City Council - Regular Meeting

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 see your fire

Good morning, Birmingham. Today is Tuesday, May 26, 2026. The time is now 940 a.m. I call to order the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council. I hope everyone had a great weekend. At this time, we'll have our invocation will be led by Karl Max Catheanthe, pastor of the Birmingham International Seventh-day Adventist Church in Birmingham, and the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Councilor Brian Gunn. If you're willing and able, please stand and join us. And pastor, the mic is right there for you. And if you'll press the silver button, it'll turn the mic on for you. Thank you.

Would you kindly bow and be in prayer with me? Our Father and our God in heaven, you who alone is the source of wisdom and justice, we come before you this morning on behalf of the people and the residents of Birmingham, Alabama. We come with thanksgiving in our hearts. We thank you for waking each and every one of us this morning. We thank you for the clothes on our back, shoes on our feet. Lord, we thank you for a roof over our heads. Lord, we thank you for our families and for our friends. We thank you for the gift of service to the people of Birmingham. We thank you for each and every one of the leaders present in this very place. Men and women who carry the weight of decision, the hopes of our community and the responsibility of service. We thank you. For each and every one of them, for you are the God who has called them into leadership. So today as we ask for one more thing, not just for routine, but Lord, we are praying and asking for courage. Give them ears that they hear the cry of the forgotten. Give them eyes that they may see beyond political lines to see the needs of the human. Give them hearts that beat the compassion and backs strong enough to stand for what is right and even when it is most difficult. Lord, I pray. that you challenge them to not only lead for an applause, not for recognition, not to make a name, but for a legacy. Inspire them to build not just roads and budgets, but trust, integrity, and unity. Remind them that every vote that is cast, every word that is spoken, every policy is shaped touches real lives, real families, and real futures. Father, I thank you. I pray that as each one of them leave this room today, not burdened, but bold, not weak, but strong, not divided, but determined to seek the good of all the people of Birmingham. And when the work feels heavy, when the work feels so overwhelming, may each one of them remember that they do not labor alone. You will always be with them for you promise I will never leave you nor forsake you. And so, Lord, I pray that as you be with them, be with the people of Birmingham that they serve, and we ask all this, believing and trusting in that powerful name that is above every name, the name Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

Thank you so much, Pastor, for that very inspirational prayer. And we appreciate your congregation that has come with you today. Thank you so much. Thank you, Councilman Gunn, for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Good morning, Mr. Clerk. We'll call the roll, please.

Good morning. Councilmember Gunn. Good morning. Good morning, sir. Councilmember O'Quinn. Good morning, Council Member Smith.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council Member Smith. Good morning. Good morning, Council Member Vassa. Good morning. Good morning, Council Member Williams. Good morning. Good morning, Council Member Woods.

Good morning.

Good morning, Council President Pro Tem Tate. Good morning. Good morning, Council President Alexander.

Good morning. Councilors, the minutes are not ready from the meetings of March 3rd, 2026 through May 19th, 2026. Good morning, Mr. Mayor.

Madam President, good morning to you. Counselors, good morning to each of you. I hope everyone had a good weekend. Good morning to the general public and those in the council chamber as well. Madam President and counsel, I'll be short this morning, but I have an important note. Amnesty month is in June, so we know many of our citizens get jammed up as it relates to the court process and or got a pass ticket they didn't take care of or stood in front of a judge or Judge render a verdict and they were put on a plan and they didn't necessarily fall through with their plan. So some of my residents may have warrants for failure to appear and or comply with a court order. Because of that, for the month of June, June 1st through June 30th of this year, we'll be having court amnesty month where we're offering eligible individuals the opportunity to resolve any outstanding failure to appear warrants they may have and avoid the risk of any form of immediate arrest. Participants may visit the courts Monday through Friday for the entire month of June from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and must present some form of a valid I.D. Eligible individuals may resolve cases by either paying their fine, reinstating their payment plan, or returning to compliance with court order programs. Failure to appear fees for qualifying warrants will be stayed or remitted for those who participate. And individuals with outstanding parking tickets may also pay online at birminghamal.gov slash parksmart or at court. The program does not apply to violent offenses. will include the following that it does not apply to. It does not apply to domestic violence, DUI, or code and zoning violations. But for anyone who needs additional information, you may call the Municipal Court at 205-254-2161. Again, that is 205-254-2161. And Madam President and Council, that concludes the Mayor's Report. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Mayor Woodfin. I believe you have one question. Councilor Williams.

Thank you. So just to clarify that any code enforcement action, that does not qualify for, correct? Okay, good. Thank you. Good question. Thank you.

Any other questions? Thank you, Mayor Woodfin. All right, Councils. At this time, I'd like to ask for unanimous consent to... referred from our consent agenda and the items that are on our agenda so that we can have the following presentations. First, we have Councilor Crystal Smitherman, and she has two presentations that she'd like to make to the Council this morning. Councilor Smitherman.

Thank you, Madam President. We can start. If Red Mountain doesn't mind, we can start with the students first so they can get back to school. So will all the members of the Ramsey Boys and Girls Track and Field and Wrestling teams come up, including their coaches and Dr. Walker? Good morning, colleagues. I wanted to kind of continue the tradition I've been seeing with us, kind of highlighting our student athletes. So recently, our Ramsey Boys and Girls track and field went to the state. I think a lot of them placed first and second place, which is really awesome. And then our wrestling team as well has some championship titles too. So what I will have is

Which coach is here?

Let's see. The girls go. Hey, how you doing? I'll have the girls track and field coach just try to talk about what accolades they received, and then I'll ask each student athlete from the track team first to kind of introduce themselves, what events they compete in, and what do they place in. So, coach, would you like to come up?

Thank you. Good morning, everyone. I'm Coach Samantha Hamilton, the head girls coach of track and field at Ramsey High School. A lot of our accolades that we just had this year, really good ones. We brought back the city championship, and we were able to walk away as the city championship winners. We took 12 individuals to state to compete in 14 different events at the state meet, and we brought home eight different medals. I'll go ahead and let my girls introduce themselves.

Good morning. My name is Zoe Fagan and I placed third place in the 4x1 and I'm class of 28.

Good morning everyone. I'm Layla Holyfield, class of 2026. I received the bronze medal in the 4x1, also the 100 meter, and I was state runner-up in the 200 meter.

Good morning. My name is Mackenzie Jones. I'm class of 2027 and I received third place in a four by one.

Good morning. My name is Ava Dumas. I'm class of 2026 and I placed third in a four by one.

Good morning everyone. My name is Caitlin Hicks and I replaced third place in shot put and I'm class of 2027.

I will go ahead and also just tell you a little bit about our boys track team. Our boys track team did wonderful. They actually walked away with two state championship medals. Our coach CC is not here today, but I will go ahead and allow the boys to introduce themselves.

Good morning. My name is Quartez Williams, class of 2027. I came second place in a 400-meter, 200-meter, third place in 100-meter, and also a state champion in a 4x4.

Good morning. My name is Chase Brown. I'm class of 2027, and I placed first place in the 4x4.

