City Council - Regular Meeting

We will call this Tuesday, May 26th council meeting to order and ask the clerk to call the roll.

Council President Middlebrooks.

Here.

Council Pro Tem Driver. Here. Council Member Schultz.

Here.

Council Member Smith.

Present.

Council Member Lovell. Present. Council Member Murphy.

Present.

Council Member McClinton.

All right, with six present, we have quorum. We will stand for the invocation tonight. We also have a special musical tribute to honor Memorial Day, so we will stand for the invocation, the pledge by Councilor Schultz, and then a musical tribute by Officer Easterling, followed by a brief moment of silence with a playing of taps by Mr. Cicero from Hoover High.

We thank you for their lives and the commitment they have to our country. We also thank you for the phones, and I thank you for their families and for their service and their time. And we thank you for us being able to meet here tonight. In the name of your son, Jesus Christ, amen.

Salute, pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America,

God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with the light. From above From the mountains To the prairies To the oceans Wide with foam God bless America My home sweet home God bless America, land that I love. Stand beside her and guide her through the night with a light from above. From the mountains, to the prairies, to the oceans wide with foam. God bless America, my home. god bless america my home sweet home america

. . . . Thank you.

Thank you, thank you both. Could we ask Officers Easterling and Mr. Serra, if you'll come down and grab a quick picture with us please. Thank you both for coming out tonight to honor those that gave their lives for our safety and peace and all the ideals that we hold dear in our great country of these United States of America. Hard to move on after that sometimes. So we all have a copy of the agenda. Can I have a motion to adopt the agenda, please?

Mr. President, I move to adopt the agenda.

Second. We have a motion and a second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Opposed? The ayes have it. Before we move on to business, we do have a report with an update for fire station number one. Gentlemen, if you all will come down and hopefully this is positive news.

Evening, Council. Yes, positive news. So we have poured the driveway connection, which is huge. So we're very proud of that. I think you all saw a picture of that happen in the last two weeks. So there's been substantial progress that has been made in the last two weeks. So we're very thankful for that progress. We had a final building inspection this past Friday. It did not quite pass. There is about seven items left on the list that needs to be done. We don't have certificate of occupancy yet. But of those seven items, we feel like at least five of those can be done before Friday. One of those requires some additional concrete work that will have to be done, but we think we can get the certificate of occupancy prior to that work being complete. So we're still on schedule at this point to have certificate of occupancy by the end of the week, which we're very thankful for. And I think... I think that wraps us up. What else am I missing? Move in. Move in, yes. So in talking to our building inspector, while we don't have the certificate of occupancy yet, we are allowed to move into the space. So we will be able to start moving some of our equipment into that fire station one. Very well.

Any comments or questions?

Mr. President, I do have one question. You said we have the driveway poured. Did we self-perform that or did the contractor take care of it?

Contractor did that. Yes, ma'am.

Okay, thank you.

That was part of the contract. We held them to that duty.

Thank you.

Mr. President, sir, you indicated that there were seven things remaining of which you said five would be completed. Those other two, are they not going to be completed by the first of the month?

By the first of the month, maybe not. Some of it is dependent on weather. So one of the items is tearing out some concrete stairs that were there that are not needed but were not built to code. So the best answer for that is to rip it out. They weren't needed.

Were they in the bid?

I'm sorry?

Were they in the bid?

They were in the contract. They were. So this was an add-on for the contractor on the tail end of it. The other piece is getting some kick plates manufactured, so we're trying to find an answer on that.

Why should the council not call the bond?

Why should we not call the bond? Yes, sir. Because we're right there.

It was supposed to be completely everything done, everything.

This was something that we added on Friday, was the concrete stairs.

You added it?

We added the removal of it on Friday, yes, sir.

Okay. So they had no way of knowing prior to that?

Of our intention to remove them, no, they did not.

Steve, you agree?

I do.

And the second thing?

