September 29, 2021
Lee Evancho
Work Session
The first issue addressed was the tethering ordnance. The rough draft has been prepared and needs to be sent to Chief Bush and Chief Bunn to review. They will be responsible for implementing the ordnance. The goal is to have a working ordnance to be reviewed and voted on at the next council meeting.
The next issue was the Wakefield properties. Specifically there are two houses on Shamrock, one on Parker, and one on Alexandria. Janet Brittain spoke about the timetables for repairs and plans, with detailed plans to get the two homes on Shamrock habitable by the end of the year, the home on Parker by November and the home on Alexandria will be started once the others are completed. The council specifically addressed the need to focus on the outside too. Complaints were addressed. The council did acknowledge that there aren’t many complaints, but the ones they receive are given often and are very vocal. Ms. Brittain did admit that when the bushes were cut, debris was left, and that should not have happened. She also explained that she managed 40+ properties and did not realize the condition initially. She has already spoken to the the landscaping company and and there are plans to correct this within the next two weeks. She also stated there were many delays due to the contractors. She has no control over that, but did state that she would make getting the outside appearance corrected a priority. She addressed getting a new roof put on at 516 Shamrock and also replacing doors and painting. The grass has been cut and the debris will be removed as well. She also apologized for the delay in that happening.
The Rebuild America Fund was addressed. When funds are allocated they request to bank the funds until later use. Now that a project has come up, there were some questions over what the procedure will be to allocate the funds. City Attorney, Jason Odom, clarified that a letter could be written to note allocation per the conditions. This will be a simple process.
The Borden Property and Lawsuit was also addressed. The lawsuit is currently in mediation and a settlement agreement has been offered. This agreement will be addressed in an executive session and the council will need to determine if they want to accept the offer or reject it. Terms of the offer cannot be addressed outside of executive session.
City Council Meeting
- Call to Order
- Invocation – Rev. Jimelvia Martin
- Pledge of Allegiance
- Roll Call
- Councilman Clint Burns – Present
- Councilman Tim McRae – Present
- Councilwoman Cathy Hamby – Present
- Councilman Nick Bowles – Present
- Mayor Pro-Tem Jeff Clendenning – Present
- Mayor Willis – Present
- Adoption of Agenda – Unanimously Approved
- Adoption of Minutes – Unanimously Approved
- Department Reports
- Public Works – Joey Conger is still out recovering. He hopes to be back within one to two weeks.
- Police Department – August report provided
- Fire Department/CodeEnforcement – Fire house is still progressing. The plan is to have a work day in two weeks to put up sheetrock. The HVAC will go in prior to that.
- Administrative Department – No report
- Council Reports
- Clint Burns – No report
- Tim McRae – No report
- Cathy Hamby – No report
- Nick Bowles – No report
- Jeff Clendenning – No report
- Old Business
- Pet Tethering Ordinance – A draft has been written and reviewed by the city attorney. The draft will be provided to Chief Bush and Chief Bunn. This is tentatively set for the agenda at the next meeting.
- Rebuild Alabama Fund – Annual Transportation Plan – FY2022 – After consulting with the city attorney funds can be banked for later use when projects arise. To use banked funds a letter will be provided and then funds can be allocated to the appropriate usage.
- Update on Wakefield Properties – Reviewed in work Session no additional questions asked in the meeting as a plan is in place to rectify the matter.
- Executive Session – Borden Lawsuit Mediation – A recap was provided to explain that a request was made to the City to grant an easement across Ladiga Trail. This was denied. The property owner stated he was unable to sell his property without an easement and filed a lawsuit. A settlement has been offered in mediation. The details will be discussed during an executive session.
- New Business – No new business
- Spirit of Weaver – No report
- Mayor’s Report – No report
- Public Comments
- Rev. Jimelvia Martin spoke about the lack of updated minutes on the website. Mayor Willis acknowledged that the website was out of date and stated that he had been speaking with a company regarding professional services to update the website and maintain it. This would improve usability and keep information more current. He also clarified that minutes cannot be placed on the site or provided to the public until after they are approved at the following meeting. This would mean at minimum there would be a two week delay. Councilman Hamby and Mayor Willis did suggest reading the Calhoun County Journal’s reports as an unofficial recap of each meeting and work session.
- Greg Pierce wanted an update on the Wakefield properties and their current owner. Chief Bunn provided the owner information from the county’s GIS website. Mr. Pierce addressed the city attorney for information on ownership and was told that Mr. Odom was there as in his capacity as the city’s attorney and should not be addressed during the meeting about private property ownership. Mr. Pierce then asked for an update on the cleanup for the properties. Mayor Willis explained that unfortunately that subject had already been covered in the both the work session and city council meeting and that they could not go back and review all the details. Mr. Pierce acknowledged he did arrive late to the meeting, but accused the Mayor of not addressing the issue in the Council Meeting. He then informed the council that he knew where they all lived and stated that none of them had to deal with these issues. He did amend that statement to acknowledge that Councilwoman Hamby did have issues in her neighborhood. Councilmen McRae stated that while he doesn’t have an ongoing issue, he has in the past. He explained that for three years he had a junk pile that was in plain view of his front porch that was a code violation. He explained that even as a city council member he still had to be patient and wait for the issues to be addressed. Mr. Pierce then told the council they had two weeks until the next meeting to drive by the properties and see the issues. Councilman Bowles stated that he had no authority to demand anything or set deadlines on the council. He reminded Mr. Pierce that plans are in place and that just because he missed the work session and first portion of the meeting that doesn’t mean it wasn’t addressed. He stated there was timeline and plans and they all want the issues addressed and resolved.
- Adjournment to executive session – Unanimously Approved
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