Good morning. My name is Mitchell Ward, and I placed first place in the 4x4, and I'm class of 2027.

Good morning, everyone. My name is Ethan Johnson, class of 2027, and I came first place in a 4x4.

Let's give them a round of applause. Do we have anybody from the wrestling team here? Okay, Coach, you got it. But before Coach Ben comes to talk about the rest of the team and Dr. Walker, I'll give you a chance. I would like to say, actually, I'm going to advocate for Ramsey. Ramsey does not have a field, y'all. They go to Lawson Field almost every day, have to catch the bus. And what time do y'all get there? Like 4.30? If they're lucky. And they've actually had to practice in the dark before daylight saving time, which is honestly very commendable because I can imagine that age, you know, trying to do your homework, going off campus. We know how bad the traffic is. So I would love for Ramsey. I may go to the school board, honestly, about that. And that really says the testament of these kids, honestly, that despite all of their circumstances, they're able to still place in the state championship as well. But I did want the council to know the circumstances that Ramsey has to deal with. And I know people have a lot to say about Ramsey, but all of these kids come from different sides of town, which means almost every kid at Ramsey, actually every kid probably touches every district, which makes it very unique. But I did want you guys to know kind of the circumstances they deal with. But I'll let Coach Vann come and talk about the wrestling team.

Thank you, Councilwoman Smith. Good morning, everyone. On behalf of the wrestling team, Coach Lindsey Hall, he's not here today. Our wrestling team, we have had the team now for the past six, seven years. And the progress has shown. Every year we're increasing the numbers as far as going to the state playoffs. And this year we had our biggest turnout. And we had three students to qualify for the state, Drayden Wright, Brooke Reed, La'Keria White. And La'Keria White finished fourth place in the state in her weight division. And so we're very proud of that for the accomplishments that they have accomplished. And again, thank you for all that you do on behalf of Ramsey High School. Thank you.

Good morning, Birmingham City Council. I'm Dr. Walker, principal. Every morning I wake up, my theme is, oh, the places that you can go. And we're familiar with that with Dr. Seuss. And Ramsey scholar athletes are taking me places I've only dreamed of going. Our motto at the school is the standard academic excellence. And these students buy into it every single day. So I just want to say thank you. to Councilor Smitherman. Thank you to the entire Birmingham City Council along with the mayor and his staff for just highlighting excellence in your meetings because we know you don't have to. But beyond that, I see you all supporting our kids and we're just grateful that what we do is seen, appreciated, valued. Any support that you can continue to give us on the day-to-day basis, we will embrace it and be ever so grateful for it. Thank you. Thank you.

We'll take a quick picture right here and then I'll let you guys get back to school. Okay, next up is Red Mountain Theater, if the representatives would like to come up. I'm kind of piggybacking off of my colleague, Councilor Vassa, with the musical performances, but I think you guys have been to Red Mountain Theater. Actually, this is my favorite childhood cartoon, actually, The Little Mermaid. And so we want to give recognition for one of the paid actors Kenneth Weldon, is that how you say it? If you would like to come up, he is actually from Birmingham, so he's a recent graduate of Midfield High School, and he currently attends UAB, so go Blazers. So, Kenneth, would you like to say a few words? Yeah.

Good morning. Honorable Mayor Woodfin, members of the City Council and City of Birmingham administration, as well as the community. My name is Kaylan Williams, and I serve as the Institutional Giving Manager at Red Mountain Theatre. On behalf of the entire arts organization, Thank you. Thank you for your investment in the arts and the creative future of our community, as well as young people. Today, it's my pleasure to introduce to you Kenneth Weldon. Kenneth grew up participating in RMT's arts education programs and is now a theater student at UAB. As we produce Disney's The Little Mermaid, Kenneth is stepping into his first paid professional role at RMT, a full circle moment made possible through support from partners like you all here at the City of Birmingham. Here to share a special thank you, Kenneth Weldon.

Good morning, everyone. It is an honor to stand before you this morning My name is Kenneth Weldon and I am here to represent Red Mountain Theater. To give a little backstory, I was first introduced to theater in the second grade. As stated before, I am from the midfield area. I graduated from that school system and as you know that is a very small school so our theater program was very small. I didn't know much about theater as a kid and It was a very low income school system. So we obviously didn't have much exposure to musical theater. Way back when, I had a friend actually audition for the Color Purple at Red Mountain Theater back in 2017. And from then, we all went on a field trip to go see the show. And I just remember being so fascinated with the show. I just knew this was something that I wanted to do. And so a long, long, long, long time ago, at the age of 11, We auditioned for what was called the Conservatory back at Red Mountain. It was about me and 10 other kids. And I was a part of the performing ensemble for seven whole years. And I graduated from that program in 2025. Red Mountain impacted a big chunk of my life. I discovered a passion for musical theater. And growing up in a small town, there wasn't much room for creatives like myself. There wasn't much exposure to that type of stuff. So I'm grateful for Red Mountain because I discovered a passion that I never had before. Eventually, Red Mountain turned into sort of a second home for me. I was around these people for a long, long, long time. So this became a second family to me. My last few years of high school, it was a lot of stuff going on with me personally. So me being at Red Mountain, it eventually became a comfort place for me. It became a place I looked forward to going to. I enjoyed going there every single day. It was like an escape in doing what I loved. From Red Mountain, I decided that this was something that I wanted to take seriously as a career. So I auditioned for a ton of musical theater programs. And I eventually got into UAB. And now I'm training to earn my bachelor in fine arts as a sophomore musical theater major. Doing theater is where I gained a sense of confidence. Growing up, I was a super shy kid. I was noticing that there were small things changing with me. I'm now able to look into someone's eyes when having a conversation. I'm here presenting in front of you all. And all of this stuff was things that I've learned from RMT. I learned time management skills, constructive criticism, a lot of things. I think a lot of kids from the programs, whether they wanted to be musical theater majors or not, they learned a lot from Red Mountain as a whole. Lastly, I wanted to share a little bit with what I'm doing in The Little Mermaid. I serve as the male swing, meaning I am responsible for covering every male ensemble track. There are a total of seven ensemble tracks, including two other additional ensemble tracks. So I'm covering a total of nine ensemble tracks in the entire show, which that is a lot. However, it's a very important skill to have. Most importantly, I am at this show, I'm serving as a paid actor, which is so cool to me because I remember back in 2017, seeing the color purple and seeing all of those actors. And so this now all feels like a full circle moment to me. I aspire to be a working performer, not just Broadway, but perform everywhere and hopefully become an inspiration to others like me who didn't know much about theater. But I just would like to thank you all for the city's continued support for both the audience and people like me. Thank you.

Good morning. My name is Roy Lightner. I am the Singh Artistic Director of Red Mountain Theater, and I'm also a professor of musical theater at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. There are hundreds of stories like Kenneth who walked through our walls at RMT, and I stand here with nothing but gratitude as I watch the magic of what can happen when the city, Red Mountain Theater, and UAB come together to facilitate student dreams. We as a city are fortunate enough to have UAB to give students like Kenneth the option to stay in Birmingham while he received other offers from universities across the country to study musical theater in a highly competitive field. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you. It is the work and commitment of individuals like you and the city that make distant dreams a tangible reality. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much. When does the Little Mermaid end? Or did it end already?