The second thing is the kick plates. There are two kick plates on the metal staircase that are missing. That gets back to a manufacturer to make sure that those can be manufactured and then installed correctly. So the contractor is on the phone trying to get in touch with that manufacturer as we speak.

Why should we not call the bond? I know it's Penny Annie, but the gentleman's eight months going on nine months past due.

Totally understand.

And he said that he would be complete before the end of this month.

If that's the direction of the council, then we'll be happy to relay that back to the contractor.

I'm going to leave it to the will of the council. If there's a motion and a second, I certainly would vote for it.

Mr. President, may I ask a question? Yes, sir. So you want the city to go against the performance bond?

Mr. Walter, we were told that everything would be complete by the end of this month, and it's not. Now, I understand the stairs. If the city was the one that told them it needed to be reworked, is the city going to have to pay for it? Any portion of this because the city's the one that rejected it?

No, sir. This will be part of the contract. This is not something that the city will be responsible for outside.

But I'm for holding him to his word.

And I'm not trying to dissuade you from that, if that's what you want to do. But there's certain things we have to do to go against the performance bond, and you're gonna be delaying this. Do you know who the contractor is that you're gonna use to do this work? And then we gotta work it out with the bond company about the reasonableness of what we're going to do here as far as who you hire. So it's gonna take a bit. I just want you to understand that when we do that, then that stops this process. He's no longer going to be allowed on the job because you're saying we're not satisfied with this. You're in breach. We're going to go against the performance bond. It's going to take a minute. So just so everybody understands, I just wouldn't want to sit silent and think it was going to be a matter of, well, we'll get somebody else to do this and we'll get the performance bond to pay for it. Ultimately, we'll get there, but it's going to take a bit.

I think the city originally... looked into this very recently within this month of calling the bond. But the final determination was we want access to the fire station as fast as possible in a reasonable amount of time. If this contractor can get us in that fire station in a reasonable amount of time, then that was the way to go. So going to another contractor at this point would delay that. And, you know, Councillor Smith, I certainly understand holding him accountable. And to Chief Bentley's credit, he had concerns about this when the bid was originally given to this contractor about the performance issues.

May I make a suggestion? Johnny was saying that actually they have through the end of the month in any event with the term. Why don't we put this on the agenda for the first council meeting? in June to take action. It would be premature. You could take that and say, if they haven't done it by the 31st, then here's what we're going to do. That would be the motion you need to adopt tonight. But if it's an anticipatory breach, you're trying to anticipate what they're going to do. They may be in compliance by the 31st. I don't know.

As I stated, I'm not going to make the motion. I'm not going to second. Other members of this body would have to be in agreeance. And if they don't feel that way, then I'm fine. If they feel that way, then I'm going to vote in the affirmative. That's all.

What is the remaining cost associated with the seven versus the two? Assumption, well, based on the schedule on the punch list items, five is stated to be complete, so you're left with two. The total cost of that, what, $2,000, $3,000?

We don't have that in front of us right this second. We can get that for you, but I just want to say that.

I guess the total cost of that is that. So another thing too is the, so I'm assuming we have not given up retainage. It's still in contract. And also all the pay applications associated with it as well too.

That's correct.

All liquidated damages.

Correct.

All the special damages associated with it as well too, if that's in the contract. So that's remaining. And I 100% agree with Councilor Smith that this is taking too long. But if we do that, then it'll delay it even more. And then the contractor that you choose will more likely charge a, higher rate to get it done quicker, and then they gotta relearn the design and all that. But I think if they're down to the two, it equals X, and then on the back end, we can recoup some money on all the different categories, but then that'll be a legal conversation for however long that lasts.

Yeah, I'm not trying to, like I said, I'm not trying to dissuade you from taking whatever action you want to take tonight if you feel like it's necessary. I'm just saying that we can't begin that until June the 1st. Understood.

Any further comments or questions from council?

