Council - workshop

It is five o'clock. We'll start our work session for the July 20th agenda. I think at first we've got a presentation from Judge Golston.

Good evening, Mayor, Council.

It is certainly an opportunity to be able to stand with you all and give you some information about municipal court. The mayor knows I can talk on and on about court, so you may want to put a timer on so that I will stop. But just want to be able to give you all some information about how court operates. I know there are times where you may have constituents or even family members that just have questions, general questions about how municipal court works. I received a speeding ticket or I was cited for this or that. How do I get to court? How do I get what I need? taken care of and so this is just an opportunity to give you all and present clear answers and concise information about exactly what we do in municipal court. I do before I get started have to give Carter just his credit. I gave him the information that I needed and he put together a really wonderful presentation with all kind of neat graphics that I really like so just essentially court can feel intimidating at times it doesn't have to And I think if we present the information on the front end to members of the public about what they can expect for court, that they are prepared and ready to take care of their court business when they arrive. One of the things that I always encourage people to know is know where you're supposed to go, who you need to contact, and what information and options that you'll need before your court date. And so generally, the first question that individuals ask What do you all do? What kind of cases do you handle? We get individuals who come to court. They're supposed to be in circuit or district court, and so it really helps to know what we actually do. We handle misdemeanors, parking tickets, municipal ordinance violations, and those are typically the type of cases that we are dealing with, traffic tickets, things like that. If you are charged with something where you can be incarcerated for more than a year, you are not in the jurisdiction of municipal court. And so oftentimes we'll get individuals who were issued tickets by state troopers. Our tickets look very similar, so it's really important to be able to read through the document, go all the way to the bottom of the document, and know exactly where you're supposed to be because everything is typically within the four corners of the document. It tells you exactly where you need to be. Where do I go if I get a ticket? I need to go to court. Where do I go if I have fines that I have to pay? Where do I need to go if I need to get some information about my case? Well, it's two different places. If you are coming to court to address a ticket or a complaint that has been filed, you will come to the main office in City Hall 402 Lee Street on the second floor. If you are dealing with fines and costs or you need general information, Our public service window is located at the annex, which is 300 Kane Street, and that's located directly behind the county courthouse across the courtyard. And so two different places. I actually saw a gentleman this morning. I was leaving court, and he was going to the old service window, which now serves as an attorney-client conference room. And I said, we don't have a public service window, but I directed him to where he needed to go, and he got over to the annex and got his court business taken care of. So two different places where you will need to take care of your court business. How can I check on my case? And so this is incredibly important because we have tools that will allow the public to reach out and get information without them ever having to speak to someone. Of course, the first option people always look for is I want to talk to a live person. And that's certainly always an option. You can call the main office, you can call the annex, you can go in person, or you can go on our website. We do have an online record search where individuals can go online and look up their case and see when they're scheduled to come to court. So if you don't want to deal with a live person, if you prefer just to get on your phone and figure out where you need to be, that's an option. And that's something that we did a few years ago. We were able to open that portal and give the public access. I don't know that it's something that everyone knows about. So this is a really good opportunity to present and let the general public know you can go online to find out information. about your court date. So if you work third shift, you work second shift, you get off, and you want to get online and look up your case, you have that opportunity. You don't always have to do it during normal business hours. And I think that's a really top tier tool to have when you need to present information to the public. So myth versus fact, paying fines and costs, that is always an incredibly important issue to individuals. And I will tell you that when we deal with fines and costs, the law requires us to set a payment that the individual can afford. It's their ability to pay. And so the question that I always have for an individual when they're paying their fines and costs, you know your budget better than I do. How much can you afford to pay? Because the goal is to set a payment that they can afford each month going forward as opposed to me telling them you're going to pay $200 a month and we're setting them up to fail because that's a payment that is greatly outside their budget. And so those are things that we talk about ad nauseum on each and every docket. I talk to them about the steps that they need to take if they set a payment plan and they later find out that they are unable to keep that plan. We have forms online that they can file for a payment modification, explain what's going on. They submit that. It comes to my motion queue. I typically grant the relief that's being requested because individuals know far more about their financial picture than I do. Sometimes it's a request because they're having surgery. Sometimes it's a request because they are temporarily laid off. But it's important to communicate with the court so that we know what their financial landscape looks like and we can fashion a remedy that allows them to be successful going forward with the payment of their fines and costs because ultimately that's the goal. Whether they pay that $50 a month or $500 a month, we want them to be successful, which means they're not coming back to court on nonpayment issues. They're able to address their payment issues with a high level of confidence and a high level of dignity as well. So I went over the payment modification request that comes directly to me for me to be able to review and approve and it just simply allows individuals to get their court business taken care of without having to come to court if they choose. Now if they don't give me enough information then I do have to set it for a hearing so that we can look into more closely into their ability to pay. So talked about submitting the form. The driver's license issues is one of really my big pet projects in municipal court. What I find is that it is very difficult to get your driver's license reinstated after you've gone through a long period of time of nonconformity, getting ticket after ticket. Many individuals do not know that Aaliyah runs the driver's license suspensions consecutive. So if you get four tickets in a year, That's two years of license suspension. And if you keep driving, two years becomes four years, four years becomes six years. So one of the things that we