City Council - Regular Meeting

Started falling down, but nothing has changed. You never lost [music] it all. You still got your flame. Light me up, let me see your fire. Light me up, let me see your fire. Light me up, let me see your fire. Light me up, let me [music] see your fire. Light me up, let me see [music] your fire. Light me up. Let me see your fire.

Good morning, Birmingham. Today is Tuesday, March 31st. The time is 9:35 a.m. We I call to order the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council. This morning, our invocation will be led by Bishop Jonathan Illwood, Senior, Pastor of Love City Church in Birmingham, and our pledge of allegiance will be led by Councelor Daryl O'Quinn. If you're willing and able, please stand and join us. And if you'll just touch the button, it's on. Good morning, everyone. Uh let us bow our heads for a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, we come to you today first to say thank you. Thank you for life. Thank you for health and strength. Thank you for uh bringing us back together again to do what needs to be done for this great city. Father, we want to thank you for our mayor. We want to thank you for our city council. We want to thank you for everyone that works so diligently to make Birmingham the amazing place that it is. We pray now your leadership and your guidance and your blessing to be on this gathering today. Bless everyone present. Bless our city council. Bless our mayor. Bless their families and all that they do, God. and we just thank you that Birmingham is covered under your blood and that we're safe and your grace and mercy is on us. We thank you that our city is amazing and it will continue to be amazing. Now bless us today in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

One nation under God indivisibley. Thank you very much, Bishop Woods, for that very thoughtful prayer. Thank you, Dr. O'Quinn, for leading us in the pledge of allegiance. Good morning, Mr. Clerk. Morning, Madam President. If we could now have the roll call, please. Council member Gun, good morning. Morning, sir. Council member O'Quinn, morning. Good morning. Council member Smith, good morning. Good morning, Council Member Smitherman. Good morning. Good morning, Council Member Vasa. Good morning, Council Member Williams. Council Member Woods, morning, Council President Prom Tate. Good morning, Council President Alexander.

Good morning. Thank you very much, councilors. The minutes are not ready from the meetings of January 6, 2026 through March 24th, 2026. At this time, we'll have communications from the mayor. Good morning, Mayor Whiffen.

Good morning, Madam President. A little feedback here. Good morning to the entire council. Good to see everybody this morning. Good morning to the general public as well as those here the city council chamber. Madame President, council, I just have two notes. be very brief this morning. One is that the city offices will be closed this Friday in observance of Good Friday with the exception of police fire 911. So that's April 3rd. Again, city hall um city administration buildings will be closed. U this will not affect trash or recycling pickup, but we do want to take the time to wish everyone um and their family a happy Easter this upcoming Sunday. And now at this time, I would like to invite up the members of our planning, engineering, and permits team to join me um as we speak to landscape and architecture month um as they come up. Um the city of Birmingham is joining cities across the nation and celebrating landscape architecture month this April. This is a moment where we can recognize the vital role landscape architects play in shaping a healthier, more resilient, as well as a more connected Birmingham. In our city, more than 50 licensed landscape architects contribute to economic development, environmental protection, and tourism, strengthening the city's economy while also improving everyday life for our residents. And so today we'd like to honor these professionals and their work with the special proclamation that I will read in part and it states whereas Wednesday April 1st 2026 is recognized as professional landscape

architecture day celebrating the licensed professionals whose expertise in science technology engineering and mathematics is essential to the infrastructure and quality of life of Birmingham, Alabama. And whereas during landscape architecture month celebrated under the theme landscape architecture in action, we recognize the profession's tangible impact on parks, streetscapes, campuses, public spaces across urban, suburban, and rural communities. And whereas the economy of Birmingham is strengthened by the work of our licensed landscape architects who foster tourism, economic development, and environmental protection. Now, therefore, I, Randall L. Wooden, mayor of the city of Birmingham, along with the Birmingham City Council, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as Landscape Architecture Month and the city of Birmingham and call upon the people of Birmingham to engage in the events hosted for the public about landscape architecture. At this time, we will have three speakers come up to give you a little bit more. Starting with Abraham.

Good morning, council. Good. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Madam Pro Tim. Madame President. Um, yeah, we're just excited to help promote our our profession and our field and uh serving as landscape architect for the city. um just being involved in helping enhance people's day-to-day lives as well as uh city-driven projects and and projects from developers um just to enhance Birmingham. Um I'm now going to turn it over to Leanne McN. She is a member of our board of Alabama uh board of examiners for landscape architects and she's going to mention some things about our profession in the state.

Right. Uh, good morning council. Um, thank you very much for having us this morning. Um, as Abraham said, I'm Leanne McN. Apologize for the feedback. Um, I'm a landscape architect based here in Birmingham and I also serve on our Alabama board of examiners of landscape architects which is our registration board for landscape architects throughout the state. Um similar to architects and engineers, we have a very stringent education and lure process that we go through. Um our uh the practice of landscape architecture is not just about plants though that is one of the tools in our toolbox. Um but we have the responsibility and the privilege to integrate the built and the natural environment to the benefit of all. Our lensure ensures that we do this through the constant lens of the health, safety, and welfare of the public and of the environment. We have almost 300 landscape architects registered in the state of Alabama. And of those instate licences, approximately 70% live and work in the Birmingham metropolitan area. So Birmingham has always been considered the design hub of our state and our profession is very proud to be a part of this community. If you're not familiar um as much with our profession and you'd like to see some more examples of the work, we encourage you to visit abla.alalababama.gov and you'll see some very familiar Birmingham projects that are own part of that state lensure web page. Um again, thank you for having us today and I will turn it over to Paige.

Good morning, council. Um, I am Paige Ishmail. I serve as project manager within the Department of Transportation here at the city. And then I also have the pleasure of serving as president of the Alabama American Society of Landscape Architects, which the Alabama chapter. Um, so this is our professional organization that represents the industry. There's 16,000 of us nationally and about 200 of us locally. And I'm joined with some of the members of our executive committee here today. Um, so you've heard a lot of great things about our profession. We just want you to know that we're here. We're working every day to make Birmingham's communities stronger. Um, but then uh ASLA, our national organiz organization, allows us to also be um advocating for Alabama and Birmingham nationally. Every day we are um working to advocate for policy that's important for storm water management and public safety, climate resilience and equitable access to public space. So these are things that we're working on um all the time through our private firms and municipal work. Uh landscape architecture is also a STEM designated profession. Um, so we're also uh working to be in our high schools here in Birmingham and have students learn about landscape architecture at a young age um because we we're right at the line between science and design. So we can speak to a lot of interest that different kids have um to hopefully get them interested in landscape architecture early on. Um so in addition to April being a landscape architecture month, we have our state conference. It's coming up on April 16th and 17th. We're kicking things off at CityWalk on April 16th. And then we have a full day of educational sessions on the 17th, which is a Friday, and that is at Vulcan Park and Museum. So, we um would love

for anyone in the design field to check that out and join us on that day. So, we thank you again for this recognition.

