Mill Discussion and Drainage Issues Take Center Stage at Jacksonville City Council and Work Session

May 11, 2021

Work Session

Call to order
Roll call
1. Tony Taylor – Present
2. Andy Green – Present
3. Terry Wilson – Present
4. Sherry Laster – Present
5. Coty Galloway – Present
Acceptance of minutes – no comments
Mill Property – Taylor restates a long term discussion of vacant Mill property for 20 years. There is a company willing to come in and pay the city so they can tear down and repurpose the building materials, and they will resell the lumber and brick. The heavy structure has been vacant for a long time and needs many repairs.
David Schneider was hired in the past by the city to assess renovations of the building. Other proposals for the building have fallen through before. There is currently a development team who he is working with on other projects in Alabama, including one in McClellan, who is interested in renovating the building for senior living facilities. They think it would be a good use of the property. They have been specifically looking for empty mill buildings around Alabama to use and they just learned of the plans to demolish the building this past week. The building is an essential piece of history of the City of Jacksonville. He asks for a couple of weeks delay for the company to get inside the building to inspect the facility and run the numbers to see if they can make a deal work. Schneider expects that the team will be able to move fast on a deal as soon as they’re able to do a bit more due diligence.
Green asks why previous proposals might have fallen through in the past, if it might be something property specific. Schneider suggests it may have been because of proposed use, equity, or tax incentives at the time. He believes that this team has the experience and ability to make a quick decision.
Paul Hathaway of Jacksonville speaks to the council to ask that they wait 2 weeks to make a decision on the Mill property to help preserve a historic piece of Jacksonville.
Kevin Steward also spoke. Mr. Steward is the owner of K & D Adventures and was on the agenda for tonight to have the contract for deconstruction signed. He stated that this should have been done two weeks ago and not postponed another two week. The council decides to wait two weeks to make a final decision on the property moving forward and table the motion.
Retail Strategies Agreements – Terry Wilson. Wilson, Green and Mayor Smith met with Retail Strategies LLC. Wilson proposes that they move forward with Retail Strategies and enter an agreement with both contracts for reworking the square and the city retail as a whole. They will give it a year to see if they are getting the results that they want. They want to make the square more valuable to retail businesses using Downtown Strategic Visioning. Green thinks it will be beneficial to the city to have outside expertise to improve aesthetics and parking challenges.
Food truck Ordinance – Mark Williams. Taylor had asked Williams at the last council meeting to make changes to existing mobile food truck ordinance to make it more user friendly. Added a section to allow tables and chairs to be put out for customers. Added rules to allow food trucks to operate in residential areas. Generators were previously the only allowable power source, a change has been made to allow alternate sources of power, as long as it is inspected and approved by Williams or his department. There will be an application made to fit the new ordinance, to discuss each point with vendors. There will be a one-time application fee of $100 for each mobile food vehicle business license.
Any other business
1. The Mayor mentioned that he is still working on the a job description for the PIO (Public Information Officer) position. There is also talk of sharing duties with a board of education employee, but they are still working on the details.