have really pushed in our court is the hardship license. That's a license that's afforded by Aaliyah that allows individuals under certain circumstances to drive within the borders of the state of Alabama only. It has no authority outside of Alabama. But this allows individuals to get to work, to get their kids to school, civic activities, church, doctor's appointments that they otherwise would not be able to access without a valid driver's license. And so we really do. I give those out. I can't tell you how many times I had a dollar for every time I put one out, then I may be able to retire early. But. It's just one of those things that we really, really push because it helps the court help individuals. And that's ideally the goal when we're dealing with driver's licenses, for individuals to have a valid driver's license. When you have a valid driver's license, that usually leads to individuals who have insurance, who have their vehicles properly registered. It just leads to compliance. And that's what we're pushing is compliance and helping people get the resources that they need to get in compliance. We encourage them to understand the consequence. Stop driving, most importantly, because that just aggravates the situation. We give them the resources to contact Aaliyah. We have also partnered with Aaliyah. We're on our traffic dockets. Aaliyah, for the driving records that we can access, they provide us a letter that tells the individual exactly what they need to do to get their driver's license. So if they tell me, I don't know who Aaliyah is, I don't know how to get in contact with Aaliyah, We say, hey, we're already one step ahead of you. Here's your requirements letter. Go start working on it. We set it out a few months. See where they're at. We had a traffic docket today. And several individuals had their driver's license, either their regular unrestricted driver's license or their hardship license. So if you know someone that is dealing with a driver's license issue, they have the ability to apply for the hardship and also to figure out exactly what they need to do if they can't get their hardship license. I feel like that is an incredibly important initiative that the court is working on for individuals to be in compliance. Well, the big, the million-dollar question individuals have is what happens if I miss court? Well, that depends. Communication, again, is key. We understand hardship. We understand emergencies. But if that is not communicated to the court, then oftentimes a warrant will issue for someone's arrest because that is the only means that we have if individuals do not voluntarily come to court. However, if an individual communicates with the court, I had car trouble, I got my dates mixed up, we have individuals who come to court the day after, simply reset the case. Typically, we look through the file history and make sure it's not a repetitive issue where there's always an issue when court comes up. But we do try to operate with grace, but there is also accountability. So to the extent that the general public thinks that if I miss court, a warrant automatically issues, That is not the case. Each case stands on its own merits and we take a look at it and we address it appropriately. So I think that's something important to also make the public aware of if they have a missed court date. They need to communicate with the court because it never gets better. It always gets worse if you don't show up and then you don't make contact with the court. Can I appear virtually? So we have virtual hearings throughout the week for certain individuals who are out of state, who are incarcerated and cannot otherwise appear in court. And so we are working on making that a more widely available platform. Right now it is typically for those individuals who are out of state, but if there are individuals who otherwise request a virtual hearing because they cannot physically get to court, We take a look at those options, and depending on what they're trying to do, that is certainly an option that is available. So we just ask individuals to communicate about what their circumstances are, and if we can assist, we will assist. I think a common misnomer is that the court is not here to help, and we are here to help individuals to the extent that we can make sure that they're taking care of their court business in a timely manner. So driving school is also another question that individuals have, questions about whether they're eligible. If you are wanting to attend driving school, you know someone that has a ticket and wants to go to driving school, that's another option that we put online, which gives, again, access to the court right at your fingertips. They can apply online for driving school. You have to meet the eligibility. You cannot have a commercial driver's license. I do not allow individuals who are speeding in school zones or who are speeding in construction zones where workers are present to attend driving school. But otherwise, driving school is typically an option as long as you have a valid driver's license, but it just cannot serve as a commercial driver's license as well. And you can make your application for driving school online or in person. Can I represent myself? I think the better question is should you represent yourself? And it really depends on what those circumstances are. And if I have an individual in front of me who is contemplating representing themselves, I always present it in a basic question such as if they were a mechanic, if they built transmissions. I would never try to watch a YouTube commercial and watch someone building a transmission and think that I could pull a transmission out of a car and rebuild it. That is the same way with the practice of law. It is a very complicated process. You have to know the rules of evidence, the rules of criminal procedure, you may have the best case, but if you do not know how to get over those evidentiary hurdles and get your evidence in, you have the worst case, in fact. So I do try to encourage individuals to either apply for counsel or have their attorneys because there's only so much that the court can do with regard to assisting individuals with trying their cases. And so oftentimes when we have a really good candid conversation about what this looks like, most individuals will opt to either hire an attorney or apply for an attorney because It is not as easy as it looks. It's not just about getting up and talking about your case. It's understanding how the process works. And so, again, the question is, should you represent yourself? And, of course, maybe for a minor speeding ticket, you may want to represent yourself. But certainly for a DUI or a theft charge, that is not something that I think you would want to take on without the expertise of counsel. Before your court date checklist, remember to confirm your court date, know where you need to go, bring your documents, contact the court if you have a conflict, ask about options, We like to think that we're an innovative court, and so we are willing to think outside the box to find the solutions that help individuals. And so what should we expect? What should you expect if you come to court? If you come and you sit in on court, you should expect to see that individuals are treated with respect, courtesy, and fairness, because those are the cornerstones that I expect from individuals that work in municipal court, and that's what I expect to be reciprocated. And so that's typically how it works in court. We all treat each other in a respectful, courteous manner just because that's simply how we all should treat one another. Questions? No questions?