If I could address just a couple things. So we said we'd be back tonight with an update. We've given you the update. We met Friday and this morning. as a group and we feel like that this is the right thing to do to let them finish. The inspection revealed some things that are minor that they'll take care of. The stairs in the back are the most substantial thing. But this will allow us, as Blake was saying, this will allow us to take substantial completion and start moving into the facility as they complete those last few punch list items. I mean, simple things like marking above the ceiling with fire-rated walls, with stencils so that you know where the fire-rated walls are, some caulking issues, those type things that the city inspectors found that needs to be corrected. Okay. And that'll give us some time to move in while they correct those items. And we feel confident that they can complete this. And in my opinion, I don't wanna step out, but in my opinion, they've done everything they said they would do to this point. But the decision's ultimately yours to make. Did I say anything out of line there? If you want some numbers, we will come back to you one more time to close out this process. And we can give you those numbers at that point. Chief, do you know when you might move in? There is no cost for at least six of those items.

Chief, do you know when you might move in? or when you would be available to move in.

I know your choice may be different. It's gonna take us, when we get certificate of occupancy, it's gonna take us two to three, maybe four weeks to get everything organized and moved in, and then it'll take one eight-hour day for communications to transfer the radios over and phones and all of that stuff. So we can maybe move it a little bit faster than that, but that's when we'd probably start making calls from the station. Well, it needs to be your decision and not because of their lack of capability. It is. And we're confident in where we are now. It's not complete, but some of those things were found on Friday. All right. Any other questions?

We look forward to hearing a certificate of occupancy by May 30th. Yes, sir. Thank you.

Thank you.

All right. Moving on to the regular agenda. We have review of the payment of the bills. Take a motion.

Mr. President, I move to approve the payment of the bills.

Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any comments from council? Hearing none, any comments or questions from the audience? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it. Next will be the minutes from May the 7th and May 11th of 2026.

Mr. President, I move to approve the minutes for May 7th and May 11th, 2026. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any comments or questions from counsel? Any comments or questions from the audience? All in favor, say aye. Aye. Those opposed, the ayes have it. Moving on to resolution number 884626, Mr. City Attorney. This is...

This is a resolution that authorizes the city clerk and the mayor if necessary to execute certain documents in order to claim unclaimed property on behalf of the city.

Mr. President, I move to approve resolution number 8846-26. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Any comments or questions?

Dr. Lopez, are all these monies that are going to be due back to the city from the state or is this just leveling the books?

I believe these are through the state. Wendy, are these the unclaimed properties we talked about a few months ago?

Yeah. This is the unclaimed properties that we talked about. So this is basically us getting checks back from different entities where we didn't receive the check. So I'll submit the paperwork to the state. They'll send us the money, and finance will get it and put it in the accounts.

I guess that unclaimed property commercial on TV worked.

I always check for my name. There just never is any money.

Any other comments or questions from council? Any from the audience? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it. Resolution number 884726. This is a resolution. Excuse me.

This is a resolution that authorizes the mayor to enter into a one-year maintenance agreement with Stryker for preventive maintenance inspection for medical equipment used in emergency and public safety operations. The cost is $25,089.

Mr. President, I move to approve resolution number 8847-26. Second.

We have a motion and a second.

Chief Bentley, anything to add? No, sir, this is our annual agreement with Stryker for preventive maintenance on our loading systems, our stretchers, life packs, Lucas devices, and stair chairs. We did save about $18,000 using this contract because we plan to look at a different program in October.

Very good. Comments or questions from council? Comments or questions from the audience? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it. Resolution number 884826.

This is a resolution that authorizes the mayor to enter into an EMS transport agreement with Orlando Health for using facilities at Brookwood Hospital. It will allow the city to actually be reimbursed for eligible transport that's based on the Hoover Fire Department's fee schedule while preserving our fire department's discretion to prioritize emergency responses.

Mr. President, I move to approve resolution number 8848-26. Second.