Thank you so much. Thank you, Mayor Woodin, for recognizing these individuals and for the work that they do. We know you keep Birmingham beautiful with your beautiful designs, and I'm always in awe of anyone who is able to take any area of space and beautify it in the way that you do. So, thank you so much. [applause] That was it. All right. Thank you very much. At this time, now you said short and sweet, didn't you? At this time, if you allow me to read consideration of the consent agenda, we will be entertaining the items that are being considered for consent. All items designated as consent are considered to be routine and non-controversial and will be approved by one motion. No separate discussion of these items will be permitted unless a council member, the mayor, or citizen interested in a public hearing so request. If so, such items will revert to its normal place on the agenda order of business. All matters of permanent operation, those are indicated with a capital P, will be read. All other matters will be announced by reading the items numbers only. All public hearings will be announced. Mr. Clerk, if you will read the items that are being considered for consent.

Yes, ma'am. Start on page two. Items two and three are on consent. Please note that there's a request to withdraw item number four. We skip over to page 24. Items five and six are on consent. Page 25, items 7, 8, 9, and 10 are on consent. Page 26, items 11, 12, and 13 are on consent. Page 27, items 14, 15, 16, and 17 are on consent. Page 28, items 18, and 19 are on consent. Page 29, items 21, 22, and 23 are on consent. Funding source for item 21 is ARPA project uh district 4 account number 029-101-527 uh 050. And for 22, it's district 7 offer project fund uh 039.010.527.050. 050. And on item 23, third line from the top, after Birmingham Folk Festival, we will insert the language will host the folk festival on May the 16th, 2026 in the city of Birmingham, which and then we'll pick back up. We will we will cultivate unity in the city of Birmingham. That's for item 23. Page 30. Items 24, 25, and 26 are on consent. Uh page 31, items 27, 28, 29, and 30 are on consent. And we have

lot quite a few corrections on item 28. Um, for item 28, the amount should change to $7,000. Uh, district one will contribute $2,500. District 5 $1,000, District 7 $1,000, and district 9 $2500 for a total again of $7,000. Item number 29, uh, the amount should change to $5,000. um with $1,000 coming from district 7, $2500 coming from district 9, and uh the $1,500 would be the funding source that's uh on the agenda per right now at this point. I think that's it for that. Yes. And so we pick back up with the consent agenda on page 32 with items 31, 32, 33, and 34, page 33, items 35, 36, 37, and 38. And we have a couple of changes for item 37. The amount should change to $5,000. I'm I'm sorry. Total of $7,000. $5,000 will come from uh District 8. That's an addition. And the other $2,000 is from South Robuck Springs Neighborhood Association. That's for item 37. Then on page 34, we're going to withdraw item 39 from the consent agenda. Item 40 is on consent. Item 41 should be withdrawn as well. And items 42, 43, and 44 are on consent. Page 35. Items 45,

46, 47, 48, 49, and 50 are on consent. Page 36. Items 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, and 56 are on consent. Page 37, items 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, and 62 are on consent. Page 38, items 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68 are on consent. Page 39, items 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, and 74 are on consent. Page 40, items 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, and 80 are on consent. Page 41, we have items 81, 82, and 83 on consent. Page 42, items 84, 85, and 86 are on consent. Page 43, items 87, 88, 89, and 90 are on consent. And on page 44, we have items 91, 92, 93, and 94 on consent. And that concludes the consent agenda, Madam President.

Thank you very much. Counselors, are there any items you'd like to have added or removed from consent? [snorts] Yes, Council Woods. Uh, can we pull 25 and 33? That's item 25. On page 30 and page and item 303 and item 33 on page 32. Any other items? Okay, counselors. I'd like to pull item number 18 from consent

and I'd also like to pull item 22 from consent. Uh, Madame President. Yes, sir. Uh, council member, he's going to amend 25 and it can stay on consent. Okay, that's item 25 will be amended. And do we have that information? We can go ahead.

Yes, ma'am. Madam President, uh for item 25, the amount will change from an amount not to exceed 23,500 to an amount not to exceed 48,500. The additional $25,000 will be coming from district 1. 22,500 will go to the Huffman High School football program. 2500 will go to the Huffman High School baseball program. Again, those two amounts totaling 25,000 for total amount $48,500. For the additional 25,000, the GL code is 001-0000 4210-5420001.

All right. Thank you very much. So counselors with those additions item 25 will remain on consent. Any other items? At this time we'll entertain a motion and a second for approval of the consent agenda for consent. All right. I have council members queen and gun for the consent agenda. How's that sound? I think we have the app. Let's try it. They should be open for voting.

All right. Council President Alexander. I All right. Got it. That vote should be up, Madam President. All right. Thank you. The items that were considered for consent have been approved. If you're here for any of those items, they've been approved and we'll continue with the rest of our agenda. Mr. Clerk, we're going to go a little bit out of order. Um, I would like to Excuse me. I would like to um keep open our public hearing item and we'll go to the next item that's open on the agenda. Be item 18.

Item 18, an ordinance to further amend the general fund budget for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 2026. by appropriating $4,500,000 to city council for district funding increase $1,000 for storm water I'm sorry storm water master plan $2,000 sidewalk repairs no I'm sorry $2 million sidewalk repairs $2 million for urban villages master plan $5 million for Messer airport highway drainage project $1,200,000 for interstate lighting 1 $500,000 from Birmingham Park and Recreation Pool Repairs and Upgrades. $1,500 for Crosslex Air Handler Replacement. $500,000 to Birmingham Zoo. $3,500,000 for Cradle to Career Childhood Initiative, $2 million for the PAL Steam Plant, $1,100,000 to Park and Recreation for Cardiac Solutions, $500,000 to Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, $250,000 to 16th Street Baptist Church, 205 $250,000 to Birmingham Civil Rights National Museum, $5 million for the Birmingham jail improvements, $3 million to Office of the City Attorney attorney, Office for OCA settlement and $175,000 to the city council for office renovations funding sources fund balance reserves motion please move

second all right thank you counselors I ask this item be removed from consent just so that the public has an idea of what this item means to us um this item has been recommended by the mayor as well as the committee of the whole we did have a presentation to us during our last committee of the whole meeting where these items were presented to us. Mayor Wolfin, I just wanted to give you an opportunity for the public just to have some awareness of how we got here and um the intent for this item. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Again, good morning um madam president. Good morning to the entire entire council. U please recall um as it relates to the beginning of the fourth quarter of last year. U we had a presentation um from our financial adviserss in detail about all of our finances. As you know, there were some additional surplus funds in our fund balance. Um, we went and supported our employees with premium pay at the end of the year, December. Um but since then we've had some conversations and there are some critical things we need to do to support um our city's public infrastructure which includes storm water sidewalks, interstate lighting and as well as repairs and upgrades for our city pools as the summer is approaching. In addition to that um as you all know since um the third term has started there's been a significant um focus on early childhood credit career um so there's a significant investment in early childhood as well as in partnership with small magic and then of course um I think we know our city and its role um in the civil rights and there's significant investments um and this is just a down payment there'll continue to be more significant investments in our civil rights district which includes BCRI, 16th Street Baptist Church as well as the National Monument. And then there's some other cultural amenities that we need to continue to support as well. Um the Birmingham Zoo as well as a new um cultural amenity that has not only economic impact u but um will bring an international presence to our city and that's the power steam plant/cultural city. And so that's a high level. I'm willing to entertain any additional questions you may have, but I think these things are fundamental u to moving our city forward.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Mayor Whipin. We are um I think each counselor has had opportunity. We've had conversation with you all of course was presented to us to the committee of the whole. I think it's um very important for our residents to understand how this helps our city to move to progress and to be able to look at items that have been brought to our attention that are very much concerning to us. And now we have this opportunity to make some leeway with these items as they're presented to us. Any questions or comments about this before we entertain a vote? Yes, Councelor Smitherman.