What kind of information?

So typically just the first name and last name or the first initial of the last name. So there's not a real big constraint on that or requirement. It's very user-friendly. We have put our website on the payment instruction form and our email address so that individuals need to send information in. They can send that information in. But it's a very user-friendly website. It's just navigating and getting to the page. Typically the first name and the first and last name is needed.

Excellent question. This is an odd question, but on the hardship license, if the person is driving outside what those restrictions are, how does the police officer that stops them know that?

So I would think, and I don't certainly don't want to speak for the officers as they make stops, but I think one of the questions they, if it's for where they're going to want to know, where are you headed? Are you going to work? And, questions like that that the officer would need to establish are they operating within the confines of the hardship taking their kids to school on their way to work verifying i typically don't see a whole lot of certainly alia can revoke that hardship if you are driving outside of the constraints but i think in our society sometimes it's not as easy to figure that out because people work different shifts you have mobile mechanics you have all different types so i think it really is just on a case-by-case basis how the officer determines

So it does flag it so they know.

Yes, they are aware that it's a hardship license.

Any questions?

I would just say thank you for the job that you and your staff do. Not very often are people excited to interact with your department or the court, but we do know that y'all are doing a good job and certainly no easy tasks, and we appreciate the job you're doing.

Thank you. And I think you really pointed out that you're going to hold people accountable, but you're willing to work with anyone that will communicate with you. and you really care about the citizens of Decatur, you and your whole staff do, and we appreciate that.

Thank you. I appreciate that. We do. We really try to make sure that people understand that when they come in that they are not just a number, and we certainly understand, and I certainly understand when I make a decision, it impacts individuals outside of this office. It's a ripple effect, and so we really just try to fashion remedies that, that get people where they need to be and where they're the best version of themselves. And so that's a measured, measured, uh, grace, a measurement of grace and accountability. So I appreciate the opportunity to present and there are no other questions. I will yield the floor.

Good. Thank you. All right. We'll now move into our agenda with the approval of monthly bills approved June, 2026 monthly bills. Any questions? Comments? All right. Approval of minutes. Approved June 29th, 2026, 5 p.m. Council Work Session. Approved July 6th, 2026, 5.30 p.m. Council Work Session. Approved July 6th, 2026, 6 p.m. Council Meeting. Anything on those? All right. Set public hearings. The first is Resolution No. 26199. Approve abatement of unsafe conditions at 2940 Linwood Circle Southwest. Set the public hearing for Monday, August 17th, 2026 at 10 a.m.

Yes, Council Mayor, this has been an ongoing issue, transients in and out. The owners are deceased, unknown if there are any heirs. Nothing's been probated. This has been a long time coming, and so now we're coming to you with permission to demolish.

Any questions?

All right. Resolution number 26, 200 approved abatement of unsafe conditions at 1411 7th Avenue Southeast set public here for Monday, August 17th, 2026 at 10 a.m.

Uh, this is another one. Um, we were led there through a death investigation with the police department. Uh, there is an heir to the property who is actually an owner or a part owner of this one. Uh, no, no actions been taken and no word, uh, mail keeps coming back. Uh, This has been going on for several years now.

Okay. Any questions? Resolution number 26201, approve abatement of unsafe conditions at 513 Ewell Street Southwest. Set public hearing for Monday, August 17th, 2026, 10 a.m. Yeah, we've had this one condemned for a while as well.

A consistent issue with transients in and out of the building. This owner is out of state in Louisiana. We've already condemned and demolished two of her homes that she owns, and no response from her on this one as well.

All right. Any questions? Ordinance number 264647, approved zoning text amendment 251-26, set public hearing for Monday, August 17, 2026 at 10 a.m. Chad? Chad?

Yes, we have a couple of zoning text amendments. One is dealing with the categories of data center, personal vehicle sales and rental, personal vehicle service and repair. And most of these, like the data center, will be considered a special exception use and industrial use only. on personal vehicle sale and rental and personal vehicle service and repair will be in permitted in community commercial commute commercial regional line industrial and industrial in the next section of for civic institutional communication uses data center in the section twenty five days for the definition changes of a bit uh... the data center circle flock apply with the following standards the gross floor area shall not exceed ten thousand square feet uh... the new definition will for be will read all equipment necessary for cooling ventilating or otherwise operating the facility in any emergency power generators and emergency power supply equipment shabby contained within an enclosed building where the use is located and see The definition now reads, the applicant will be required to comply with additional stipulations or study requirements to address health and safety concerns, which may include but are not limited to fire protection, water consumption, power consumption, on-site energy generation, noise and hazardous materials, waste, and to mitigate adverse impacts to existing uses. The next section that we'll request an amendment for is concerning the keeping of chickens as an accessory to a single-family detached dwelling unit or manufactured home. Keeping of chickens as an accessory to a single-family detached dwelling unit or manufactured home will be prohibited in the RSA district, and the reason we made this change, of course, is because of the proximity of units in the RSA, which are single-family attached units. For subsection 4, looking at the exemption one the following fences or walls exempt from the standards of this section of section twenty five five point five point two the reason we're amending this is because we would like for applicants to bring in at least an application let us know when they're going to put up a fence to ensure that it follows the ordinance and we've been having this is particularly with front yard fences being six feet And that's not permissible based on the ordinance because of the visibility triangle and being able to see the streets and so forth when you approach a property that may have a fence that's too tall in the front. uh... section five uh... this deal with the definitions well basically this changes the definition of adverse impact and this is more so related to the way we describe when an adverse impact and that's a condition that creates imposes aggravates or leads to inadequate impractical unsafe or unhealthy conditions on the site or on an off-track property or facilities uh... lastly uh... we redefined the definition of data center section twenty five days a point three to be more inclusive to not exclude like uh... a data center part of a a building maintaining the main frame for particular business but as a separate entity that has all the networking requirements you would typically think of a data center It's a facility used to house computer systems, servers, networking equipment, data, storage devices, and associated components for the processing, storage, management, or transmission of digital data. A data center may include mechanical yards, cooling systems, battery, energy, storage systems, generators, backup generators, security facilities, facilities, fire suppression systems, enhanced security features, and on-site substation. The term does not include incidental server rooms within office or commercial buildings. And that completes those changes, text amendments.

