Jacksonville City Council Decides on New City Hall Facade – 9/27/2021

Acceptance of minutes.

Mobile Sign Discussion. – Unique Marketing Concepts spoke at the last meeting and there was not time for a discussion. The idea is to market using a vehicle with lighted signage. This vehicle would travel the streets of Jacksonville promoting businesses and events. Councilman Wilson wanted to know if the light created problems for traffic and if an ordnance could be created to govern the brightness and the use of residential streets. Councilman Green wanted to make sure that local businesses were not hindered in advertising and promoting themselves and their events by creating a restrictive ordinance. Councilman Taylor wanted to take into consideration potential neighbor complains over lighted signs and signs with sound. It was noted that a provisional business license could be granted while the city reviewed the issue and actually saw it in practice. The license could be revoked at anytime if issues arose. There are currently not any similar ordinances in Anniston or Oxford even though this marketing system is active in those cities. 

FY2022 General Fund and WWG&SB Budgets. – There have been a few changes made to the budget since the last meetings. There have been seven full-time positions added, two seasonal positions added, and a 2% cost of living adjustment (COLA) added. This has created a need for $6.43K to come from reserves to have a balanced budget. Councilman Taylor stated he was glad the city could absorb the 2% COLA increase. 

Schneider Historic Preservation, LLC Agreement regarding community safe room at Eastwood Property. – Mark Stevens spoke about a grant that was applied for a safe room 2.5 years ago. An email was recovered on 8/12/21 from Alabama EMA stating that at this time they could not proceed with the grant due to the current plan casing an adverse effect to a historic place. To resolve this the city must hire a historic architect to create digital plans, create a storyboard to preserve the historical significance of the location. The cost of having this done would be $10,460.64. If the grant is not given the city would be responsible for this cost. The grant application is for $350,000. The location in question is the old Eastwood High School. There was much discussion about changing the plans to be behind the facade of the school instead of being a freestanding building on the school’s property.  The requirements are because these are federal funds and any building over 50 years old is considered historic. After much discussion it was determined that even if the grant was not awarded the storyboard was a good idea and would be in place for whatever improvements were made to the building. 

Goodwin Mills Cawood, LLC Engineering Agreement. – This agreement is concerning Frogtown Park. A meeting was held with the engineers. They will complete the full design and survey all 12 acres. The contract amount is $95,000 and includes the firm handling the bidding process. The initial bids may not be for the complete park. It may only be for an initial park, pavilion, and playground. There would also be the option to add additional pavilions, restrooms, and expansion of the park at a later time. There is another grant that is coming up called the Land and Water Conservation grant and the RD&D Council for Trees. This would be for $7,000. One requirement is a buffer between the park and residential areas. This grant would allow for trees to be planted for a buffer. 

OCVapps Agreement. – tabled for now and removed from the agenda. 

Turner Construction Company Agreement for City Hall Construction Management Services. – This company was suggested by Bill Whitaker for the city hall project. They were being asked to contract for $50,000 for cost estimating. After speaking to the council they are now countering  to do cost estimating and construction services for $298,000. They are also refusing to to the initial agreed upon cost estimating without the construction management services. Mr. Whittaker has located two firms who are willing to do the cost estimating. After discussion it was determined to not move forward with a contract as construction management services would not be beneficial at this time. Most of those services are already being provided by Mr. Whittaker. 

New City Hall (front façade) – Bill Whittaker. – Two design ideas were presented. One was a more modern approach and one a more traditional. Three views were given of each idea. All these photos are renderings. September 29th is the deadline for 10% completion so a direction did need to be given. Mayor Smith and Councilman Galloway preferred the more traditional view. Councilwoman Laster and Councilman Taylor preferred the modern look. Councilman Wilson like both, but was leaning toward the more modern look. Councilman Green didn’t have a strong preference, but after discussion agreed with the majority to move with the modern design. The goal is to break ground in April.    (Photos below)   

Any other business.

• The mayor wanted to extend sick leave due to COVID. This is currently on the agenda. 
• The trail extension project grant was applied for four years ago. The cities’ application has been passed over each time because of the competitive bid process. The question is now, do they want to apply for it a fourth time. Points are earned each time a city applies. The grant is for $400,000. It is a 80/20 split. The trail would extend from the current Chief Ladiga Trail, down James Hopkins, George Douthit and connect with the Public Safety building trail. While much frustration was expressed, the decision was to apply, but also have a plan in place to start the trail even if the grant application was rejected.