It starts June 12th and runs for six weeks.

It starts June 12th and runs for six weeks. I think they just released their calendar of events. You have Motown Records, don't you? The Temptations, they have some good shows. But I think you guys service almost every district, all the kids in every district. But I just wanted, you know, a lot of times a lot of people ask us for funding, but we don't ever hear thank you. And so I want you guys also to hear about the impact that our funding does every year on the budget. I know a lot of you guys are passionate about the arts. So thank you so much, Red Mountain Theater. I'm done, Madam President. Thank you.

Thank you so much. At this time, Councilors, we do have one more set of presentations, and those will be made by Councilor Daryl O'Quinn. Dr. O'Quinn.

Thank you, Madam President. This morning we have two organizations that are going to tell us a little bit about themselves. First up, we have Momentum, and April Benitolo, Lindsay Setzer, and Wendy Brantley will be presenting. Thank you. You guys can come to the lectern.

Good morning. Thank you so much, Mayor Woodfin and staff and city council members for the investment that you make in Birmingham, the leadership that you demonstrate. And I can tell you, like, I am so stinking proud to be part of this community. Seeing those Ramsey Rams, I am a graduate of Ramsey 1988. We're the class that was so great. And we didn't even have track and field back in the day. So that's really exciting. And then I actually watched Kenneth grow up on the stage of Red Mountain Theater. I think I saw his first show at 11. I WAS KIND OF LIKE STAR STRUCK WHEN I WALKED IN THIS MORNING AND SAW KENNEDY. SO THANK YOU FOR INVESTING IN THOSE ENDEAVORS AROUND THE CITY. SO I'M APRIL BENETOLO. I'M THE CEO OF MOMENTUM LEADERS. AND I REALLY WANT TO SHARE TWO THINGS WITH YOU TODAY. ONE IS THE STORY OF SUCCESS THAT YOUR INVESTMENT IN OUR MOMENTUM WORKS PROGRAM HAS MADE. And Katie and Wendy are going to share a little bit more about the results of that investment in a minute. And the second thing that I want to share with you is some really big news. We have just moved our offices from pepper place into the next tech building down in the switch district. So we are very, very excited about that because, um, it's, it's a really big deal for us. We have been for 23 years, a nonprofit focused on advancing women in leadership. So we are all about enriching the leadership pipeline. in Birmingham and in the state of Alabama. And we've been highly successful in doing that. With this move, we have now not only got room for our administrative offices in our new building, but we now have a space that we can conduct greater community-wide programming and so where we see this taking us is an opportunity to work on things that are very much in line with the city's vision and so that would mean programs that foster economic development workforce development economic growth and opportunities for everyone So we're going to be doing a lot more programming in addition to our flagship leadership programs that we do for women in senior level positions, mid-career positions, and also our Momentum Works program. But we also are offering free virtual training. that anybody can register for. That means every single one of you, your staff, your teams, your family can register for leadership training. And we also have a free mentor matching program that is open and available to anyone in the community. So we're super excited to be convening leaders across all kinds of sectors, business sectors, the education system, civic sectors, nonprofits. Nicole King is one of our proud graduates. And so we are bringing about really, really meaningful change through the work that we are doing with the future leaders of Birmingham. And we have seen firsthand how collaboration with entities like the city of Birmingham can really yield great results. So now that we're moving into the next tech building and part of the switch district, we want to be part of the vibrancy that is about to take place in restoring the civil rights district to the honor that it deserves. And in addition, bringing our annual leadership conference to the BJCC, we attract 1,500 professionals from across the region at that conference. And so those types of activities, in addition to the programming that we'll be able to do from our new space, is really going to bring about some meaningful impact for the city and for the region as a whole. So I want to invite Katie to share a little bit about the direct investment that you all made through the BOLD program and our Momentum Works.

Thank you, and thank you all so much. I'm not Lindsey Setzer. She is our Director of Programs here in Central Alabama. But I am the Director of Development here at Momentum. And I was fortunate to get to know Momentum as an Upward participant before coming to work for Momentum. And I really credit it for keeping me in the workforce at a time where I had two very small children. didn't have a network, and it really helped me expand in a lot of ways personally and professionally. And I also attended on a partial and substantial scholarship, which many of our women do. In the data that I get to see each and every day, there's no disputing the impact that we're able to make together. And at the heart of it, momentum is not simply a nice to have in the community. It's really a must have. And so I thank you all for the investment that was made in us in 2024 and 2025. We were recipients of the bold grant and it helped launch a transformational program. All of our programs are transformational. but something special happens in that Momentum Works program that you all helped us. And I want you to know that the BOLD initiative is doing exactly what you hope it will. It helped us unlock so much more funding for that opportunity from places and organizations that we were not affiliated with before. So thank you for taking that chance on us to prove how impactful it could be for the residents of the city of Birmingham. Since 2019, Momentum has helped women attain $10.5 million in salary gains. And that goes back into families, back into the community, and back into the businesses that we're serving. And those numbers are substantially focused right here in Birmingham. Our minimum works program has actually unlocked over $1 million in salary gains for the underserved women that that program serves just in the last 18 months. And that is transformational for so many of those women. April mentioned the leadership conference that we have at the BJCC, and this year we were able to uncover that 75% of the participants coming to that program or that conference actually don't have access to leadership development outside of that opportunity. So we're really proud to be that event where people can come and better themselves and their organizations. A community is only as strong as its leaders, you all know that, and we're so grateful for your leadership to make these opportunities available to help us to grow here in Birmingham, and we look forward to partnering into the future and learning more from you on how we can best serve you and your leaders, your constituents, and all the districts here in Birmingham. And beyond the numbers, and in the interest of time, I'm going to pass it on to Wendy, But I do have some handouts for you all so that you can see a little bit more of the impact in action and see what we're learning about at Momentum, and we thank you so much.

Good morning. As the program manager of Momentum Works, I have the honor of watching women remember their power. I've seen women discover their voice, reclaim their confidence, and step into leadership with courage they didn't even realize they had. Women at Work is more than just a program. It's where life transforms, because when you invest in women, you don't just change one life. You create ripple effects through families, workplaces, and communities. One participant quotes, this cohort has been life changing. I'm more aware of my strengths and how I use them. I feel more in control of my finances and empowered to define myself. I believe Birmingham has become a living example of what happens when a city chooses to believe in women. And it is an honor to be a part of that work. Our next Phenomenal Momentum Works cohort begins in July. An application remains open through May 31st. And we've put those dates in your handout for you to share with your constituents. Thank you for hearing about our success stories. We are honored and grateful to be here. This program has not only changed those that we serve, but it's also changed us as women as well. I thank you for your time. Have a great day.

All right, next up we have someone who's well known to us, Dr. Adrienne Starks from Stream Innovations.