City Council Meeting

Call to order
Invocation: Rev. Jim Wilson RMC Chaplain
Pledge of Allegiance
Roll call – All present
Adoption of minutes – Unanimously Approved
Adoption of agenda – One removal – removing item 12 – Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the Deconstruction Contract with MC Haulers, LLC and K & D Adventures, Owner Kevin Steward, for demolition of the old profile mill building located at 415 Alexandria Road, SW, Jacksonville, per the attached. – Unanimously Approved
Proclamation – No proclamation
Public comments concerning agenda items – No Comments
Consider action to receive the Planning Commission Report for a Zoning
Amendment Request of Mark Wright to Rezone certain property located at 201 Greenleaf St., SW, from B-2 (General Business District) to R-2 (Two-Family Residential District) and Schedule a Public Hearing for Monday, June 14, 2021, at 7:00 p.m. for same. – Unanimously Approved
Consideration of Resolution Authorizing the Mayor to sign an Addendum to an existing video services agreement (R-1606-10) with Bellsouth Telecommunications, LLC, d/b/a AT&T Alabama. – Unanimously Approved
Consideration of resolution approving the City of Jacksonville’s participation in the State of Alabama sales and use tax holiday as authorized by Alabama Act No. 2017-120 for the Year 2021. – Unanimously Approved
Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the deconstruction contract with MC Haulers, LLC and K & D Adventures, owner Kevin Steward, for demolition of the old profile mill building located at 415 Alexandria Road, SW, Jacksonville, per the attached. – Removed from Agenda
Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the professional services agreement for consulting and related services for “Downtown Strategic Visioning Workshop” with Retail Strategies, LLC, per the attached. – Unanimously Approved
Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the professional services agreement for consulting services for retail recruitment with Retail Strategies, LLC, per the attached. To accommodate persons with disabilities, this document is available in alternate formats upon request. – Unanimously Approved
Consider action to authorize the Mayor, on behalf of the City Water Works, Gas and Sewer Board, to sign the agency agreement with Symmetry Energy Solutions, LLC, per the attached. – Unanimously Approved
Consider action to approve the following promotions: – Unanimously Approved
1. Hunter Horton, Fire Lieutenant/Paramedic, Range 16A, effective May 12, 2021, due to the promotion of Carl Hairrell to Assistant Fire Chief.
2. Kyle Glover, Fire Lieutenant/Paramedic, Range 16A, effective May 12, 2021, due to the promotion of Justin Minton to Assistant Fire Chief.
3. Christopher Storey, Fire Engineer/Paramedic, Range 12A, effective May 12, 2021, due to the promotion of Hunter Horton to Fire Lieutinent/Paramedic.
4. Matthew Hardeman, Fire Engineer/Paramedic, Range 12A, effective May 12, 2021, due to the promotion of Kyle Glover to Fire Lieutenant/Paramedic.
5. Brandon Masters, Fire Engineer/Paramedic, Range 12A, effective May 12, 2021, due to the termination of Fire Engineer Chris Kennedy.
Consider action to accept the following resignations: – Unanimously Approved
1. Dale Edwards, Police Corporal, effective May 13, 2021.
2. Buddy Dalton Martin, Firefighter/EMT, effective May 4, 2021.
Budget Amendments. – Unanimously Approved
Purchases Over $7,500. – Unanimously Approved
Disposition of Surplus Property – Unanimously Approved
Requests to Attend Conference/Training Session with costs exceeding $1,000. – Unanimously Approved
Public comments for general items
1. Dr. Russell Hammack spoke concerning the drainage issues in southwest Jacksonville. He stated that on 3/25/21 and 4/24/21 there have been significant problems due to water drainage. He is concerned for the safety of the children and for property. There are foundation issues due to the culverts not properly handling the water runoff. They simply aren’t designed to accommodate the large volume of rain that we are getting. He references Alabama code 50.50 and has asked that the city complete a comprehensive water study. He stressed that he is not seeking legal action against the city, but he does need their help and would like to see a good faith effort made.
2. Mark Walker spoke regarding the impact of drainage on his home. He stated he contacted the city multiple times regarding the ditches to see how to prevent erosion. He has reported 3/4 feet of sewers exposed due to erosion. He was told that it his ditch and his problem. He also is concerned for further massive erosion. He did note that he also has found an open sewer pipe and is very concerned about overflow of sewage getting kids sick. He also made a plea for help to the City Council.
3. Michael Cobb spoke and stressed he was not having flooding issues, but there is a lot of uncut land behind his house that might be an ideal spot for a retaining pond to reduce the amount of drainage. He is concerned that the price of properties will come down if this is not resolved.
4. Matt Heathcock spoke about the drainage issues as well. He stated he has an 8 year old daughter that plays around this area and he is concerned about the danger of drowning and for the safety of all children and pets. He stated it seems that the culverts are the issue and they overflow to the road and create a water vortex. Kids want to play in water and this could lead to a tragedy. He restated prior pleas for help. His exact words were “We need help”.
5. Roger Sawyer spoke about the drainage issues as well. He has observed that this issue is getting worse and worse. The pipes are not big enough. He stated that they are backing up and leaving 6-8 inches of water in the neighboring yards. He has a 4,600 square foot house and his basement has flooded twice this year. He has paid someone to pump out the basement once and this most recent time just had the carpet removed where it still sits on the side of the road. He stated that the city has to fix this problem. It is too big for the home owners and is an ongoing issue. He stressed he is not mad or angry, but they need help.
6. Andrea Schneider spoke about her cul-de-sac being completely underwater twice this year. She stated she has lived here since 2012 and has never seen this happen before. She also asked everyone who was here about this issue, but who may not speak, to please stand. Over twenty people stood. She also asked for help.
7. Tony Taylor thanked all for speaking and working with the council.
Council Member Remarks
1. Andy Green thanked all for coming tonight he also stated that he has visited many homes. He stressed that it is his duty to listen and that he will always listen. He also wanted to mention the success of a couple local athletes for their awards. He mentioned that JSU just had their graduation this past week. He also mentioned the opera that is open at Mason Hall. Tickets are $10. He thanked Janis Burns for her help with National Prayer Day. He also wanted to note it was National Police Week and that since 1881 JPD has only had six line of duty deaths. He also wanted to personally thank Corporal David Edwards (now resigned) for assisting him in his personal accident on National Prayer Day (his truck was hit while parked).
Mayor’s report
1. The Mayor thanked Andy for speaking at National Pray Day.
2. He noted that work on Church Ave has started.
3. Cheaha Challenge is next weekend. In 2019 there were over 1,100 participants and there are expecting more this year. If you are awake at 7am on Sunday he asked for everybody to wave at the cyclists.
4. Memorial Day is 5/31 and the city will be closed.
5. The summer reading program starts June 1st and there are programs for children, teens, and adults.
Any Other Business – no other business
Adjournment – Unanimously Approved