Thank you, Madam President. I really want to thank um Mayor Wolf and the administration for well several things because you know a lot of people don't know about the talks that we have behind the scenes and I know um the nine of us 10 of us have talked about addressing storm water especially once we saw a few years ago there were um really those you called it once in a century storms were becoming almost every year and so we had talked about you know getting a better plan on how to address it because it would cost millions millions, almost billions of dollars. But I think with this master plan, this will be able to address it more aggressively outside of our regular maintenance of the um of the storm water tops that we already do. But I really am very thankful for the pool repairs and upgrades. I know that's something council as chair has been advocating from day one. um which is really huge um as an incoming counselor because Woodward Park in West End, you and I started talking about that at the end of last year and for you to be attentive to West End community and that pool really means a lot to me because that's the final piece to renovating that park. Um because we've done the baseball field, the pavilion, um the playground equipment, and that literally is a partnership between state, county, and city uh getting that together. So, I'm very thankful for that. Um, I think the Palestine plant's going to be good with workforce development. The BCRI, that's one of our pivotal assets for the city. Um, and I I really think this is going to be a gamecher for us. So, I'm glad to see that we're very um proactive in using this to really help the community, especially with the sidewalk repairs. I see my former colleague, uh, Council Abbott. I know she's happy about that. But I just want to thank you guys for um just listening to our concerns, our budget priorities, and still addressing it even throughout the year. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Councelor Woods.

Uh thank you, Madam President. Definitely wanted to uh show some love to the administration, the finance team. I think uh being being very wise in how we manage our funds on a year-to-year basis uh to ensure that we we never have a lapse in what we can deliver to the public uh in terms of our city services. But, you know, being able to realize a surplus like this and take on some uh long-standing projects is exciting. I know kind of everything will kind of come out uh in the coming days and weeks, but just really excited to have the opportunity to come out and solve some issues that residents have been asking for for a long time and uh you know, just been very impressed with the way the city has uh really operated on a zerobased budget, but even throughout the year try to find ways to avoid wasting dollars that don't need to be spent. And I think in a moment like this, you really see the opportunity to uh take advantage of that. So, thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much, Council Leasa.

Thank you, Madam President. Uh I also want to echo the comments of my colleagues uh mayor. This uh surplus funding and opportunity to use it to deploy funds towards infrastructure uh and items for the city is very helpful. In particular, um the support for the Birmingham Zoo I know is u very important to them. there's a lot of uh grave u infrastructures uh uh kind of and operational uh opportunities that are going to be used for that. So we thank you for that. Uh and then also the sidewalk prepares as uh councelor Smitherman mentioned u councelor Abbott we appreciate uh that and we've seen that work already on the south side. So I want to lift that up. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Anything else? Yes, councilman. Please forgive me y'all, but will you briefly explain explain the urban villages master plan just briefly because I don't think I think if somebody read it, they wouldn't really know what urban village cuz I didn't.

Absolutely. Um, councelor Smith to the entire council and to the general public and those in the audience. the urban villages initiative. It's just um I mean I got some notes here, but a way to explain it is um we're rich in our nine city council districts um with over 20 plus small business quarter districts if you would. Uh you think about um Five Points South and Five Points West downtown North Birmingham. Um but you also have um a portion of Woodlon who has its own business district. You have these various business districts and they go west as even far as central Pratt. Um there are 20 plus of them all over the city. What we are wanting to do is identify about um 11 or 12 of them um to just center around not only the business district but the portions of those districts we're responsible for from a city infrastructure standpoint. So think the streets, sidewalks and lights um and creating a vibrancy that actually works um for some of those areas. Um but also the notion of how do we make them more walkable? How do we make them more neighbor friendly? Um, but also how do we create the space? So, in partnership with economic development and community development as well. Um, and so these initial areas are all across the city. I think they touch all nine of your districts. um includes North Birmingham, Huffman, East Lake, Hinsley, Five Points West, Smithfield, um Woodland, Five Points South, Tittisville, Walson State, and I actually may be missing one. Um but from this notion of what we're trying to do is make sure that we can create in these places

not just an initiative around neighborhood revitalization but as um James Fowler said it doesn't matter if you're 8 years old or 80 years old. We want to be in a position where residents who live in walking distance and not just for that neighborhood but for that community um can have a space where they can convene, where they can socialize um where there's activity um and making sure um folks have the quality of life opportunities um that they desire in proximity where they live. They don't necessarily have to leave and go to another city to do that and or the other side of town. So we're going to start with the basics first. things we're responsible for control of. If you consider downtown North Birmingham, starting with literally one block

and then expanding out from there. But think about again whether it's that sidewalk that we're responsible for with public tax dollars or those lights we're responsible for with public tax dollars, etc. and then working with those existing small businesses in that area and or if we own um actual um brick and mortar, how do we re I guess reexpose that space um to make it where it can be socialized. So that's a snippet of urban villages. I feel like I butchered that. I feel like James Fowler can explain it better. Um but we're really excited about the opportunity just from my notes. Uh this is a shared space for families c it'll be a central gathering place. It'll be anchored by high quality public transportation. We believe it will not only reduce crime but it's going to support the existing local small businesses in that area. Um as well as how do we really get into where does public infrastructure meet community and economic development as it relates to mixeduse um space.

Thank you. And I'm very thankful for that because I know um well I can only speak to two because they're in my district but of course we all go throughout the city and we hear business owners asking for a lot of this as you call it lowhanging fruit. the sidewalks being repaired, the trees being replanted. And I think, you know, our residents deserve to have a beautiful corridor in inner city Birmingham, just like if you go to a DC or LA, LA may not be a good example, but DC, New York, or even like in the suburbs. So, I I really do I'm sorry, man. I really do appreciate because this really highlights every part of town from the north side, the south side, east side, the west side. this really addresses everything and also from ages 01 to 99 with the cradle to career. So, thank you and shout to Chaz. I know he was the brainchild behind a lot of the figures. So, thank you.

Thank you, Councelor Williams. Thank you.

Thank you. One thing that I do not think is lowhanging fruit and something that um has been talked about for we've been here eight years and a half or something like that um is trying is working with the state of Alabama and trying to get interstate lights turned back on and we've been able to do it in pockets um and and work with ALD DOT to get that done and y'all have done a great job of working with ALD DOT and finding solutions to get it And when you drive anywhere throughout the state of Alabama and you go through a municipality, you notice that a lot of their interstate lights are dark. However, if you're in rural Alabama and and drive by a rest stop, it's well lit.

Um, and that is because obviously the state of Alabama requires the municipality to maintain uh interstate lighting while the state maintains the rest and polices the rest of the interstate. So having the eastern area u and and the rest of uh the uh I20 corridor I guess relit for I I don't know how long it's been since it's been lit is going is something that I'm very excited about because the amount of emails that I have gotten um over the uh past eight years to try to get that done is um is significant and I know that our our eastern area residents are going to be thrilled once that once that's completed and we ask folks not to steal the copper after we

Yeah. You know that's you know that's been the challenge coun madam president to councelor Williams point again just a note this interstate lighting for I59 from the split of 209 to Robo Parkway and the other side of the split to the city limit to right at the line of Irondale. Um, the total cost of this is actually $6 million. It's very expensive.