Good morning. It is definitely an honor to be able to present to the council, to the mayor's office, the work that we're doing. Some people may be aware of the work that we're doing. I know that a video was sent. I'm not sure if it'll be able to be played. Maybe not. Okay. I can keep going. But Ms. Plain is passing out. Folders for each of you regarding the information that I'll be sharing today. Stream Innovations was started in 2015. And we have been doing work in communities for over 11 years. In 2024, we had the honor of being a recipient of the ARPA grant. to be able to support students in our computer coding boot camp, as well as a new program called Nexus, where we also integrate technology. I'm coming before you today because we are doing another new thing, and that new thing is our Summer Stream Labs. This program supports rising fifth and sixth grade students to be able to have access to workforce career fields. This summer we're targeting six different fields, health, forensics, tech, agriculture, construction, as well as automotive. I'm coming asking for support because this year we've had a number of families to request scholarships. As each of us know, this economic climate has a lot of uncertainty. And we want to be able to support students to be able to participate in our programs as well. In addition to that, we are also looking to offer at least five spots to students within the housing authority across Birmingham. Over the years, we've been able to support programming such as our checkout stream program, which is located in libraries. to a number of different libraries across the district, which include Five Points West, Weiland, Springville Road, North Birmingham, as well as downtown. In addition to that, we are honored to be able to support a number of programs that Birmingham offers to support students. i.e., we attended the graduation of our Birmingham Promise intern from Winona, Ajaya Ty Green. We also are participating in the DYS Kids and Jobs program as well. And we currently have a partnership with Grace Klein to be able to support high school students in our summer program as well, which would be separate from our rising fifth and sixth grade students. So today we're asking for your support to be able to support families across the different districts. We have a number of families that are represented and we wanted to make you aware of this program to share with your constituents. All of that information is in your packet as well as available electronically. I'd be happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you both Councilors Smitherman and O'Quinn for those presentations and for those organizations and students that we had an opportunity to hear from today. At this time, Councilors, we'll turn back to our agenda and before we consider the consent agenda, I'd like to read this statement. 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, they're indicated with a capital P, will be read. All other matters will be announced by reading the item numbers only. All public hearings will be announced. At this time, Mr. Clerk, if you'll give us the items that are being considered for consent.

Yes, ma'am. Consent agenda starts on page 2 with items 2, 3, and 4. Page 3, items 5, 6, 7, and 8. Skip over to page 9. Item 9 is on consent. Page 11, items 13, 14, and 15 are on consent. Page 12, we have items 16, 17, and 18 on consent. Page 13, we have items 19, 20, and 21 on consent. Page 14, items 22 and 24 are on consent. Page 15, items 25, 26, and 27 are on consent. Page 16, items 28, 29, 30, and 31 are on consent. Page 17, items 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 are on consent. That concludes the consent agenda.

Thank you, Mr. Clerk. Counselors, are there any items you'd like to have added or removed from the consent agenda?

Counselor Smitherman? Thank you, Madam President. I would like the following items off of consent. On page 11, items 13, 14, and 15. And then on page 12, item 16. 13, 14, and 15 on page 11. And item 16. Yes, ma'am. On page 12. Yes.

Any other items, counselors? Yes. Sorry, Madam Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam President. Item 26, please.

There's a request to remove item 26 on page 15 from consent. Any other items, counselors? Actually, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry.

Thank you, Madam President. Items 21 and 22. 21 is on page 13. And 22 is on page 14. Okay, that's requested. Item 21 on page 13.

And item 22? Yes. And item 22 on page 14. Okay. Any other items, councilors? Councilor Smith?

I actually had a question. We all have to take off consent. For item 27, what improvements are we making at the Crossflex and Bill Harris? I mean, I know they're accessibility, but what exactly? Okay, thank you.

Okay, so the question was regarding item number 27. Yes, it's the AA ramps. All right, thank you. So that item will remain on consent. Any other items, councilors? All right, at this time, we'll entertain a motion and a second for items being considered for consent. So moved.

Second.

One second, please. Our voting should be open right about now. Counselors O'Quinn, Vassa. Okay, Councilor Quinn. Thank you, sir. That vote should be up, Madam President.

All right, thank you. Councilors, the items that will be considered for consent have been approved. For any members of the public, you're here for any items that were approved for consent. Those have been listed. They have been approved for consent. And we will now return to the rest of our agenda.

Mr.

Clerk.

Yes, ma'am. There's been a request to withdraw item 1. Next should be item 10.

Okay, let me ask, items 10 and 11 are both permanent operation. Can we call those up together or do we have to do them separately?

Since they're right beside each other, I can say you see for both. Thank you.

You'll go ahead and call them.

Okay, item 10 in ordinance to amend title 8, municipal court chapter 3 fines and cause section 8, administrative. adjudication of certain minor offenses in lieu of trial. The General Code of the City of Birmingham to remove certain additional penalties for parking violations and add administrative fee for tickets more than 30 days overdue subject to collections. Item 11, an ordinance to be entitled 8, Chapter 3, Section 10, summary of disposition of minor traffic and other minor offenses by fines scheduled to revise the fines for the summary disposition of municipal parking offenses to add certain offenses previously omitted from the summary disposition scheduling to provide for an administrative fee to cover certain expenses for tickets referred to for collection. I need UC to bring both items for passes today. I need motion for UC. Motion for UC. Council Member Gunn.

Aye.

Council Member O'Quinn.

No.

Council Member Smith. Yes. Council... Councilmember Smitherman?

No.

Councilmember Vassa?

Aye.

Councilmember Williams?

No.

Councilmember Woods? Aye. Council President Pro Tem Tate?

No.

Council President Alexander? No. Councilmember Smith? No. Okay, so they'll be back next week.

Thank you. Next item.

Should be item 12. an ordinance approving and authorizing the mayor to execute a first amendment to affordable housing redevelopment agreement with Smithfield phase two LP under which an affordable housing redevelopment agreement between the city and Smithfield phase two LP dated February the 18th, 2026 pursuant to which the city agreed to convey approximately 5.25 acres of real property located north of the adjacent to former age Parker high school, To Smithfield Phase 2 LP for the purchase of price of $1,000, the Smithfield Phase 2 LP agreed to undertake a project to redevelop the redevelopment property for use as affordable multifamily housing will be amended to extend the deadline for closing on the city's conveyance of such property to Smithfield Phase 2 LP for six months, with Smithfield Phase 2 LP having the right to further extend the closing deadline for an additional six months. I need you to see as well on this item. Second. Council Member Gunn.

Aye.

Council Member O'Quinn. Aye. Council Member Smith.

Aye.

Council Member Smitherman.

Aye.

Council Member Vassa.

Aye.

Council Member Williams.

Aye.

Council Member Woods. Aye. President Pro Tem Tate.

Aye.

Council President Alexander.

Aye.

A motion on the item, please.

Second.

Item is before you.

All right, thank you, counselors. This is an ordinance approving and authorizing the mayor to execute an amendment to the Affordable Housing Redevelopment Agreement with the Smithfield Phase 2 LP. And are there any questions or do you need any discussion on this from administration? All right, so we'd like to have some discussion from administration regarding this item.