I have a motion and a second. Chief Bentley?

Yes, sir. Orlando Health is the parent company of Brookwood Hospital. And from time to time, we have inter-hospital or inter-facility transfers. This only deals with inter-hospital or inter-facility transfers from the freestanding emergency room on 119 to Brookwood Hospital only. It's not a contract, it's kind of an agreement that they required for us to get reimbursed when we transport patients to their parent facility. If we transported someone from their facility to a different facility, we would build their insurance company. But in order for us to get reimbursed, Orlando requires some type of agreement and fee structure so they know what they're doing. We don't have this with any other facility anywhere, but they required this. So this is for us to get reimbursed for that. And it's only transferring people from the freestanding to their hospital at Brookwood.

Very good. Comments or questions from council?

Mr. President, just briefly, Chief Bentley, this does not obligate the Hoover Fire Department to transport these patients, does it?

That is correct. Okay. We worked very hard, this has been vetted by the attorney's office, to not kind of back us into a corner where we're required to transport. They understand what we do. If they need someone taken from one facility to another, it's through a 911 call. and that's how it works. It took a year to pitch this thing back and forth because we didn't wanna be the primary provider for transportation because we may not be available.

Understood. And you can always place priority on local transports and emergencies that you have here in Hoover?

We can. And we have automatic mutual aid companies that we can use to help us with that as well. But the city attorney's office really crafted this and made this a good agreement.

Thank you.

Further comments or questions? Yeah, I have a question. Currently, we're doing... When there is a need at the UAB West freestanding ER, normally Rescue 11 will respond to that and transport. How is this different from that, if at all?

It's not different. And it's not just Rescue 11. It's any rescue unit that's available. Rescue 8 from Greystone is transported. But it's just Orlando Health. requires this for the fee structure so that they can have an agreement to know how we're gonna bill them. Other facilities do not require that. It's just the company that we're dealing with with them.

Councillor Smith, did you have a comment?

Yes, sir. Chief, we spoke earlier today and I just wanted to get on the record that that they are to use our 911 system and it's for emergency patients only. It's not for a non-emergency transport or transfer. from their 119 facility to Brookwood proper?

It could be a non-emergency. Is that right? It could be. But we would have to triage those calls accordingly.

And who would, our 911 staff is trained well enough to be able to?

The battalion chief on duty would make that decision if we have units available and what we can do. So we would make sure we had adequate resources before we committed. Thank you, sir.

Any other comments or questions for council? Any from the audience? Hearing none, all in favor say aye. Aye. Those opposed? The ayes have it.

Thank you.

Thank you. Moving on, we will open up a public hearing for Ordinance Number 262700. Mr. Waldrop, you'll read that.

This is an ordinance. Regarding the regulations for consumable hemp products that are in accordance with the Act of the Legislature that has recently passed, it will create a licensing category for specialty shops and pharmacies and retail food stores. It adopts applicable state regulations and enforcement provisions. establishes restrictions on the sales, possession, and consumption in certain public places and licensed establishment. And it does require the council approval and public notice for these license applications. And we have a provision for administrative and enforcement procedures regarding consumable hemp product sales. This is a public hearing, and that's the broad brushstrokes of what it does. But when the legislature... allowed the sale, if you don't address this, then you're going to be enforcing the state law. It doesn't have the restrictions. So this really gives the council an opportunity to have more of input into the sale of those hemp products.

Mr. President, I move to adopt ordinance number 26-2700 with a modification. I'd like to make the motion to amend the amounts that are listed for the specialty retailer of consumable hemp products license from $500 to $2,000. The pharmacy consumable hemp products license from $500 to $2,000. and the retail food store consumable hemp products license from $500 to $2,000. Second.

We have a motion and a second. This is a public hearing. Do we need to vote on the motion before having discussion?