And for the record, which I like to state on the record, we're actually not responsible for interstate lighting. However, we're challenged with um some of the, you know, complexities and politics of the state and we find ourselves happen to find a solution because that's what our residents want us to do. So, the good news is that ALD will invest uh $2.4 million in federal funds. Regional Planning Commission will invest 2 four millions in and in federal funds and we're doing our match uh which is significant amount of money for the remaining closing that gap but this is as you've said um something that the residents really need and want and it's been a very high on the complaint list and I also want to manage expectations that we still have to bid this work

for a total packet um and it can take up to 10 to 18 months um to construct after but in an ideal um what they're putting in place will be um theft proof so we won't find ourselves in this situation again. Perfect. Perfect. Thank you, Madam Pro Tim. Thank you, Madam President. Real quickly, mayor, I just want to thank uh Director Living and his team and um Alabama Power for restoring the lights on the bridge going over the bridge in North Birmingham. It has been out for quite some time. So, thank um Director Bivven and the team for um restoring those lights that are now working. Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you. Thank you so much. At this time, we're ready to entertain the vote. Thank you, Mayor Woodson.

Council member Williams, President I should. All right. Thank you. Item 18 passes. Again, thank you to Mayor Whip and the finance team, and we're very excited uh to have this opportunity. Next item should be item 20, an ordinance to add section 2-4-8 to title two, general government, chapter 4, officers and employees, article a general provisions, the general code of the city of Birmingham establish paid mental health leave for full-time classified employees. the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service. This is an item of permanent operation. In order to pass, I need you seated today. Second. Council member Gun.

Hi. Council member O'Quinn. Hi. Council member Smith. Hi. Council member Smitherman. Hi. Council member Vasa. Hi. Council member Williams. Hi. Council member Woods. Council President Pro Tim Tate. Hi. And council president Alexander. I. All right. Motion on the item. So move item is before you.

All right, councilors. This is an ordinance to add a certain section to our general government u general code of the city and this is to establish paid mental health leave for full-time classified employees. This item was submitted by the mayor and recommended by the fire chief. Any questions regarding this item? Very good. Okay, we're ready for the vote. Voting should be open. Okay. Council member Woods still absent. All right. That vote should be up.

All right. Thank you. Item 20 passes. Next item.

Oh, no. Uh, next item should be item 22. I'll tell you what. Item 22, a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute an amendment to the agreement with Own it Property Solutions LLC and an amount not to exceed 400525,524,420 under which own it will provide services to the city by implementing a project to rehabilitate up to four dilapidated houses in the Hillman Gardens area. um to provide housing for qualifying residents of the city of Birmingham at or below 80% of the area median income to extend the term of the agreement to a term to end on before on or before September the 30th, 2026. Motion, please

move the item. Second.

All right. Thank you, councilors. Can I ask that this item be removed from consent just to allow residents to um really understand the focus and the goal to improve the quality of life for residents, especially in this area. Often residents feel as if in these legacy neighborhoods, especially within District 7, that they're left alone. They're not being attended to. And so this particular item gives an opportunity to increase rehabilitation of homes within the district and I'm very excited. This is a continuation of an opera project that we had in D7. And so I just wanted to um be sure that we made residents aware. I think all of us here are committed to rehabilitation and revitalization of homes and this is just another opportunity and way to do that. So if there are no other comments or questions, we'll take the vote. Thank you.

Thank you. [snorts]

Councilors Smith and I'm a yes. All right. Yes. Okay. That vote should be up. All right. Thank you. Item 22 passes. Next item.

I think we are going to 33. A resolution pursuant to section 11-40-1 and 11-47-9 codes of Alabama 1975 authorizing the mayor to execute and deliver an agreement with Ace Tree Service in amount now to exceed 11,925 to allow Ace Tree Service to remove dead trees and plant 14 new trees in the public right ofway or on public property in Highland Park neighborhood for a period of one year. This funding is to be paid from the Highland Park Neighborhood Association fund. Motion, please. Move the second.

All right. Thank you. And commission commissioner trying to make [laughter]

Mr. McDaniels. Madame President, item 33, the total amount should be not to exceed $20,000 with an additional $8,75 coming from district 1. The uh removal of dead trees and the planting of additional trees will occur within district 1. And that GL account number is 001 0000004210 542001. All right. With that additional information, councelor Woods should ask us to remove this from consent.

Uh yes, ma'am. Just to give some context and budget and finance, we added some additional work to the item uh to remove some trees, similar work uh in district one. And so excited to get that uh funded and completed. And uh in addition to those interstate lights, a couple complaints off the rocking and rolling over there. Thank you so much. Any other comments? We're ready for the vote, Mr. Clerk. [snorts]

Uh, Council Member William. Thank you, sir. The vote should be up. All right. Thank you. Item 33 passes. Next item.

And this item is probably not going to show up on your iPad. I don't think it's populating. Um 95. Let me see if it will. 95 should be next. And a resolution setting a public hearing April the 28th, 2026 to consider the adoption of the ordinance city of Birmingham, Alabama zoning ordinance, title one, general provisions filed by the department of planning engineering permits, case number 2026-1. And this is setting the public hearing. All right, councilors. This is a resolution to set a public hearing on April 28th, 2026 to consider the adoption of an ordinance for the city of Birmingham. Any questions related to setting this public hearing date? We're ready for the vote.

Voting should be open. Council member Williams. I thank you, sir. That vote should be up. All right. Thank you. reset that public hearing for April 28th, 2026. Next item, Mr. Clerk.

Same with 96. Uh, it's held inside another item. I a resolution setting a public hearing May the 5th, 2026 to consider adoption of the ordinance to amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham, case number CAC 2026-2 to change zone district boundaries from I4 to I1 in order to construct convenience store. A drive-thru filed by C. Sedton LLC. The property owner for Mike, the applicant for property generally located at 101 Son Drive North and situated in section 15 to quarter section 1, Township 17, Range 3 West Birmingham. Motion, please.

All right. Thank you, counselors. This is a resolution setting a public hearing for May 5th, 2026 to consider the adoption of an ordinance to amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham. Any questions regarding setting that date? At this time, we're ready for the vote. All in favor? Let it be known by saying I. I. Oppose. Say nay. [snorts] Right. Thank you, councilors. We've set that public hearing date for May 5th, 2026. Next item

should be item 97. And again, it's not reflected on the iPad. uh a resolution setting a public hearing May the 5th, 2026 to consider the adoption of an ordinance to men zoning district map for the city of Birmingham case number ZAC 2025-8 to change zone district bound from R6 uh in order to construct a mixeduse building consisting of a residential and hospitality components filed by Arlington Redevelopment LLC property owner and C Rando Minor Maynard Nexon The applicant for the property located at 1240 22nd Street South and situated section 6 quarter section 2 township 18 range to West Birmingham. Motion please.