Okay. Any discussion on these? I assume so.

Yes, sir. So on Section 2, it does not mention industrial buildings.

so this doesn't apply to industrial zoned areas for data center it would be a use permit on appeal only in industrial zones correct so to be a special use in an industrial zoning but the the i think maybe if i'm following what you're saying the requirements below still apply they apply they will apply in the industrial zone which you could always seek a variance.

Oh, you would never get that opportunity. I mean, I wouldn't think somebody is going to look at your stuff and if you're outlawing them, which is what you're doing here, uh, they're not even going to give you a second look. My opinion, I could be wrong.

Yeah.

But, um, so maybe I'm the only one that's against this, but, uh, Herman, you might can answer this. If you took section C and just used that as your requirements, which basically means we're going to negotiate with you and tell you what you need to do, you'll have to jump through these hoops. Could that be an ordinance? You can amend the ordinance.

I think what you would, maybe if I'm very correct, if I'm wrong, but you know, I think, I think, definitely think that B and C kind of go together. Um, in some regards, you know, there's a lot of conversation nationwide against data centers. They've kind of become the new, uh, boogeyman, um, municipalities, counties, states, the whole country is facing. Um, there's certainly critical infrastructure, um, that we have to have as a country to remain at the forefront of technology, especially in regards to AI. The question is, how does that impact you locally? You know, that's what a lot of people are fighting. Where do they end up? What type of locations? And who do they impact? Which certainly that Section 2C would address many of those concerns. I don't disagree on the 10,000 square foot. There certainly are, believe it or not, there are plenty of data centers that are under that. They're not large, what many people read about in the news. So there could be discussion on the 10,000 square foot. And Chad, I'm kind of curious, where did the 10,000 number come from?

Actually, the 10,000 square foot limitation was put into the ordinance prior to my coming here, so the consultants that put together the ordinance recommended that. and there are such thing as micro data centers which i think will fall more into that category so i'm sure that's why they recommended a ten thousand square feet and then we also know that a lot of them want to go larger than that which is a huge restraining and uh... it limits the amount of of resources they need for energy production and that sort of thing, so I'm sure that's why they recommended it being that small. And as you mentioned, with a special use, they may or may not want to come to us to see if they can do a variance in terms of the size of it and have that discussion if it goes before Boza.

My thing is, in an industrial setting, I don't think we ought to restrict it. But every place else, yes. Just the size? Just the size only? Well, yeah.

You could strike A, and you would be amenable to the ordinance.

Yeah. Well, we don't require any other company to put power generation inside a building. I mean, even our own utilities doesn't put their emergency generators in a building. I'm not sure that our hospital does either. I'm, I'm just trying to be fair to everybody.

You're exactly right.

That's a fair point. I also, uh, have issues with a, the 10,000 square feet. I could go with larger or just doing away with it completely because I think C, uh, under section two is what covers what we really want to address in this case. And, and I know, that data centers don't bring in the jobs that other things do bring in. I get that, but they do bring in a good deal of tax revenue. So there is that to consider.

Yeah, I would be okay with removing the square foot maximum. I think as long as it remains a use permit on appeals. It still has got to come before, especially use permanent on appeal, still has to come before BOSA. You know, my concern on data centers locally a lot of which would reside within C there. What are the impacts? Power, environmental noise, et cetera. Certainly the case with the existing industry. But for us, we really do, we have a very limited inventory of industrial properties indicator. And when you start thinking about how do we address data centers, I've not been approached at all by a data center. Maybe some of you have been, but I've not heard from any. But You know, you look at the best use of the land, what would be better for the community, a data center or advanced manufacturing? And I would choose the advanced manufacturing depending on what it is and the jobs that it produces many times over a data center. But I do think we need to adopt something as soon as possible to have some controls in place. And the unregulation is the concern a lot of cities and counties are facing right now, is that data centers can come in, and as long as they can get the power, and these closed-loop systems have kind of changed that, and they get the property they're able to operate.

I would say I haven't been contacted by any either, but the Economic Development Authority has had several contacts about it.

with with the section two part uh... civic and institutional with that the building in those areas because i live down the street from a civic institutional that's just the way that did it is described in our zoning rewrite is just a subcategory of identifying it so for legal purposes we have to be very intentional a specific about where is located as a son of the section this is only permitted by special use an industrial

Yeah, I think there's a lot, and there certainly will be more conversation around data centers between now and August 17th, I'm sure. This will get people talking, but one thing with what Birmingham's going through is certainly the incentives. I think that's a separate issue. I know Mr. McMaster has asked about that. If we were to offer any type of incentives to data centers, it would be a complete different conversation with our Industrial Development Board. It would need to be addressed separately, but

Well, is there a change y'all want to make before it? What happens next week is it's set for a public hearing, and then we have to go back and re-advertise and everything else. So if there's something. Yeah, it needs to happen before next week. Like you want it before you introduce it.

