City Council - Regular Meeting

I think outfit I think be the perfect thing. Council, y'all ready? M clerk, you ready?

This is the regular meeting of the Mobile City Council. Tuesday, March the 3rd. Please stand for our invocation led by Reverend Tom Herd, public safety chaplain, and remain standing for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence following the pledge. Let us pray. Holy and gracious God, source of all that is and all that will be. In the season of Lent, help us to repent of those things that take us far from you. conform us to your will for the care of your creation and help us to be faithful stewards of this world we inhabit. Help us also to care for each other as beloved brothers and sisters. Bless this city as residents and leaders that we may be examples of your grace and love and guide our leaders to be champions of justice and righteousness, always choosing what is right over what is easy. These things we ask in your holy and blessed name. Amen.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

I'm going ask everyone to remain standing for a moment of silence and have Mr. Tom Showtime withers a longtime member and an advocate um for the mobile area association and martyra had passed away at the age of 901 of the oldest members of Manga. His legacy include his dedication to promoting the arts and science of Martigra in the mobile area. Let's please continue to keep his family and friends in your prayers. Roll call. President Small

here. Vice President Gregory here. Council member Penn here. Council member Ingram here. Council member Reynolds here. Council member Fleming here. Council member Woods here. Statement of rules. And good morning everyone. Morning. Good morning everyone. Morning.

It's good to see everybody this morning. Welcome to our March 3rd, 2026 meeting. At this meeting we do have rules. At this time I ask if anyone have any type of electronic device including cell phones. Please at this time put on the off or the barary position. The off or the vibrated position. Any person that is desiring to address the Mobile City Council must sign in indicating the resolution, the ordinance, appeal, a public hearing agenda item before entering the meeting. When addressing this council, the speaker must give his or her name. Any person that desire to speak to the council on a non-aggenda item must contact the city clerk office no later than 2:00 p.m. the Thursday prior to the council meeting. the subject that he or she wishes to express to the Mobile City Council must be identified and pertained to the city of Mobile Business. Anyone who has not given proper notice to the city clerk office and wish to speak on a non-aggenda item would not be allowed to address this council. Each speaker is allowed three minutes to address this council. A bell was sound to the indicating the ending of two minutes. One minute remain for summarizing. The second bell indicates that your time has expired. When addressing this council, there be no personal address to any individual council members. All statements are to be made to the chair who will recognize any council member who wishes to respond to maintain the quorum. There will be none do applause and or public outcry allowed. Madame clerk

approval of minutes of February 24th. So move second. Move second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Men's approval. Communications from Mayor Cheratus. Good morning everyone.

I hope everyone's seen the uh Mobile Museum of Arts new logo and website. Uh they're already earning recognition. The team behind the recent rebrand won three honors last week at the AAF Mobile Bay American Advertising Awards including Gold, Silver, and Best in Show. Uh working with Hummingbird Ideas, the Museum of Arts team redesigned its website and created a striking new logo and brand. Manager of external affairs Mary Beth Lerson also won the Tim Cook 1065 award for excellence in public relations for her work on the rebrand. I just want to offer a congratulations to the entire MOA team. Uh they're making such a positive impact in the community and they're bringing art to the people and the people to the art. Uh I won't steal any of Councilman Pin's thunder. I'll let him tell you about the record setting event he just hosted at uh the Museum of Art last week. U very good stuff there. Um I want to talk a little bit about our Perch Creek community meeting that's coming up. We have exciting plans to create a network of parks along Perch Creek. We preserved 190 acres of waterfront there and are working towards creating a connected park district. Uh the goal is to expand public access to water and create opportunities for passive recreational activities to get mobile mobilians out into nature. Uh tonight at 6 p.m., President CJ Small will join members of our team at the Gillyard Elementary School. uh for a community meeting to discuss the future of the Perch Creek Preserve. We want to gather input from neighbors and stakeholders alike. If you live along the peninsula or you're just interested in shaping these future public spaces, I hope you will join our project team at 6 PM this evening.