Second. All right, counselors. This is a resolution setting a public hearing for May 5th, 2026 to consider the adoption of an ordinance to amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham. Any questions regarding setting this hearing? We're ready for the vote. Okay, this one we just I have to do verbally. All in favor, let it be known by saying I. I. All oppose, say nay. All right. Thank you. We've set that public hearing date for May 5th. Next item, Mr. Clerk. Uh, I think we're back to item one. Yes, sir.

All right. Item one, an ordinance to further amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham, case number ZAC 2025-11, to change zone district boundaries from all properties in the north side southside framework plan area as described in the maps labeled north side community resoning and southside community reszoning by the city of Birmingham for all property located within the north side and southside communities and a hearing of all interested parties. Motion, please.

All right. Thank you. At this time, we'll entertain the public hearing for this item, and I will turn this over to our co-chairs of planning and zoning, Dr. O'Quinn, Council Laasa.

Thank you, Madam President. Uh so we're here for the public hearing for case number uh Zach 20250011 um regarding the north side southside framework plan. So is staff available to report Good morning. My name is Kim Spurl. I serve as the zoning administrator in the department of planning, engineering, and permits. Good morning. Uh my name is Michael Ward. I serve as principal planner in the city's planning, engineering, and permits department. We have a very brief uh PowerPoint presentation that we'd like to show um the council and the audience. It'll give you a highlight of the process that we've been through for the North Side Southside resoning plan. Um first we want to confirm that um when we are speaking of the north side southside uh communities they include the central city, Druid Hills, Evergreen, Fountain Heights, Norwood, Fivepoint South, Glenn Iris, and Southside neighborhoods. Um the reason that we are doing our citywide resoning um is because we are trying to align our zoning districts

with the goals that were outlined in the city's comprehensive plan that was adopted in 2013. We also are working to consolidate our zoning ordinance. As many of you know, we have two sections right now in our zoning ordinance. So we are in effectively working out of two ordinances. So as we reszone these communities, it will help our department to consolidate our ordinance into one. Um we [snorts] are also taking this communitywide resoning opportunity to downzone vacant heavy industrial sites so they can be revitalized into other uses that would be acceptable for the community. We are also expanding our mixeduse district zoning to encourage vibrant walkable neighborhoods. The mixeduse districts were adopted by this council in our 2015 zoning ordinance update. So, we are incorporating those in our communitywide resoning plans. Um, we also are looking to implement our new urban neighborhood zoning district that was approved by the council last year. Um, and this district will provide for flexible housing op options for our residents and for infill housing. So, we've had many people ask about resoning cases that have already gone before this council. Any reasonzoning cases that were initiated by a property owner that this council reszoned, those are not changing. Those Q conditions that the council has imposed on individual resoning cases will remain with the properties. No one is imposing new Q conditions or suggesting the removal of any Q conditions through this resoning process. So, real quickly, we would like to go

over our community engagement process. Um, the planning team hosted three community meetings with North Side, Southside. They began in 2024 in September and November of that year and then followed up in January of 2025 where the community did vote to recommend this resoning plan. Our next step in the process was to present the resoning maps to our planning commission. We hosted a planning commission workshop on March 19th of last year where the planning commission asked questions and reviewed the proposed resoning maps. And on June 25th, 2025, the planning commission held a public hearing and they did vote to recommend the resoning to the full city council. On October 22nd, 2025, this resoning plan was presented to the planning and zoning committee. The planning and zoning committee did vote to recommend approval of this resoning plan subject to two conditions. Um, we did modify several properties that were slated to be D5, multiple dwelling, and we changed those to D3, single family dwelling in the Southside community. And the other condition was the reduction in our D5 districts for the height requirement that was previously 60 feet to 35 ft and this council did adopt those changes earlier this year. So both of those conditions have been met. So, in addition to our community engagement process, every property owner in the north side and southside communities received two notices. They received a notice for the planning commission public hearing and then they

also received a notice for this public hearing that we're holding today. The state law requires that we do notify property owners. So notices were sent out approximately six weeks ago for today's public hearing. In addition, we also held a followup community engagement meeting with some residents in our Druid Hills neighborhood. Um that tour was held on March 23rd. It was last week where we were able to provide them with some answers to their questions regarding urban neighborhood and the implementation of that district. Um, so we wanted to make sure that you guys were aware of that particular community engagement. And so that concludes our overview of the resoning process. Our staff is here if you have any questions about the maps. We also have staff available in conference room A with maps if any residents have specific property questions.

Thank you, Kim. Um, all right. Well, this is a public hearing, so uh I will open it up for comments. But actually, before I do, let me make sure I address any questions from the council. All right, seeing no questions, uh we will now open it up for comments from the public. Uh if you're interested in making comment, feel free to make your way down. Uh if we have a line, we'll form it on this left side over here. Um we'll have one person at the microphone at a time and the time limit is three minutes. Please state your name and your address. Um I'm Paul Godby, uh 920th Street South. I'm president of the Southside Neighborhood Association. Um I took part in a lot of these uh meetings here that was just mentioned. And one thing that has come about uh since that time [snorts] is um uh several of the neighborhoods particularly at Five Points South uh neighborhood meetings people would come in for the project and then they would say what's already been passed by I think planning and design review. So it's also like well now the neighborhoods have no say so in the project. [snorts] So um this has turned out to be a concern is mentioned that at one time the the developers had to come to neighborhood association first and then go to planning and design. Uh this way there it's like um we're getting projects put in on our neighborhoods that we really don't want. uh particularly some of these high-rise apartment buildings that have been built recently, they're not completely filled up. They're not near they're like half

vacant. [snorts] And this has turned out to be a problem with our tax base because water equalization will then tax every single apartment building. If you have an old forplex that was built in 1920, you're being taxed at the rate of one is like uh uh the Ascend Scholar or one of these newer places um their rates. So, this drives up the tax cost to individual apartment owners, which means it passes the cost on to the renters. So these half vacant uh rooms here or buildings that are not uh leased are ends up causing a problem. Now I don't know what the the answer is but at least the you need to have something in here to say that the projects will go to the neighborhoods for approval first before going to the um design review or going on with the process. It seems it was turned around. It used to be that way years ago, but it's been turned around. It's now it's kind of like backwards. So, this has turned out to be a problem. Thank you.

Thank you.

Hello. Please state your name and your address. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Janet Mock. I'm president of the Drew Hills Neighborhood Association. I live at 1250 21st Place North, right in the heart of Protected Stadium, BJCC in the amphitheater. So, we live in a really busy busy area. And I have to tell you, um, in our neighborhood meetings, um, last year, we had so much concern about the reasonzoning because I think the problem was people just weren't really informed what the reasonzoning and how it's going to impact our community. And I have to thank the planning commission and Michael for the time that they spent personally having us come down to city hall to their office and going through a step by step how this resoning is going to impact Drew Hills. They also came um Friday on the 23rd and took us on a personal tour and we went through neighborhoods to see what the what it'll look like and the fact that, you know, we're not going to have these tall high-rise apartment buildings in our residential areas. They showed us the heights and they showed us how the properties, the housing will face the street, not the corridors and the parking because parking is a real uh problem in our neighborhoods right now. So, they clarified the parking requirements. So, I want to really really thank them because knowledge is so powerful and having so much misinformation causes people to take a stance against anything that the city is trying to do

to help improve our community. So, thank you all so much. I appreciate it. Thank you very much. Thank you. Please say your name and your address.