Well, I sort of think like Barry does, if C accomplishes it and it's a special use in industrial area only, then maybe that's what you should consider.

I agree.

You know, if it covers everything and we've got to negotiate it, then everything's a negotiation, and why turn it off before we ever get the chance? I mean, we may not want it, but if you don't get the opportunity, you never know.

but there should be some guardrails in place and some due diligence that they would be required to meet in regards to section C. Oh, absolutely.

I'm not saying turn them loose. I'm just saying let's get the opportunity to talk about it. Okay.

So if I'm hearing right, and this is obviously a discussion, the thought is to strike A or A and B?

I would not support removing C by any means.

No. We all agree on that.

I would strike A and B and leave it. Maybe have to reword C because you wouldn't want that additional stipulations. I would think it would be to comply with stipulations or study requirements to address health and safety, the power consumption. We covered just about everything that could be a concern in that Section C.

I will add that I think the reason that B has been written in such a way is a concern about noise pollution.

That's exactly what it is.

Well, but if we're in the industrial sector, I don't think a bunch of computers are as loud as the rolling mill at New Court.

Well, the cooling, yeah. I think some of that's the cooling system and power generation is what generates a lot of noise. Yeah, and all our industries have that.

A lot of them do, yeah. And it sounds like a lot of this is for emergencies, so it wouldn't be all the time anyway. It would be sporadic, I would think.

Well, Mary's exactly right, though. We don't require any other industry to put their emergency backup supply in a building.

I'm fine with the A and B, striking A and B.

So, Chad, you'll make those changes. And if you would, when y'all get that, would you send that back out to the council for everybody to read prior to Monday's meeting to set the public hearing? I figured there would be some discussion on that, but anything to add on chickens? Had to ask while we're there. Mr. McMaster is not here, and he certainly would have something to add. All right. Anything else on that one? All right. Ordinance number 264648, approve rezoning request 144626 for land zoned RS10 to RS5 located east of 100114th Avenue Southwest. Set the public hearing for Monday, August 17th, 2026 at 10 a.m.

Yes, this is basically a rezoning request for five point three two acres to be resolved from RS 10 to RS 5 although it is a decrease in It's an increase in density. It is a project whereas more single-family residential houses are desired in that particular area of town and Currently the future land use has it as a park conservation area and it's on vacant land. I

All right, any questions? Ordinance number 264649, approved pre-zoning 145026 for property located at 3203 Deer Road Southeast. Set the public hearing for Monday, August 17th, 2026 at 10 a.m.

Yes, this is a pre-zone request for 15.0 acres to RSF 7 that is currently outside of the city and will be annexed. The future land use suggests and recommends mixed neighborhood use.

Any questions? Orders number 264650 approve pre-zoning request 145126 for property located south of 3203 Deer Road southeast. Set the public hearing for Monday, August 17th, 2026 at 10 a.m.

This is also a piece of property adjacent to the one previously mentioned to pre-zone 9.51 acres to RSF 7. Future land use recommended to be mixed neighborhood.

All right, any questions on those where they go together? All right, thank you, Chad. Public hearings, resolution number 26202, approve request for restaurant retail liquor license for Bone Frog LLC, doing business as Josie's at 109 2nd Avenue Northeast, Decatur, Alabama, 35601.

Yes, that's a change in ownership for Josie's and a transfer of their liquor license. They've satisfied all conditions.

Any questions?

All right, the next one is resolution number 26203, approve request for retail beer and wine off-premise only for Yellow Store, Inc. at 127 Austinville Road, Southwest, Decatur, Alabama, 35601.

Yes, we recommend approval. It's retail beer and wine off-premise only.

Any questions? Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

We debate minutes. Resolution number 26204, assess $464.72 against 504 Finley Drive Northwest for cost of abatement of nuisance.

Yeah, this is an administrative error, so this is to amend the cost.

Okay. Any questions? I figured it was something when there's only one of them. Usually it's a whole page. Yeah. All right. Resolutions resolution number 26, two zero five assessed demolition costs. The amount of $6,330 against six one two third Avenue Southwest for abatement of unsafe conditions.

This is a, to amend ownership of this property.

All right.

Any questions? Resolution number 26206, approve P. Wright-McAnally proposal for professional services for intersection improvements at Country Club Road and Highway 67 for CE&I.

Yeah, good evening, Council. This is the CE&I contract for P. Wright-McAnally for Country Club Road 67. The amount is at $391,885.

Okay, any questions? We'll be starting pretty soon.

Yeah, we'll do the pre-construction meeting, and after that, we'll start. Great.

All right, resolution number 26207, approve amendment to truck driver one and truck driver two, job descriptions with adjustments to compensation. Billy, how are you?

I'm fine, thanks. This is for seeking to adjust pay for the sanitation CDL truck drivers so that we're more competitive with the surrounding counties, and we're seeking to increase the starting pay of the truck drivers and adjust the pay group from 13 to 14 going forward.

Okay, any questions? This does have a financial impact. I just got locked out of my email. I don't know if you have that in front of you or Mr. Demeester will. If you kind of want to walk through that, Daniel's not here tonight. I believe he'll be here next week, but he also has concerns of not doing this, the financial impact. There's certainly some overtime concerns and things of that nature. Yeah, if you just want to cover it, that'd be if you got it in front of you.