The way the motion was made, it's already been amended, and the second amended so you can vote on the ordinance. You understand that It is going to be exactly as what you've seen, except the licensing fee is going to be increased from $500 to $2,000. And that's the motion that was made. And that is a motion to second it. That's what you had before you. So now it's time for discussion on that.

I will open up that discussion for comment from counsel. Hearing none, any comments or questions from the audience? Come down to the front and give us your name and have your question, please.

Hi, I'm BJ Autry. I own SunMed, your CBD store. I've been in seven years up there at the La Brisa Plaza. Sorry. Anyway, I was just wondering why the increase on the fees there that you're recommending. That's kind of my question.

I made the motion. I'll be happy to respond briefly, Mr. President. I won't speak for all of my colleagues, but on my behalf, this is a different kind of use than we have been regulating in the past. There are additional responsibilities that go along with monitoring and enforcing this type of a use, and that's the reason why I would increase the fee.

Okay. The monitoring and enforcement, from my understanding, is from the ABC board. So I'm not understanding the enforcement part of it.

Well, it's not necessarily just the ABC board. The Hoover Police Department has jurisdiction here, too.

Okay, yes. It's already a $1,000 licensing fee through the state, and to increase this is very punitive is why I'm bringing it up. I mean, that's $3,000 a year before you even get started. And the way they've made the packaging with the four count, Everything that's changed in the bill is no longer the same. We can't even sell the products that we used to sell anymore. And so it's very highly regulated by the state already. So this is very punitive is why I'm bringing it up.

The legislature, when they passed this, did not put any restriction on whatever the amount of the licensing fee would be. That's discretionary with the council. I think that Councilor Driver is... Establish that there's gonna be some costs that are gonna be incurred by the city that it would not have otherwise Well, we've been to trustful has already approved us and Shelby County.

This is the first that we've dealt with this So that's why I'm I guess I'm bringing it up. So Thank you so much for your time your consideration.

Thank you Any further comments questions from the audience Hang none madam clerk if you'll call the roll

Council Pro Tem Driver? Aye. Council Member Schultz?

Aye.

Council Member Smith? Aye. Council Member Lovell? Aye. Council Member Murphy?

Aye.

Council President Middlebrooks?

Aye. With six ayes, the ordinance is adopted. Next, we will have a first reading for Ordinance Number 262702. The public hearing will be set for June the 8th. This is an ordinance to amend Ordinance 263 of the City of Hoover, Alabama, entitled, The Zoning Ordinance of the City of Hoover, Alabama, for the property located at 3960 South Shadescrest Road, being zoned to R1 single-family residential. Mr. Martin.

Thank you. This particular application is for zoning of a previously unzoned property that was annexed into the city, 3960 South Sagecrest Road. The zoning designation that is being recommended is R1. The Planning Commission considered this and brings it to you with a positive recommendation.

Thank you. No action will be taken on these items tonight. Like I said, the public hearing will be set for June 8th, where we will take comments and questions. Also on June 8th, we will set a public hearing for Resolution No. 8849-26, granting conditional use approval to operate a dog daycare for the property located at 5361 U.S. 280.

Yes, Mr. President, this comes to you with a positive recommendation from the Planning Commission recommending approval conditioned on the following. One, that the max capacity for animals on the site would be 120. Two, sound management plan is implemented as it was submitted. Three, waste management plan is implemented as submitted. Four, dumpster on site shall be serviced sufficiently to prevent noxious odors. Five, owners shall install a video monitoring system and have the facility under surveillance during all operating hours. Six, owners shall install a nox box and other acceptable means of permitting emergency services to gain entry into the facility. And finally, the business shall attain a certificate of occupancy and a business license prior to opening.

Very good. And finally, also a public hearing set for June 8th is resolution number 8850-26, granting conditional use approval to reclassify existing child care operation from a daycare home to a group daycare home for the property located at 3599 Deerfield Drive.