My name is Daniel Christensen. I live at 2412nd Avenue North and I serve Central City Neighborhood as the current neighborhood president. In the resoning before you, you see that the Central City neighborhood has completely embraced the mixeduse downtown zone for the non-industrial portions of the neighborhood. We reject limits on housing, no matter how tall, because abundant housing is the only way to prevent homelessness and ensure our children and grandchildren will be able to live here, too. This is a neighborhood for people, all people. And we choose businesses to support both the needs of the neighborhood residents, but also the local businesses that make Birmingham special. We reject the idea that we need to push people or businesses out in order to curate a particular neighborhood character. and instead we embrace found community. The over 3,000 residents of this neighborhood and despite the lack of picket fences and obsessive long care, this is a neighborhood choose to make their lives here and to serve the same respect and consideration as in any other neighborhood. But time and time again, the city and state have put the convenience of those coming into and through this neighborhood ahead of livability for those whose lives are here. Vendetta Dael, Central City's first neighborhood president, and her neighbors had to fight the demolition of their homes in the Central City Complex for uh for the con against the convenience of the Red Mountain Expressway. Three highways route along Central City's surface streets, funneling speeding traffic along with its noise and pollution through the heart of this neighborhood. One-way roads so wide the interstates are jealous. Encourage dangerous disruptive behavior by both regular commuters with their noses in their phones and joy riders out

to drive fast and make noise. We have seen that the city is willing to put in the effort to address this in other neighborhoods and Central City deserves at least as much effort and consideration. That's just downtown can no longer be an acceptable excuse for reserving to address the policies and priorities that have put the lives of this neighborhood's residents a distant if even existent priority. We are happy for neighbors. We are happy for businesses. We are even happy for respectful visitors. But this is first and foremost a neighborhood. And just like any neighborhood, it must pri prioritize being a safe, comfortable, enjoyable place to live. With this resoning, Central City is inviting people in. But it is the city's responsibility to ensure that those people feel safe, comfortable, and undeserved, undisturbed enough to build their lives here. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Hello. Please state your name and your address.

Hello, my name is Kevin Miso. It's 2221 23rd Avenue North, 2300 Peacock Lane. right now are under the current north side community zoning. These properties are currently being requested to go I think um RMD and they're all light industrial right now. We're just requesting that they would maintain light industrial. The properties that they're bordering are existing light industrial and there's roadways between the proposed reszoning in these properties. Uh the property has been inactive um for since the 1980s. Um but we have just closed on the properties and engaged with an engineering team to build light industrial structure on it. And we are engaging with a trucking company that needs that zoning to operate on the property. it borders a railroad uh and they're looking at working with the current railroad to bring a spur on that property and that's what the current zoning needs. So, we're not asking for any change. We're just asking for it to maintain its current zoning. Again, it's adjacent to the railroad tracks, adjacent to a gas station, and its proximity to the interstate is what why we're requesting this. Uh we have already developed in the last couple of years with the city um on the other side of the tracks which was also inactive until we developed that area and it has brought in a larger

corporation and created over 20 jobs on that location. And we feel like the same opportunity presents itself just by maintaining its current light industrial zoning. I think it would help create taxes from jobs and increase safety just by having the activity there of a potential business now operating that has been inactive for over 40 years. its previous occupation there was a junkyard so it was already operating. Again, we're not asking for change. We're just asking to maintain its current zoning on the north side community where it borders heavy industrial and other light industrial land. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We have two comments uh from counselors. I know we have councelor Gun and then councelor Woods. Okay, sure.

2221 Stouts Road.

S T O U Ts Stouts.

222123rd Avenue North. and 2300 Peacock Lane. If you see here, they all border purple. [snorts] And there there is a separation on the properties and alleyway that separates them. And if you go down and haven't been to the area recently, you can see that from over the last four years has been tremendously cleaned up. I don't know if anyone's been down there, but it's better than it has been. and has the again the potential for the company that's looking at it to create about another 20 jobs.

Uh thank you. Thank you. Uh councelor tape president.

Thank you. Uh Mr. Chair, um I'm very familiar with the area that you're talking about. Um, but what I didn't hear you tell people this this body is right. You got this alleyway. I'm familiar with the store. I'm familiar with the railroad tracks. I take this way every day. And I'm familiar with you cleaning the property up. But what I'm concerned about is that's a residential area. Like it's a alley, which is true, but you got homes all behind there. You got homes all when you hit around that curve and you're telling this body you want to build a trucking company there.

No, no, no. Just like a light industrial metal building. A trucking company was looking at it. So what what my concern is you want to build a light industrial building, but what about the residents that live there? Like I I know people that live there. This longevity residence that's been living there for years. That's right. I spoke to a

One second. One second. 22nd Street North. We have worked very hard to clean that area up. Some houses just was recently destroyed by fire. I just wrote through there yesterday. Um they've u taken down houses. Matter of fact, I travel that corridor every day. But what I don't want to see and what I don't what I will not agree to is somebody building a business there and interrupting you know people that have to live there. That's a dis value you know to the people that live there. Yeah. That's my comments Mr. Chair. Thank you Pro Tim and councelor Gun. I wanted to make sure you had an opportunity.

So this is not related to your comments. Well I was going to tell counselor Tate I've actually spoke to the Washingtons in all five houses that burnt. I'm actually working with two guys in Atlanta that own them about buying those. So, our company, if you look up Riverbrook, we actually build custom homes. So, I'm not asking for reasonzoning of any of the lots that we own in the residential portion. So, we will be building houses as well. Uh I don't know if you just saw just as recent as the last two weeks also in the alleyway, another house just burned. Um that that was separate from the five or six that you're talking about right there. So, Yeah,

the pink house is still there. The store was demolished and the other three structures um were has been knocked down. Um but I was just over there yesterday. I travel um this area yesterday um quite often. I'm very familiar, you know, with the area, having grown up in the area on 20th Avenue North. So again, I know a lot of families that live, you know, in those area in that area. Yeah. Okay. Well, we own uh nine other lots there and all the residential we will be building houses on. So we're not asking for any change in reszone on anything. We're just asking to maintain it current.

All right. Thank you. Should check out the houses we built. Any additional uh questions from council? Yes, Council Gun.

Yep. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, so my question is for staff. Um, first I want to say thank you for uh the down zoning um and for the he heavy industrial zonings. Um, as you know, a lot of the north side communities have bore the brunt of heavy industry over the last few years. And so that's going to be monumental uh for these communities on the north side to have that downzoning uh for the heavy industrial. So I'm excited about that. Uh my other thought was centered around the urban neighborhood uh zoning. Uh could we get a definition of urban neighborhood zoning for those that may not be aware what urban neighborhood entails uh so they can be more uh familiar with that? And then uh any implications from the urban neighborhood zoning in in terms of flexible housing options. What does that look like? So, Councelor Gun, our urban neighborhood district is um it's one of our character districts, meaning that we do have design standards for what structures built in that area will look like, similar to our mixeduse districts. Um and the uses that are permitted in neighbor an urban neighborhood are single family, duplex, triplex, quadplex and multiplex, but multiplex is 12 units or less. And I would like to add to the density that would be allowed in each on each lot is subject to the lot size. So, if a smaller lot would not be able to have as many units if they chose to do a multiplex um because we do have density requirements, but our urban neighborhood district was designed to give some of our communities more options when it

comes to infill housing and what I think um some planners have termed missing middle housing. Um, so our goal is to have these strategic urban neighborhood districts where we can bring in housing developers that can meet these requirements instead of having your traditional R3 D3 single family large lot size requirements.