Madam President, while we're waiting, did this go through committee?

And we'll ask that question to administration. If you could talk that into the mic so that the public can understand the answer.

So what's before the council, Madam President?

Yes.

So what's before the council is just doing an amendment to something that was previously approved by the council. This is part of the Choice Neighborhood Grant that we received from the federal government. So it's just extending the time frame for them to close on that piece of property so they can start the construction phase for the next phase of the Choice Neighborhood Grant.

Thank you. Any additional questions? Thank you for that clarification. Councilor Williams? Yes.

Thank you. So why do they need an extension of time for that? For the closing of the property. I know, but what happened?

I think it's some, and I don't want to misspeak on community development's part, but I think it's just some things that they had to statutorily do with the federal government.

So there's no capital stack issue on that? No. Is there a grant that wasn't received?

No, this is the Choice Neighborhood Grant that was already received.

Okay. Now I'm just confused as to why we have to extend it.

Good morning. I'm not sure if you understand the question.

The question is why do we have to extend this? What went wrong with it? Why are we off timeline?

Good morning, Council. Megan Venable-Thomas. I serve as Director of Community Development. So this is a requirement of the Affordable Housing Finance Agency. So as part of our 9% application for phase two of the development, we have required to have a six month option for the developer to be able to close after being approved for the 9%. And so through our application process, HFA came back and asked a question that we add this to our actual agreement. And in order to do that, we had to come back before council in order to add this language to the agreement.

Okay. I understand that. It would be great to have some communication on these things prior. We get emails about settlements that we approve all the time. There's no reason why we can't get communication on this and save some time. And if it's a project that we have to vote on, I'd like communication on how it's going too periodically as well, but maybe that's just me.

I was going to say, thank you, Councilor Williams. I do believe that you all presented some information to us in one of our last Committee of the Holds. I think it was updated at that time. Is that correct?

Yes, that's correct.

All right. Thank you. Any other questions, Councilors? All right. At this time, then, we're ready for the vote.

Okay, President Alexander.

Aye.

That vote should be up, Madam President. It was unanimous.

All right, thank you. Item 12 passes. Next item.

Should be item 13. Item 13, a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute for and as the act of said city in First Amendment to the agreement with Faith Chapel Christian Center, are doing business with Faith Chapel Cares, LLC, for an amount not to exceed $1,224,125.77, under which Faith Chapel will develop and operate up to 15 micro-shelters to provide housing for 100 house residents of the city of Birmingham to extend the operating term of the agreement to an operating term to end on or before August 31st, 2027. Motion, please.

Second. All right. Thank you, counselors. This is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute for and act as the city a first amendment to the agreement with Faith Chapel Christian Center for an amount not to exceed $1,224,125. Counselor Smitherman, you asked me to move this.

Yes, just kind of what's the purpose of the amendment?

Yes, ma'am, Madam President, to Council Smitherman. Dr. VT is coming right back in. I apologize.

Good morning again, counselors. Megan Venable-Thomas. I serve as Director of Community Development. So this agreement is to align the operating agreement of Faith Chapel with the spending of the actual ARPA funds. And so if you recall, when we originally awarded the ARPA funds to Faith Chapel, they had not yet opened. And so this amendment to the agreement allows for the spending of their funds to coincide with their 18-month agreement. which began in April. So that extends them to August. Okay.

Thank you.

Any other questions?

Yes. So to clarify, this is all still ARPA funds. This will have nothing to do with that $3 million homeless price tag in the proposed budget? Correct. Okay.

Any other questions? Thank you, Dr. Thomas. We're ready for the vote.

That vote should be up, Madam Clerk.

All right, thank you. Item 13 passes.

Next item. Item 14, a resolution approving the 2026 Division G Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan, and it's immediately made effective on May 26, 2026. Motion, please.

Move the item. Second.

All right, thank you, Counselors. Item 14 is a resolution approving the 2026 Division G Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Counselor Smitherman, you asked that we remove this item.

Just to get some information about this from the administration.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Yes.

Team members coming in now to share additional information.

Thank you. As you all come in, the request has been to just receive more information regarding this item. So we pulled it off consent and just wanted to get some more information.

Okay. Good morning. My name is Darius a hard and I serve as the natural hazard administrator for the city of Birmingham. Um, this, this plan is to adopt the 2026, uh, Division G multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plan. I'm sorry. The purpose is to... Let me do it. I'm sorry. The purpose is to adopt this plan to... Tracy, I got it. Let me do it. Go ahead.

Hi, I'm Tracy Hayes, and I serve as Deputy Director of the Department of Planning, Engineering, and Permits We also have our partners here, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency. And what this is, is just us adopting the 2026 multi-jurisdictional plan to replace the 2021 multi-jurisdictional plan. And that allows us to apply for any hazard mitigation grants or disaster preparedness grants.

Good morning, Mayor's Office and Council. So yeah, just reiterating what she said. What the plan is, is it's a division-wide plan. It has over 80 jurisdictions and covers about six counties, what we call Division G from the state EMA. What this does is it ensures the city of Birmingham can receive federal hazard mitigation funds if a federal disaster were to be declared. This also allows the city of Birmingham to receive grants, federal mitigation grants. This plan also requires the grants. You have to have this plan to be able to apply for those grants. It's about a 2,000-page document, so it's a pretty large plan. This is done every five years, so in five years we'll be back again to hopefully get this resolution passed.

All right, thank you, Councilor Smith. That was good, thank you. Any other questions regarding this item? Thank you all so much for giving us more clarity on it. At this time, we're ready for the vote.

That vote should be up.

All right, thank you. Item 14 passes. Thank you all very much. All right, Councilors, we have items 15... 16, 21, and 22, that all deal with litigation. And so we need to bring those items up together, if that will be okay. And Attorney King.

For items 15, 16, 21, and 22, I recommend we go into executive session under 3625A783 to discuss pending and potential litigation.

Let me have two votes. Do we have to move the items before we go into executive session?

I mean, to discuss them, we have to get them on the floor, but to go into executive session. We can't go into executive session. All right, thank you. We just need to take a roll call vote to go into.

All right, give us that roll call.

I need a motion for the executive session.

Motion for executive session.

Council Member Gunn.

Aye.

Council Member Quinn. Aye. Council Member Smith.

Aye.

Council Member Smitherman.

Aye.

Council Member Vassa.

Aye.

Council Member Williams.

Aye.

Council Member Woods.

Aye.

President Pro Tem Tate.

Aye.

Council President Alexander. Aye.

All right. Yes. At this time, Councilors, we're recessing to go into administrative executive session. I will take 15 minutes and we'll return. Thank you. All right. All right, counselors, thank you. We've returned from executive session. No action was taken during that discussion. Mr. Clerk, do we need a roll call to reconvene? Present.

Council Member O'Quinn. Present. Council Member Smith. Present. Council Member Smitherman.

Here.

Council Member Vassa.

Here.

Council Member Williams.

Here.

Council Member Woodson. president pro temp take council president Alexander here.