So like Lily said, the truck driver will go from step or grade 13 to 14. So what essentially that does, if you're at the bottom of the scale, it will take the starting pay from $18.72 per hour to $22.81 per hour. and councilman pike is probably the only one that remembers this but a couple years ago we were really short on trucks and drivers and it created such a problem that uh you know it was as bad as public safety type stuff so the need for cdl drivers and being able to pick up your trash timely is very important so Like Lily said, the competition is fierce when it comes to CDL drivers. And they'll literally come train and leave for an extra dollar an hour, it seems like. So a couple notes that Daniel sent you all an email on Friday with some executive summary, but just to share with everyone. We do have a relatively high turnover rate there of 40% to 43%. And with that, if you think about it, We create these attrition costs, so you're having costs related to training new people. And then from an insurance standpoint, losing an experienced driver of seven, eight years to gaining a brand new one, the ratio of accidents and such go up. So really, we factored in an annual attrition cost of anywhere from $151,000 to $280,000 a year. And the goal is to, A, recruit more, better employees, but at the same time keep our experienced employees here as well. So while the increased cost on the payroll side seems high, we should see some cash savings on the other end from the attrition costs I mentioned. uh... we will be able to maintain the payment of this increase for the current year within our current budget we have vacancies that are offsetting right now uh... but my estimated total increase of this change for the upcoming years is two hundred twenty seven thousand eight hundred sixty six dollars and that is comparing what we budgeted the employees this year and then the estimated increase of those pay changes which will impact the wages, FICA and Medicare and our RSA which are all percentage basis based on the salary.

Okay.

And personnel board approved this.

And this is solid waste truck drivers only?

Just solid waste, yes. The job description for solid waste is truck driver one and two. In solid waste, it's recycling driver, which is very similar but different.

I would just say there are a lot of very critical services that the city of Decatur offers, but there's not many that you will hear quicker from residents than their garbage not being picked up. And Kip's back there. I don't know if you've got anything to add, but as always, I'd like to appreciate all you guys. Y'all do a great job, and we want to do what we can to support y'all to continue those services.

Mr. President, I think a key element is the current employees will have an equitable adjustment of their compensation also. It just needs to be clarified.

Very similar to how we did in the police department a few years ago. We want to ensure that the experienced guy is not making less than somebody new.

Do we know, and Lily may know, how many openings we currently have or four openings? Okay.

It's four but about to be five, right?

Okay. Okay.

And that's out of how many?

We have 27 employees. So when the garbage men take a vacation, we have to pull the load them in.

Yeah, come on up here to the microphone and talk.

When the garbage men take a vacation, we have to pull the load them in around the garbage truck where they put the trash behind. So they put me, Danny, and the supervisor on the trash truck to get the trash caught up and keep everybody from calling y'all about their trash. I got you. And he's telling the truth because I've seen all those guys drive in trucks. I drive both of them, the garbage and the loader truck. I can do them both, but I got to help the guys out because they ain't no better than they is.

So do you have more overtime because you don't have enough? Yes. So that's another thing.

Which is certainly a financial impact. Yeah, loader men's works on money to try to keep the trash caught up because they have to go on the garbage truck during the week with somebody left because we're shorthanded.

But they're exactly right. I've called Daniel before in the morning, and he's on a truck somewhere. Kip's out there quite often driving a truck.

All right. Any other questions? I think all three of you.

All right.

Resolution number 26208, approve Decatur Morgan County Hospitality Association to assist in sponsoring the Spirit of America Festival from the Room Occupancy Fund.

Good evening, Council and Mayor. I'm Susan Morrow, President of the Hospitality Association. This resignation is a consideration in support of the Spirit of America Festival. Similar to the Air Fest, organizers presented the Hospitality Association with a sponsorship proposal for consideration, and after discussions with the organizers, membership voted unanimously to approve. The association is also proposing a three-year commitment to be renewed annually and then submitted to you all for approval. Members of the association feel that the spirit of America also benefits the hospitality industry, and we're really excited about the renewed excitement and growth the Spirit of America Committee is investing to have a Decatur-centered event. The monies to be applied toward this sponsorship would come from the room occupancy funds. Thank you for your consideration.

art any questions if you've got them well you know if i had control of that i'd be doing something with the thermostat at the event right now uh... i think you get the next one to resolution number twenty six two zero nine approved to care more kind of tally association to assist in sponsoring the north alabama air fest from the room occupancy fund

Yes. After discussions with the city leaders, prior field staff approached and presented the Hospitality Association with a sponsorship proposal for consideration, and after discussions with the organizers, the membership voted unanimously to approve. This specific sponsorship is for a three-year commitment, and the financial amount would be requested of the council on an annual basis, and then paid if you all approve. Tonight, we're requesting funds toward the 2026 Air Fest, And in its entirety, we feel that this sponsorship is a joint partnership with the City of Decatur in supporting an event that has and will continue to drive economic impact and room nights from the event. And the monies from this sponsorship would come from the Room Occupancy Fund as well.