Thank you for sharing that. Um, I had an opportunity to review the uh urban neighborhood zoning uh that's been proposed uh yesterday and I was looking at a neighborhood, one neighborhood in particular, and that's the the Norwood neighborhood. Um, I see that some of the urban neighborhood zoning, it meanders throughout the neighborhood and I I guess I want to get a better sense of how that was proposed. So, when we looked at where to apply the urban neighborhood, we tried to keep it on some of our main corridors, um, some of the main streets, and it probably meanders because there there could already be a mix of housing types and also areas that were identified as ripe for infill housing.

Okay. Um, just thinking about some of the streets. I'm looking at the map now on my iPad and it excludes some of the streets that have a lot of vacant lots on it. And I know that infill is going to be super important and and having that missing middle uh housing component into the in some some of the neighborhoods uh throughout the north side community is going to be super important to begin to repopulate the city of Birmingham. So, I I I would love to see I don't know if it's too late to have this, but I would love to see that urban neighborhood zoning expand a little bit uh in the neighborhood to capture some of those streets uh that have a lot of vacant lots on them. So, I'm not sure if that's possible. Um but I'm super excited about this. And then my my second question to the urban neighborhood zoning, I know it I'm looking at the map. Had a chance to look at it with my team yesterday and there are some multifamilies uh units that are excluded from the urban neighborhood zoning. Does that impact them at all?

So the multifamily that are in use now, they will be allowed to continue. Um if they were not included in urban neighborhood, they might have exceeded the number of units that are allowed. So we're trying not to create legal non-conforming. Um, and to your earlier point about expanding urban neighborhood, um, this would actually be the first community that will implement the urban neighborhood district. We did receive a little bit of push back from some of our communities that have more single family residential. So, I would say this that the proposed map is kind of a test case. Um, and as we develop our urban neighborhood districts, I think the planning team in a few years would love to revisit expansion of urban neighborhood in some of our key areas.

Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councelor Gun. Any more questions from council? Madam President, hand it back to you. All right. Thank you. This time there are no other questions. We're ready to entertain the vote. Any other questions from counselors? Yes, councelor Williams.

Months for the staff. Um, what with with the with the change in zoning from from whatever it was to whatever it's going with what what this gentleman's talking about. How how was that decision made? So when we're going to kind of I'm going to take you back a couple years when we started doing the framework plans for each community. When we went through our framework plan process, one of the components was the future land use plan where staff in the communities went over and created a future land use map that identified the areas as residential and then within residential we had residential, low, medium, high. We identified areas for mixed use. Then we identified commercial areas as well as our industrial areas. So once that was adopted as part of the framework planning process, staff utilized that when we created the zoning maps that were presented to the communities. And so we looked at the first thing that we looked at as we've mentioned was downzoning any of our heavy industrial properties and light industrial properties that were vacant or not being utilized. And then we also tried to keep the cohesive neighborhoods that were zoned single family together. And then we identified key areas where we could implement our mixed use districts. So, it was a combination of tasks that we did to look at how to create the zoning map. I would say at least 90% of changes

or more on all of our resoning plans are just a change in name only. from the Rs to the D's, from the B's to the C's, from the M's to the I's with the exception of creating those key miss mixeduse districts and then downzoning properties when available. Okay. So, based on that, the community wanted that down zoning.

Correct. That's one of the things we've heard at every framework plan meeting as we've gone through all nine framework plan areas that all of the communities are interested in downzoning vacant industrial properties to see cleaner and greener revitalization of those areas. Yes, councelor McQuinn.

Yeah. So [clears throat] related to that, um, this is really in relationship to another reszoning that we have upcoming, but when there's feedback from the community and um, another competing interest and say the the competing interest owns the property. um does the the property owner um have to consent to the down zoning uh in order for that to be included or how does that work out?

So in this communitywide reszoning process, we do not have to have permission from every individual property owner to change their zoning classification. the state actually allows us the opportunity to do these communitywide plans. We have met with many property owners and we've walked them through the changes. Um, you know, there are some that are proposing in the future a use that might not be allowed by the change in the zoning. However, as staff, we have not tried to change individual properties based off a perceived or planned use that could happen down the road.

Okay. Thank you, Council Gun.

Yeah. I I know that when you mentioned uh when we had this discussion about the urban neighborhoods, um you mentioned character-based codes. Um is there like a design book for neighborhood uh residents when they're, you know, building or proposing building? So, that's a great question. Um, we're actually working on that as a staff. Um, we hope to be working in the future on a pattern book um that will provide some housing types that can be utilized in urban neighborhood. For now, we just have a few basic standards in our zoning ordinance that relate to front porches and facade articulation in urban neighborhood. Um but we will be working in the future on something that residents will be able to utilize for building these uh new homes in urban neighborhood.

Okay. Thank you so much. Any other questions? All right. Thank you very much. Thank you councel Vasa for conducting the public hearing. At this time we're ready for the vote. Councelor Williams. Hi. Thanks, sir. And I vote I as well. Both. All right. Thank you. That item passes. At this time, councilors, we would like to reopen the agenda. Item number four on page two was withdrawn and I believe we need to reconsider that item and bring it back up for our consideration. Mr. Motion reconsider the consent agenda.

All right. All in favor, let it be known by saying I. I. All oppose. Now we'll adopt the consent agenda with item. All right. Now item four. Motion to reot. Yeah. All in favor let it be known by saying I. I. All oppose. Thank you madam president. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Um Mr. Clerk. Well, any more items, Mr. Clerk? No, ma'am. Okay. That concludes our meeting. Mr. Clerk, do we have any speakers?

I Okay. Uh speakers. Yes, ma'am. Um I think Miss Sergeant Adley, I think she left. Uh so next should be Miss Thomas. Shirley Thomas. I don't know if that she's here. David Russell. And then Dr. Artist Murphy. Seeing none. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. We are ready for announcements. Uh, Council Smith, are you ready? Okay. All right. Well, thank you. The park and rec board will meet tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. at Legion Field. We're also commu conducting a community survey. So, all residents are encouraged to complete this survey by going to birmingham.gov and searching for Park and Red. Birmingham Library is still accepting applications to serve on the library board. If you're interested, please email your resume and letter of interest to da help at birminghamal.gov. That deadline is today. The College Hills Neighborhood Association will meet on Monday, April 6th at 6 p.m. And the Central Pratt Neighborhood Association will also meet on Monday, April 6th at 6 p.m., but via conference call. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Smith. Councelor Gun.