Thank you. All right. Counselors at this time, we would like to take up items 15, 16, 21 and 22. Mr.

Item 15, a resolution authorizing the mayor, any city attorney to investigate and prosecute any and all potential claims that the city may have in civil litigation. against the fire truck manufacturers, trade associations, and their executives, and any other affiliated entities based upon their coordination to engage in anti-competitive price fixing, supply manipulation, or other collusive conduct relating to fire truck sales and production as an individual claimant, as well as the class action litigation in which the city may serve as a class representative and to retain outside counsel as needed on a contingency fee basis. which shall not exceed the greater of the attorney's fees awarded or taxed by the courts against the defendants under a prevailing party statute, or a flat contingent fee of 33.1% of the final recovery, and the city shall not be liable for either fees or costs incurred in connection with this matter unless there is a recovery. Item 16. A resolution authorizes the mayor and the city attorney to investigate and prosecute any and all potential claims that the city may have in civil litigation against telecommunication companies and any affiliated parties in connection with lead contamination and lead exposure caused by lead seed telecommunications cables as an individual claim as well as in class action litigation. The city may serve as a class representative and to retain outside counsel as needed on a contingency fee basis. We should not exceed the greater of the attorney's fees awarded fees based. We should not exceed the greater of the attorney's fees awarded or taxed by the courts against the defendants under prevailing party statute or a flat contingent fee of 35% of the final recovery in the city should not be liable for either fees or costs incurred in connection with this matter unless there is a recovering Item 21, a resolution pursuant to the provision of Section 2-3-27 of the General Code of the City of Birmingham is amended, authorizing the city attorney upon her recommendation to settle the workers' compensation claim brought by the Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service employee against the city arising from an alleged on-the-job accident, cumulative trauma, and or occupation of the disease reloads. resulting in alleged physical injuries to his leg, back, and body as a whole. The resolution authorizes the mayor, the city attorney, or one of her assistants to execute all documents necessary to accomplish the settlement of this claim in an amount not to exceed $150,000. We set funds to come from the account number 1-4202-301-5270450. We're at 22. A resolution pursuant to revision of section 2-3-27. The general code of the city of Birmingham is admitted, authorizing the city attorney upon her recommendation to settle the workers' compensation claim brought by a city of Birmingham Police Department employee against the city arising from alleged on-the-job accident, cumulative trauma, and or occupational disease resulting in alleged physical injuries to his back and body as a whole. The resolution authorizes the mayor, the city attorney, or one of her assistants to execute all documents necessary to accomplish the settlement disclaiming an amount not to exceed $50,000 of SED funds coming from account number 14202 301-527050.

All right, Councilors, any questions regarding those items? We're ready for the vote.

All right. And that was William. It should be open for voting right about now, I think. All right, here we go. All right, that vote should be up, Madam President.

All right, thank you. So items 15, 16, 21, and 22 have passed. Next item.

It should be item 23, the resolution appointing one member So the city of Birmingham public library board for a term is by December the 30th, 2030.

All right. Thank you. Counselors. This is a resolution appointing one member to the Birmingham public library board for a term expiring December 30th. Counselor Smith. I'm sorry.

Counselor Smith. Thank you. Yes. So, um, this is to appoint Yolanda Hardy to the Birmingham public library board. She served on the board previously and is extending her time of service that will end December 31st, 2030.

All right, do we have a motion and a second? Second. All right, thank you. If you have any questions regarding this appointee, we're ready for the vote.

That vote should be on, Madam President.

All right. Thank you. Thank you so much, Councilor Smith, for presenting this individual for reappointment to the board. And we thank you for continued service for Ms. Hardy. Thank you very much. Next item.

You got a 26. A resolution accepting the lump sum proposal of car development LLC 8351 Kermit Johnson Road, Pinson, Alabama in the amount of $67,654.40 for 1508 Columbia Street drainage project located in Birmingham. This being the lowest responsible and responsible proposal submitted and authorized the mayor to institute a contract with car development LLC and substantially the form contained within the proposed documents and encodes with said proposal. providing that the total compensation payable under the contract not exceed the appropriation.

Second. All right, thank you. Councilor Tate, you asked that we move this item?

Yes, thank you, Madam President. Chief, Mayor, could you tell me something about it? Is this in Press City?

Item number 26.

Madam President, to... The council takes questions. The answer is yes.

Okay. Thank you, Mayor. And this is around Columbia, right? Right around that one area?

Yes, ma'am.

Okay. I'll get some information from you later. Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate it.

All right. Thank you. Any other questions? We're ready for the vote, Mr. Clerk. All right, thank you. Item 26 passes. Do we have any remaining items? All right, thank you very much. Counselors, at this time, we'll be happy to entertain your announcements from your various districts. And, Counselor Garner, are you ready? I am.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. First off, I want to start by congratulating all the Birmingham City Schools graduates. Congratulations to you all, and I look forward to seeing and hearing more good stuff, and you all hopefully returning back to Birmingham. The District 4 office will be hosting mobile office hours today at the Inglenook Recreation Center from 2 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. This is an opportunity for us to meet residents where they are and give them a chance to ask myself and my team questions and help connect them to services that the city of Birmingham may offer. We'll be hosting a community cleanup this weekend at the Ingle Nook Recreation Center on May 30th from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. And then I want to take one last opportunity for events to thank State Representative Neal Rafferty and Councilor Quinn and Aaliyah for partnering to bring a Star ID clinic to Woodlawn in District 4. We had about 50 participants come out and get their Star ID, so they didn't have to drive all the way to Bessemer or Highway 78. Upcoming Neighborhood Association meetings. The first Monday of the month, we have the Maple Grove Neighborhood Association meeting at 6.30 p.m. That will be happening via teleconference. Also on the first Monday, we have Zion City, which takes place at 6.30 p.m. via teleconference. Also on the first Monday of the month, we have Brownsville Heights. They will be taking place at the Brownsville Heights Community Center at 6.30 p.m. Also, on the first Monday, we have Collegeville at 6.30 p.m. at Greater New Antioch Baptist Church. Also, on the first Tuesday of next month, we have Fairmont. They will be taking place at North Birmingham Library. And then we have Bromwood Heights on the first Thursday, which will be taking place at the Brownsville Heights Community Center at 6.30 p.m. And then upcoming committee meetings with the next Community Development Committee meeting will be Monday, June 1st at 3.30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. And that concludes my announcements.

Thank you, Councillor Gunn. Councillor Woods?

Good morning, Madam President. I want to invite everybody to mark your calendars for the District 1 Serve Day coming up on Saturday, July 25th. This will be a pretty big day. We'll be having a three-in-one volunteer effort, a house-proud partnership on a home project repair. Operation Lawn Care will be cutting grass and other maintenance needs for seniors and general community cleanup. So locations and more details will come, but I want to invite everybody to mark July 25th on your calendar.

July 25th. Thank you. That's going to be good. Councilor O'Quinn.

