) - No vote held due to being first reading
- Public Hearing regarding New Zoning Ordinance
- Consideration of Ordinance that completely Amends and Replaces Section 24 – Zoning, of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Jacksonville, Alabama. (First Reading) Mark Stephens spoke stating that this has been an ongoing change for three years. Public comments were open. No comments were made. Mark Stephens continues speaking. No vote was held due to this being the first reading. A meeting will be held and another public hearing will be held prior to voting. The official first reading was also postponed.
- Ronnie Thomas spoke regarding the parking allotments. He was concerned how this would be determined.
- Motion was made to delete the reading from the agenda. – Unanimously approved
- Consider action to approve an additional position of Library Specialist, Range 7, and place Stephanie Pauley in said position. (Ms. Pauley is currently a Library Assistant, Range 5) - Unanimously approved
- Consider action to approve the appointment of Finance Accountant Laura Copeland as Acting City Treasurer - Unanimously approved
- Consider action to approve the current list of Volunteer Firefighters – Unanimously approved
- Consent Agenda – Unanimously approved
- Purchases over $5,000.00
- Disposition of Surplus Property
- Requests to Attend Conference/Training Session with Costs Exceeding $1,000
- Other Personnel Items
- Public comments for general items - No comments
- Council Member Remarks - No remarks
- Mayor’s report
- Cemetery Stroll was a great event over 800 attended.
- Bark in the Park was also a successful event.
- Flashlight candy Hunt is Tuesday evening at the Community Center
- Chief Ladiga Half Marathon will be Saturday starting in Piedmont and ending in Jacksonville
- Monday is a holiday for the city
- JSU has a program Mon at 12pm
- Tues Nov 12th there is a work session and council meeting
- JSU Riley Green event at the Baseball Stadium will be coming up soon.
- JSU Fall Festival will be coming up as well.
- Andy Green mentioned that the city would be working with JSU on the fall festival. The Jacksonville Arts Council will be cohosting this event with JSU per Mr. Green. Vendors will be charged $25 of that $12.50 will go to JCOC. This will be one week before Thanksgiving. The activities will be free to the public.
- Christmas Village will be Nov 23, 2019 hosted by the Jacksonville Arts Council. All proceeds will go to supporting art programs for Jacksonville schools and students.
- Thursday-Sat will be a holiday for the city.
- Mon Dec 2 will be the lighting on the square at 6pm.
- Any Other Business - No other business
- Consider action to adjourn into an Executive Session under the provisions of Section 36-25A-7 (a)(3) to discuss with their attorney the legal ramifications of and legal option for pending litigation - Unanimously approved