Yes, this particular application was heard by the Planning Commission, but the Planning Commission does not offer a favorable recommendation. on this particular application. Should the council determine that the conditional use is to be adopted and approved, the staff would recommend that the following conditions be placed on that approval. One, all the upgrades outlined in the application be successfully planned, permitted, completed, and inspected, and a new certificate of occupancy is issued prior to the increase in the number of students being allowed to occupy the building. Secondly, no pickup or drop-off service would be provided on Atkins Trim Boulevard. Third, group daycare shall serve a maximum of 12 children. Fourth, hours of operation are 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fifth, no employee parking permitted on the street. And finally, the business owner shall renew their business license with updated classification prior to the certificate of occupancy being issued.

Thank you, Mr. Martin. And Ms. Driver mentioned to me that I forgot to mention public comments during the agenda. We had no one sign up for public comments tonight, so my apologies for skipping over that, but no one had signed up to comment. We'll move on now to council comments before I hand the floor over to any other council members. This was a comment from Councilman Clinton, who unfortunately couldn't be with us tonight, but he wanted to remind everyone to be aware of Magic City Wine Fest. The second year in a row, iHeartMedia will be hosting the Magic City Wine Fest at the Hoover Met out near the front gates this Saturday. The event will feature over 40 different wines available for sampling. It begins at 6 p.m. and runs until 9 p.m. Most importantly, the proceeds raised will benefit one of our great local charities right here in Hoover. Hoover helps. Don't drink wine. We appreciate iHeart Media, the Hoover Met, and everyone involved for continuing to invest back into our community. And this is a quote Mr. McClinton left with us. Remember what Ben Franklin said about wine? Wine is proof that God wants us to be happy. Very good. Now, with that said, any other comments from the council tonight?

Yeah, I have a comment. This past week, we had the SEC Championship. I was able to attend every day, and the performance and the work by our city staff, was second to none. It truly exemplifies mayor's message of a standard of excellence. Everybody did a phenomenal, phenomenal job. Although the weather didn't hold up the whole time, it was a truly, truly great experience. So kudos to everybody in the city that made it a spectacular event.

Mr. President, I'd like to bring up the The fanfare event at the Finley Center, it was second to none compared to years past. I know that it was so well that the television talent that was on ABC and the SEC Network commented a number of times about the quality of the SEC Fan Fest, and I think that That, once again, just brings kudos to the staff because they're the one that brought it to us for approval.

It is a well-to-well machine. I want to give compliments to the mayor and the mayor's office. I understand it wasn't standard practice, but they sent out an invite to all the department heads to invite their staff. So every staff member was invited to participate, was given the opportunity to get tickets for the game, furnished by the city. So I've heard from numerous department heads and staff members who greatly appreciated them being included in that offer. It was well received, and Mr. Munger, good work on that.

Last thing I'll add, I do want to commend the mayor too, because since that's a regional type event, we have a lot of individuals that come all over, but the mayor thought enough to invite other individuals in our state. The city of Madison will be hosting next year the softball SEC championship. So he invited that entire team to the Met to see how we operated and also willing to give them pointers along the way since it's their first time. That's extremely huge for folks coming in and out your state to make as minimum amount of errors and mistakes as possible. And they were very fascinated how smooth that uh entire week was ran so i do want to commend the mayor for thinking outside the box looking at from a regional standpoint uh because that's two weeks before us and then here we come so that's quite a bit of a funding for the entire state economic development mr president also uh um the mayor like like mr murphy stated the mayor reached out to quite a large

group, not just in the political arena, but in the business community. But the governor of Tennessee was in attendance on Sunday. In an Auburn uniform. In an Auburn uniform. I asked him, was he going to be in trouble? He said, it's my second term. It doesn't matter.

Very good. With that, we're adjourned.

Mr. President, just as a matter of clarification, I have done an AI search on the quote because I had always understood that Ben Franklin said that about beer. And as it turns out, what he said was that rain turning grapes into wine is proof of God's constant love for us. So we can be thankful for the rain, too.