Thank you, Madam Prom. Uh, first off, I want to give a shout out to the Collegeville Neighborhood Association. Uh, over the weekend, they and Belel Baptist Church hosted nearly 40 UAB students uh in the neighborhood for a cleanup day. And so, they had an opportunity to get out and and clean up the neighborhood some um and the volunteers were very excited to be out there um in the Collegeville neighborhood. So, I want to definitely give a shout out to the College Neighborhood Association for organizing that. Uh, the UAB Live Health Smart Mobile Market will be in the Kingston community next Wednesday, April the 1st, uh, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and in Vice Hill next Thursday, April the 2nd, uh, also from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Uh, the Airport Hills community will be hosting their third annual voter registration and restoration drive at the Brownsville Heights Community Center from April on April the 6th uh, to April the 10th. Uh on Monday, they'll be working from noon to 6:30 p.m. and from Friday from Tuesday to Friday, they'll be working uh from 11:00 am to 2 pm each day. So, if you'd like to register to vote or find out where your voter registration uh is is located, uh please attend that uh voter registration drive. Uh neighborhood association meetings happening this month, uh the first Monday of this month, uh will be Maple Grove at 6:30 p.m. via teleconference. Also on the first Monday of this month, uh Zin City will host their neighborhood association meeting at 6:30 PM uh via teleconference. Also on the first Monday of this month, uh the Brownsville Heights Neighborhood Association will be hosting their neighborhood association meeting at 6:30 at the Brownsville Heights Community Center. And then lastly, lastly, on the first Monday of this month, uh the Collegeville Neighborhood Association uh will be hosting their neighborhood association at Greater New Antioch Baptist Church at 6:30 p.m. Uh Brummit Heights will also be hosting their neighborhood [snorts] association uh next week and then Fairmont as well. Uh upcoming committee meetings, uh the next community development committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, April the 6th at

3:30 p.m. uh here in the city council chambers. And that concludes my announcements. Thank you, Councelor G. Councelor Oak.

Thank you, Madam Prom. The WA Neighborhood Association will meet on Thursday, April 2nd at 6 PM at the East Lake Library. Um, the annual Crestwood Easter egg hunt will take place on Saturday, April 4th, starting at 10:00 a.m. at Girls Incorporated. Um, that's located at 51308 Court South. And finally, um, the city of Birmingham is h seeking your help to shape Birmingham's multimodal transportation future by participating in GOBHM. Um, you can visit www.birmingham.govhm to participate. And that concludes my announcements. Thank you, Councelor. Counselor Williams.

Thank you. Next economic development tourism committee meeting will be uh April the 7th, 11:30 in conference rooms DNE. If you have any submissions, please get them to india.bay at birmingham.gov by Thursday, April the 2nd. Um uh this year we had a great success at Barber. It looks like that they were going to have um 85,000 fans instead of uh which is up about 10,000 from what they typically have and um so uh that was a great event and unseasonably cold this weekend. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Smitherman.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tim. The North to this field neighborhood will meet tomorrow at 5:00 pm at Memorial Park Recreation Center. [snorts] Uh this past Saturday I hosted the keep it in the family estate planning heirs property and home ownership seminar at the Grove in partnership with attorney JC Fischer. Thank you to everyone who attended and to Miss JC Fiser and the relatives for partnering with me. Uh, the Tisville Branch Library will host a senior resource day tomorrow from 10:00 to 1:00 pm. The PNC mobile banking unit will be at the West End library on April 2nd from 9 to 11:00 a.m. And Railroad Park has started their free exercise classes this week as well. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Cassa.

Thank you, Proam. We're excited to announce that important projects in district 3 were approved during this morning's council agenda. the HVAC replacement for the Highland Park Pro Shop that's been long time awaited and we're excited to see that move forward. Secondly, the greenway and road diet project on Richard Arrington Jr. Boulevard. Uh that'll be totaling 3.2 million. Uh we're also excited to see that and and see that progress uh in our community. Um, in terms of additional announcements, New South Softball Leagues will host the 42nd annual Southern Shootout tournament at George Ward Park this upcoming April 4th and 5th. We are very excited about that and I will be there all day on Saturday. We're proud to sponsor the Birmingham Folk Fest, uh, a free event at Aenddale Park on May 16th.

[snorts] Um, join the Friends of Aenddale Park for park cleanups from 8:00 am to 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of each month. For more information, you can visit friendsofenddalepark.org. And lastly, the Glenn Iris Neighborhood Association will be held Monday, April 6th at 6:30 p.m. at St. Elias Church. That concludes my announcements.

Thank you, Council Wasa. These are the announcements for District 9. The Cypico Finley Neighborhood Association meeting is Wednesday, April the 1st at 5:30 at the Cypico plant community room located at 1500 32nd Avenue North. As Council Smith has already stated, Central Pratt Neighborhood Association is meeting on Monday, April the 6, and they meet on conference call. You can dial 720749732. The passcode is 34808. Um, the Reinvest Birmingham series continues in North Birmingham on tonight at New Beginnings United Methodist Church at located at 2133 32nd Avenue North. And that's Pastor Bowwin. And also the Festival of Hope um will be happening on Friday, April the 3rd from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Central. And that is New Beginnings Community um church and it's located at 151 Avenue L and Ensley. They um going to have food, fun, medical care, game trucks, and much more. And it's free to the public. Um and if you are interested in volunteering, you can text 2708832167. That concludes my announcements. We want to thank our officers on duty, officer Taran and Officer Campbell, and our fire inspections, Inspectors on Duty, Inspector Snow and Inspector Griggs. And that concludes my announcements, Mr. Clerk. And that concludes the meeting.

Second. All in favor? I. All right. Motion.

Well, hi. We're here in National League of Cities, a conference that hosts all of local elected officials across the United [music] States. It's such an opportunity to learn, to listen, and then to meet other local officials and work with them [music] and network with them. I've been in a meeting this morning that talked about economic development. Also had an opportunity to hear from other local leaders during our opening general session. Had some great information [music] that was shared yesterday. We have a week packed full of gathering information, knowledge, and [music] networking. Tomorrow we'll have the opportunity to go on the hill. We'll actually be talking to members of our legislative delegation. So, I'm just excited to be here. [music] Again, it's a great opportunity to be a local elected official to be able to gather information for other local elected officials. you know, I [music] come here, you know, to continue to uh level up my knowledge when it comes to supporting the communities, how we support communities, how do we advocate, you know, with our federal delegation coming to these spaces and places to learn revoly knowledge that we can bring back to the and enhance the quality of life of those that are in Birmingham, Alabama. It was very encouraging honestly [music] just the amount of support we've gotten from all three of our representatives. The focus was a lot on transportation and housing which is so very important. Uh advocating for the 21st century [music] road to housing uh was really amazing and also going to workshops which was really cool. So we went to workshops about a lot of the topics that we were able to discuss with them right afterwards. And so just always having their support no matter what type of uh initiative or topic is was a letter of support or funding has just been amazing while I've been on the council for the last 7 years.

Everybody's facing similar issues uh throughout the municipalities and we're learning from each other. We're [music] learning what to do, what works best, what not to do in certain situations, and we're bringing that back to Birmingham. We're also learning from leaders from across the country uh what they're implementing in their cities when it comes to short-term rentals, when it comes to data centers. One thing that has become [music] apparent is that housing is something that's relevant across the country. It's not just an issue in the city of Birmingham in terms of the [music] number of housing units we have uh and affordability. to see uh mayors [music] and city councilors and commissioners uh across the country really come together to address these issues, talk about solutions and figure out how how we get out of this is very important. [music]

Well, really what I was interested in when we talk about local government delivers uh is delivering things back to our communities that help to support our neighborhoods, community revitalization, workforce development, just helping families in general. Once.