Okay. Any questions? And just to clarify, the Room Occupancy Fund, there is a fee assessed on each room night on hotel stays, and that goes into a fund. and then there's this is this is the approval process for that so that's where the money is coming from any questions thank you all mr fox is also here if anyone's got any questions uh... regarding their first art resolution number twenty six to ten approved conditional funding of sewer system extension to river road estates phase four meeting council uh... so

First of all, I wanted to talk about the economic impact this could potentially have before you all decide. We're looking at 131 unit phase here on River Road. The method to my madness in coming up with where I'm going to end with this is to look at this twofold. So not only are we anticipating an increase in PROPERTY TAXES BUT ALSO YOU CAN ASSUME WITH THE PROXIMITY CLOSE TO THE GROCERY STORE THAT ONE, PEOPLE WHO LIVE THERE WILL LIKELY PURCHASE THEIR GROCERIES FROM THE SET STORE WHICH IS IN THE CITY LIMITS. SO LOOKING AT THE PROPERTY TAX ALONE WHEN 131 LOTS ARE PAYING PROPERTY TAX, We the city can anticipate roughly $85,000, 101 if you count the impact that goes to the schools. The total cost for this sewer extension is just shy of $120,000. So you're looking at a payback period of roughly 1.4 years. I assume that that will be actually shorter, and I'll go touch even further on the grocery side of things. So when I was looking at this second piece, I was trying to anticipate new residents, not an individual who would move from, say, D1 to River Road Estates. SO IN MY RESEARCH, AND THIS WAS VERY INTERESTING, I THINK IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO YOU, OF THE 131 NEW CONSTRUCTION DEVELOPMENT, THEY ANTICIPATE ONLY 33 TO 46 OF THOSE UNITS WILL BE NEW RESIDENTS AND THAT'S PER THE ALABAMA CENTER FOR REAL ESTATE AND THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU OF MOBILITY TRACKING. So what I did from there is take those, went on the low side, conservative, took those 33 homes, which we'll say are new residents, and tried to guess or estimate what type of demographic of people would come. Being they're roughly $350,000 homes, I would assume maybe a couple or a small family. And in saying that, The annual grocery expenditures for a cohibiting couple is anywhere from 7,800 to 10,800. And for a family of four, it's 13,000 to 18,000. So taking those 33, splitting it 50-50, using those annual income spent on groceries, you get an extra roughly $10,500 annual sales tax increase on just groceries. So adding the property tax and the groceries, now people will also spend other ways in Decatur than groceries. that payback goes all the way down to 1.2 years on just the city's piece. So long story short, it's a very fast recuperation and a great ROI for the city to make this investment on the sewer.

Thank you for all your work on that. You made my eyes cross partly.

I can send it to you. It really wasn't a lot of work, but it kind of pieced it around.

And I'd also like to mention this is the property that we're looking to annex into the city as well.

All right.

Any other questions?

Thank you, Kyle. Good job.

Resolution number 26211, approve waiver of certain parking deck fees to continue. I don't know. Herman?

I don't know. The mayor can talk about it. Basically, this just continues the waiver of the parking.

When we originally instituted this, we thought that the construction would be done by now. And so the building is still under construction, so they're still using parking stalls. So that's why we have reintroduced this to extend it until construction is complete.

That's right. Until the parking becomes available. That's right.

Okay.

Any questions?

Yeah. All right.

Ordinances. First reading ordinance number 26, 46, 51 approved sale of 408 seventh Avenue Southwest to John T. Moore. Alan.

Yes, your Mayor, Mayor, Council. This is a piece of property that Mr. Moore approached Community Development about purchasing. I know this is probably maybe the first time that we've brought a city-owned lot to you all as a new council to purchase. to this process, so I wanted to sort of go in just a little bit with you. We have emailed all of you, I think, this map, but just to get an idea of the number of lots that we've got within the city limits that we are maintaining presently. We have city-owned lots as well as we're maintaining the state-owned lots that the state owns. Those were probably acquired from the state through tax sales. Nobody bought them, so it went to the state. So the state graciously allows us to mow their lots for them for no compensation. And I'm sure they greatly appreciate that. Just over the last five years, we have expended $318,000 mowing city-owned and state-owned properties. The past administration, they tasked us with cutting that cost at whatever we could. That basically is telling us we need to get rid of these lots. uh... if someone is interested uh... in purchasing a city-owned lot we ask that they submit in writing their request to our department that they're interested in purchasing a lot uh... that request must include their intended use as well as their offer for the property Once we get that from an individual, we look at the lot size, we look at what they're doing with the property, we look at what the tax assessors have assessed that property at with the county, and we look at what they've offered for that, you know, the amount that they've actually offered us for that lot. uh... and ultimately we bring that back to you and say this is what this property owner has offered to purchase this for uh... state law uh... which requires us to get fair market value for these lots You all define, as I believe Herman has said a number of times in the past when he and I have talked about it, you all set that fair market value. If you all feel like that what we're presenting to you may not be adequate, we can go back to the uh... to the prospective purchaser and tell them how you know the council didn't feel this is uh... fair so we would uh... you know this is what they have set that price to be in this particular case uh... he offered thirty five hundred dollars for it uh... the county Assessed it at $4,500. We have sold other lots in that proximity for that amount, so that is why we're presenting this to you at the $3,500. We also have another program, which is called the Dome Program, which is basically for property owners who live adjacent to property that's owned by the city, where they can buy that property. They can enter into an agreement with the city to maintain, occupy, and not transfer that property for a period of time, and then they'll agree to pay $500 for the property and then basically we're they're agreeing to maintain it so we're not cutting that lot we look at that and figure that into the you know so and then it's all according to what we set the value at is the number of years that they would have to that they would have to keep and maintain it. We have just in our, what we have looked at, we spend about $500 a year per each lot. to maintain it as well as the lost revenue of property tax on these lots so that we sort of look at a $500 credit for them owning and maintaining it through the Dome program. We will have one of those on the agenda the next council meeting. We have done over, since I've been here these 30 years, we'll do three or four, sometimes we'll do more, sometimes we may not do that many, but you will see three to five a year of these lots. But ultimately, again, when we bring them to you, it ultimately, as it always is, it's y'all's decision to see if y'all consider the fair market value or not. We do get a lot of requests. We get way more than the five requests a year. Most of the time, we weed through those, and people wind up. not interested for whatever reason. We have had in past situations where we will take it through this whole process, and the councils have agreed to sell it to them, and then they fall off. We don't find them. Can't find them. So what we've done now is require that they pay basically a $500 contingency up front in order for us to get it on the council agenda so that they've got $500 invested. So if they don't purchase it, at least we can find them because they'll come back. If they decide they don't want it, they're going to come back to get your $500. So that's one of the reasons that we don't want to spend, and I'm spending away probably more time than you want on this situation, but we hate to spend the $200 to $500 that it would cost to go out and do an appraisal. Because if we get 15 or 20 requests a year, and I would say we get at least that for us to go out and pay for an appraisal, then if they wind up not buying it, then the appraisal's not good. You all who are in real estate knows that those appraisals aren't good for a small period of time. So that's sort of where we are. And I'll tell you, if you have any questions, I'd be glad to try to answer them for you.