Thank you, Madam President. We have a couple of neighborhood meetings tonight. Fountain Heights Neighborhood Association meets tonight at 6 p.m. at the Rec Center. And Crestwood North Neighborhood Association meets tonight at 6.30 p.m. at Girls Incorporated. Along with the options that Stream Innovations presented for summer camps for kids this morning, I want to remind folks that Jones Valley Teaching Farm also has summer camp opportunities for youth rising second grade through rising eighth grade. And you can find more information about those at jvtf.org. I just want to also remind folks about the annual gather fundraising picnic that they have going on this coming weekend, May 30th from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Downtown Farm. That fundraising initiative supports the Good Community Food Fellowship, which is an opportunity for high school students to get exposure to a lot of different aspects of JVTF's operations. And so, again, you can... Buy tickets or find more information at jvtf.org. Thank you, Madam President. That concludes my announcements.

Thank you so much. Council of Awesome.

Thank you, Madam President. We're excited to announce the District 3 Summerfest. Join us at George Ward Park on June 20th from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for a day of music, food, family fun, and community celebration. This free public event will be featuring live music performances, food trucks, vendor market, KidZone, fun for all ages. Bring your family, invite your friends, come enjoy an exciting day in the park. That's Saturday, June 20th, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. If you need to email our office, please do so at district3 at birminghamale.gov. We have a new email address for that. And lastly, tonight we have the Redmont Park Neighborhood Association meeting 5 p.m. at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Councilor Boswick. Councilor Smith.

Thank you, Madam President. Railroad Park is continuing their health and wellness events for the community. Senior Fit will take place on Friday, May 29th from 8 to 9 a.m. This is free. And then they will have their cooking class this Sunday, May 31st from 3.30 to 5 p.m. At the 17th Street Plaza B and Extension, first 100 attendees will also receive a free bag of groceries and produce from Piggly Wiggly to recreate the recipe at home. The Greenhouse is currently providing free daily bus passes to community residents. In addition, they are having a free book fair that will remain open through this Thursday, May 28th. Residents who may have missed the original fair are still able to stop by and pick up up to five free books, including selections for children through teens. Thank you, Madam President.

Wonderful. Thank you. Councilman Williams?

Thank you, Chris. I will be meeting Thursday, May the 28th at 6 o'clock at Hope Church, and we are a little over a week away from our annual fishing rodeo, which will be Saturday, June the 6th at East Lake Park from 7 to 1. We'll still be stocking the lake with 2,000 pounds of catfish, and we have a lot of food trucks and bouncy houses and things that make it fun for everybody. So we hope to see everybody out there.

Thank you so much. We always look forward to the t-shirts. What color?

They're next level.

Thank you, Counselor. Madam Pro Tem.

Thank you, Madam President. Fountain Heights, as it always has been stated, 7A Neighborhood Association meeting tonight at 6 p.m. at the Fountain Heights Rec Center. Dolomite Neighborhood Association will also meet tonight. They do a conference call at 6 p.m. You can call in at 720-843-2669. Code is 378-9426. Ennard Ridge Neighborhood Meeting will be here Thursday, May 28th. 5.30 p.m. at New Salem Baptist Church. Drew Hill Neighborhood Association also will be meeting on June 1st at 6 p.m. at Protective Stadium. And Central Pratt will also meet on June 1st at 6 p.m. at the Howard Sanford Rec Center. Next public safety meeting will be held today right here in the council chamber at 1 p.m. I also want to invite you all out to the Arms Ribbon Cutting Ceremony this Friday. At 11 a.m., if you're interested in coming, it's 3227 Street North, Suite C. Clinic tours will be available to attendees. And you can reserve by reaching out to Chris Mosley at cmosley at arms.healthcare. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tem. Counselor Smith. OK, thank you. So just a couple of announcements. First, I wanted to say Birmingham Parks and Recreation Board is pleased to announce that all pools will open on June 6. They'll be open from Tuesday through Saturday from 12 until 6 PM. And they will close this year on Labor Day. I also want to say congratulations to the Carver High School class of 1966 on their 60th class reunion. They will be celebrating this weekend. Just want to say congratulations to all of them. And we have the following neighborhood association meetings. Bush Hills is meeting this afternoon at 6.30 p.m. at the Bush Hills Community Gardens. College Hills will meet on Monday, June 1st at 6 p.m. at Legion Field. And Central Pratt will meet on Monday, June 1st at 6 p.m. via conference call. So please call our office for that information. 205-254-2304. Thanks.

Thank you so much. These are the announcements for District 7. On Thursday, May 28th, the Industrial Center Neighborhood Association will meet at 630 PM at the Mary Doris Center. I want to thank the president and the residents from the Tarpley City Neighborhood Association. They held a cleanup in the neighborhood on Saturday and so very appreciative of the residents, the leadership, those who came out to help keep that area clean. So thank you so much. On Friday, May 29th, there will be a wellness and safety day preparing families for summer. This is presented by the Cooper Green Mercy Health Services. This will be held at the Roosevelt City Recreation Center in District 7 from 1 to 5 p.m. So we're asking everyone to make plans to attend this community-based outreach event. This will include many workshops, many workshops, that will be focusing on preventive care, preventing common summer injuries and emergencies. We know that our children are getting ready to prepare for summer fun, so we just want to be sure families are prepared on how to prevent some injuries and emergencies that can occur. Also, they'll be providing learning life-saving skills and connecting families to Cooper Green. Again, that's on Friday. May 29th, 1 to 5 at the Roosevelt Rec Center. It has already been announced we do have pools that will be opening for summer for enjoyment of residents, and we're excited that the Roosevelt Pool will be open again this year, and it has already been stated the hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, 12 noon to 6 pm. For more information, you can go to Park and Rec. And we're about to approach the season for the Safe Summer Series concerts, and so you'll be hearing more information about those, but they are coming up on us very quickly. So we want to be sure that residents will be aware of those. At this time, Mr. Clerk, we will entertain the speaker's list, and the clerk will call your name, and you'll have three minutes to provide information to the council. Thank you. Willie Jenkins.

Willie Jenkins.

As Mr. Jenkins, before you start, Councilor Woods, you had one other item.

Yes, ma'am. Thank you, Madam President. I did want to just give a reminder the budget hearing will take place June 3rd at 5 p.m. here in the council chambers. We will have an online option, and that link will be distributed by our PIO office.

Very good. A reminder about the budget hearing on June 3rd. Thank you very much.

At what time?

5 p.m. 5 p.m. Sorry, I wasn't listening. 5.30. June 3rd, 5.30. Here. You're laughing. This really is fun. All right, thank you. Mr. Jenkins, we're sorry. Go ahead.

I just want to let everybody know that my prayers go out to Misha Fisher. He was the one DJ every year at the Carver High School, Carver High School, Pete and me. But he passed away, and the film's going to be this coming Saturday at the Botwell Auditorium. My prayers go out to the Fisher family to meet you. And he's been around a long time. I just want to say my prayers go out to them. the family at the city auditorium at 12 o'clock at the Botwell. His phone home is going to be at the Botwell Auditorium. And I'm quite sure everybody, my prayers go out to everybody from Carver High School, come to the picnic. And I just want to say my prayers go out to the Finch family. And God continue to bless them. And I just say hold on to God and change hands. And also, we're getting ready for our media day. Mr. Gunn, second Sunday in June. I want to invite you to come, and we're going to have a cookout, I mean a brussel, and I'm going to be praying over the brussel. I am. And I want you all to come to the brussel. It's a men's day brussel. It's going to be on a Saturday when we come to, but I will let you know about the men's day brussel. I do want you to come to the men's day brussel. And I just want to let you know we're getting ready for the big Carver High School reunion this year. Sprint Stadium in October in the Birmingham Park. I'm looking for that. I'm going to invite you to come. Even though we're going to have another DJ. We're going to have plenty of DJs out there. I go every year. I don't ever miss it. Every year I always go. Also, I want you to come to my church. See my pastor. He can preach. I want you to come out there to hear my preach at Old Street Baptist Church. Like I said, we're going to have a wonderful time at Old Street Baptist Church. June, it's Saturday, Sunday, and June at O3 Baptist Church. And I do want to get a letter from this right here for you. Christian Baptist Church. Thank you. Thank you.

We appreciate those announcements. Mr. Clerk, next speaker.

Keith Williams.

Hi, Mr. Williams. Would you come forward? You have three minutes. Good morning. Still morning.

To the City Council, I'm Keith Williams. My address is 456 Kappa Avenue, Birmingham, Alabama 35205. I am the co-founder of Voters Legal Justice Watch Group. I'm here briefly to send a reminder about the data center ordinance. Over the weekend, I have sent a proposal to this body dated on Saturday regarding my concerns about the ordinance. And I want to read the caption that I have on here. Dear Birmingham City Council members, I'm writing to respectfully submit additional recommendations and concerns regarding the proposed Birmingham Data Center Ordinance currently under discussion. After reviewing the proposed ordinance, community feedback, public hearing discussions, and recommendations submitted by residents and activists, I believe Birmingham has an important opportunity to strengthen long-term protections for neighborhoods, infrastructure, water resources, environmental safety, and public accountability before large-scale, hyperscale data center developments expand within the city. By the current ordinance includes important provisions involving water disclosure, utility infrastructure, storm water protections, setbacks, cooling systems, generator restrictions, and emergency response planning. Many residents remain concerned that additional safeguards and stronger enforcement mechanisms are still needed to protect the public interest. I respectfully encourage the City Council to consider the following additional recommendations. Number one, require formal community impact assessments for medium and hyperscale data centers to protect projects to evaluate neighborhood impacts, emergency response Capacity, environmental justice concerns, traffic impacts, infrastructure strains, and long-term community effects before approvals are granted. Number two, create a publicly accessible transparency dashboard. display water usage, electrical demands, emission reports, generated tasting schedules, storm water violations, environmental compliance reports, and inspection records to improve public trust and accountability. Number three, require annual public review hearings for hyperscale facilities to allow ongoing review or operation compliance. environmental impact, neighborhood concerns, water usage, and future expansion. Number four, require operators to maintain a public client and response system with document investigation procedures and response timelines for complaints involving noise, emissions, odors, vibrations, lighting, storm concerns, or environmental impacts affecting nearby residents. I have some others on here, but due to time constraints, I won't read them all. I hope that you have received my email and can read the caption as well as the disclosed report. And this is based on concerns that you know, individuals and businesses and nonprofits have brought to my attention. We want to be certain that this ordinance will meet the needs of the interests of the people so that our concerns can be met.

Thank you, Mr. Williams.

Terry Michael.

Good morning, Ms. Michael. You have three minutes. Good morning.

All right. Good morning. Thank you for allowing me to speak here today. I, too, am a... Oh, sorry. Terry Michael, 629 Ridgetop Circle here in Birmingham. I'm here to also express some concerns about the data center... ordinance that y'all are considering. When we came and you guys were having the first hearing, I was really, really happy. At all the attention that was given to the comments and to the community and the appreciation that was shown to the community And so I couldn't be here on the 12th, but I did watch the meeting And I found it a little bit odd the language that I was hearing sounded like the ordinance wasn't ready yet And so I was like, how can they be voting on it? You know, I was just very confused and so I then did find out that indeed y'all did not receive it until the next day on the 13th. And I'm like, how does that work? I don't know if that's... LEGAL OR NOT, BUT IT CERTAINLY DOESN'T SOUND LIKE GOOD BUSINESS. SO IT CONCERNS ME, HOW DID WE HAVE A FIRST READING WHEN Y'ALL DIDN'T HAVE IT YET? SO THAT'S ONE OF MY CONCERNS. BUT ALSO, NOW THAT I'VE SEEN THE ORDINANCE THAT Y'ALL ARE PROPOSING, IT ALSO CONCERNS ME BECAUSE THE TWO BIGGEST THINGS THAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN WAS ASKED FOR WAS THE 500 SETBACK CHANGED BACK TO THE 1,000, WHICH IT WAS ORIGINALLY, AND ALSO that the special exception clause be put, you know, that that was taken out. And that really concerns me because I don't see the public having a hearing as being political at all. I have written, I have emailed you all some additions that I feel that needs to be added, and I didn't even get a response of received from anyone, and I emailed each and every one of you. And from what I understand, many other people that have sent you all information hasn't heard anything. So this is our only recourse. Well, not recourse, but our only option to actually be able to communicate with you is to come here and speak at a meeting. So also, 58 Inc., I'm understanding, is trying to get a data center, and it leads. It's just right now gossip. I don't know if it's true, but... That concerns me because Leeds isn't that far away from District 2, which is where I live. And my counselor publicly spoke about how he wants that special exception taken out. And so to me, this is the perfect example of why I'm pushing back against that being removed, because if there's going to be one in District 2, I want to have a public hearing. I want to be able to address you all and my counselor about my concerns about that data center. Because right now, we just know of the one over on Lakeshore. But we know there's going to be plenty more that are going to be trying to come in. And that's why this ordinance is so important. So I hope you all will read the email that I sent you. But just in case you don't, I will be back next week and again the next week. So thank you so much for your time.

Thank you. Do we have any other speakers? Dr. Quinn, did you have a comment?

make Ms. Michael aware that the council has a policy that public speakers can't speak on the same topic week after week. You can speak on, you have to wait a week, basically. That's the council's policy. Thank you.

Dr. O'Quinn was just reiterating our policy on public speaking. And so you can't come. You said you would be back next week and week after next. You can only speak every other week regarding an item. And I am getting some discussion from some counselors that they did not receive the email. So you may want to check. Just be sure you have the correct first name, dot, last name at Birmingham, all one word, al.gov. So I'm going to ask you if you'll resend those. Thank you. Appreciate it. All right. Thank you all. Any other speakers, Mr. Clerk? All right, thank you all. Appreciate that. At this time, we do want to thank our officers on duty, and thank you for the clarification, Dr. O'Quinn, on speaking. Our officers on duty, Officer Pinkard and Officer Tarrant, and our fire inspectors were on duty, Inspector Snow. This time, we'll entertain a motion and a second. All those in favor, please say aye.