Any questions for Alan?

Yes. So is there any other stipulation when they purchase this, like they need to build something on it, or is it?

We do, yeah, and that's why that we ask them what they're doing with the property. We got these properties because somebody didn't maintain them. Right. And we were having to do weed abatements on them. Weed abatements, as you know, when you see these come through, they're way more than what we pay. to maintain them just as city-owned lots. But we do not, and that's part of the process. Those who fall out of the process, when they come in, they think, well, I want to buy this lot. Then we ask them, well, what are you going to do with it? And they say, well, I want to give it to my kids. I want to have a place for them, maybe my kids to build a house one day. We just do not, at that point, we don't bring those to you because we manage through that to make sure that they are going to do what they say they're going to do. We try to protect the communities because we don't want to get anything. If somebody says they want to build a house, we've had some come to us and say they want to build a house, but it winds up when we see what they're looking at building, then it doesn't fit into the neighborhood. So we've said, well, we're not interested in... Selling but this will be an affordable housing unit and he had he's in a process of buying the adjacent property So that's why that it wasn't for the dome program we're selling it to him for the full amount and Because we do try to protect the community.

Yeah, we need houses, and we've got these vacant lots owned by the city that somebody could be building on. So I think it's imperative that you don't just sell it like you're doing. You don't just sell it to someone that's just going to sit on it, and that's really not perfect.

And I'm like the judge. I could talk a long time about this, but 95% of these lots are substandard. Okay, they're... They're very narrow lots. We get these through quick claim deeds. So if somebody wants to build on them, then they're buying. Sometimes, I mean, and they're aware of what they're buying. So that's another reason that we sell them. as inexpensive. I was raised in retail, so my boss always said, don't say cheap, say inexpensive. So we sell them inexpensively because they are just getting a quitclaim deed. They're not getting a warranty deed. So they're going to have to spend some money to get the titles. Sometimes get quiet titles to them or getting clear deeds to them. There is some other costs that these owners are going to have to.

That's what people have looked at in the past was to build on them, but they are very narrow, so you need multiple lots to be able to build on them.

I just want to go on record. I do have an acquaintance by this name, but this is not that person.

For the record. All right.

Thank you all.

Thank you, Alan.

art ordinance number twenty six forty six fifty two proof annexation request three eighty six twenty six four deer road southeast lot three uh... this is a complimentary annexation request that goes along with the pre zoning for the property at deer road southeast lot three uh... that chooses to come into the city and be resolved or seven heart any questions

You know, I would say this pre-zoning is relatively new in the last, what, 10 years maybe, Herman? But this is something that is very commonly done with someone that's annexing property. They want to make sure that they can get the zoning that they're requesting before they annex the property.

Of course, if they don't, it doesn't happen, and that pre-zoning goes away if they don't come.

Yeah. All right, any questions? Ordinance number 264653, approve annexation request 38726 for property south of 3203 Deer Road, southeast lot 4.

This is also the adjacent property as a package with the south of 3203 Deer Road southeast. And again, it is property owners desiring to come into the fold of the city and have their property pre-zoned to RS7.

All right, any questions? Thank you, Chad. Boards and committees, reappoint Tom Couch to the Municipal Utility Board with term expiring June 30, 2035. This was a correction of the term date. Any questions? All right, we've got a few additions. I think up first is the Wilson Morgan Rec Center. I don't know who's covering that one, but there's a change order. Hunter's out.

Yeah, I can't comment on what the change order is. I think it was roughly $36,000, and I think it just missed the cutoff from our agenda process. But with the rec center close to being open, it's important that we get these change orders to you all to decide on rather quickly.

This is change order number 12.

Yes, sir.

All right, any questions on that? So that will be added to next Monday's agenda. Up next, Jeremy, if you want to speak on the Sportsplex bid, you should also have a copy of that.

Yes, Jeremy Sherrill, Procurement.

I passed along the resolution as well as the bid tabulation. We're seeking to add this one to the agenda as well.