uh and not finally but nearly finally. I'm uh very excited to reach a major milestone in the construction of the Mobile Arena. Today at 1 p.m. uh our team will join OVG Vulkart and BL Harbor to mark the completion of the building's structural frame and to end in the end of vertical construction. Today's beam signing and topping out se celebration will put us at the halfway point of construction for the arena as we work to have the arena ready for Marty Gro in 2027. Uh we are I've said this a lot of times but I'll say it again. We are still on time and on budget for that project. Uh I'm incredibly thankful for the fantastic team driving this project forward both within the city of Mobile and with our partners from Vulkar, BL Harbor, and OBVG. I look forward to celebrating our progress this afternoon and continuing to see this beautiful facility take shape downtown. There are a lot uh more exciting news about the arena coming soon, and I can't wait to share it with you and all Moilians. Now finally uh it is my honor to announce a proclamation today in recognition of the United uh cereble pausy awareness month and I know I have a few folks here uh Jennifer Culie Wayne Dean Kristen Hedgy and Allison Gilliard if y'all want to go ahead and come up to the podium I'll read and then I'll join you. Uh all right this proclamation from the office of mayor whereas recent statist statistics indicate that there are more than a million people in the United States impacted by cable pausy and whereas the United Cable Pauly of Mobile

and central Alabama is one of the area's oldest and most respected charities and whereas founded in 1947 by the junior league it has grown from a small local clinic to a large organization that provides services for over 700 families each month in 32 counties throughout central and south Alabama. And whereas the primary mission of UCP of Mobile in central Alabama is to promote the independence, productivity, and full citizenship of people with cable pausy and other disabilities. And whereas UCP of Mobile offers programs that start at infancy and continue through adulthood. And whereas these programs include early intervention, CCP, preschool, camp smile, employment services, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, respit and adult day programs. And whereas UCP of Mobile raises funds to assist in service for people with disabilities by annually sponsoring an inshore fishing tournament, golf tournament, food and folly, 5K and fun run through the Christmas lights and the sale of seasonal themed t-shirts. And whereas the month of March is designated as n national cerebral pausy awareness month. Now therefore, I Spiro Cheragatus the 109th mayor of the city of Mobile do hereby designate the month of March 2026 as cereble pausy awareness month in the city of Mobile and urge all citizens to learn more about how they can help to promote awareness of this disorder. Thank you. And if anybody wants to say something, feel free. Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you for

shining a spotlight on the children and adults that we serve on a daily basis. Thank you for making the city of Mobile a community where all people can be supported and thrive. And thank you for everything. Thank you all. And thank you all so much for your hard work in the community. And that concludes my remarks. Councilman Pen. Thank you, Mr. President. I have a proclamation for curriculum and youth service. I have Miss Hill come down. Um all right you okay you come I just the information I received you come down and then I believe they would like to have a picture with the council as well and so if we can get the Christian youth um to kind of line up as I read the proclamation you can come down and line up front um Ashley right here will guide You can't take any

So I have a proclamation whereas Christian youth service has been in operation since 1918 serving as a home for the unwed moms until 1990. In the early 1999 90s, the curtain closed the home and became a educational partner for schools and community youth sites. And whereas Christian youth service provide instruction for strengthening the emotional and social skills of the students to cope and build resilience for life situations. And whereas the youth health ambassador program is the most creative component of the program that targets youth since 2010, it reaches approximately 1712 youth in schools and community sites annually. And whereas being a crimin ambassador is a positive asset for youth, points are awarded for each ambassador performance, attendance, and involvement. Now therefore, I, Councilman Cory Penn, District 1, and the members of the Mobile City Council do hereby recognize the Christian youth services in Mobile, Alabama, and urge all citizens to join us in celebrating this amazing occasion. Can we give them a big hand? You have anything you'd like to say before we take

Just a few. Okay.

Thank you so much. uh very quickly and for me that's really hard but very quickly I wanted you to know that this is a program that is a value we're teaching life skills to grades 5 through 7 and we're teaching them in many public and parochial schools also I would like you to know that Auburn University evaluates ates our progress and this year's results from uh 25 were outstanding. Uh we appreciate and we tell them every day we appreciate our ambassadors. They represent 14 high schools. They're juniors and seniors and what they do in a classroom is amazing. The kids love them. They're there to support the kids and they're there to teach them the skills. I think this is one of the most important aspects of our program and we thank you. We don't get to say that as much as we should, but we thank them for their support. Thank you.

Isn't that good? Good thing. Good seat.

Yes. And as we recognizing some students, I would like to recognize uh one particular student that has shadowed me on this morning. Uh we have Mrs. uh Awana Marie Richardson from the University of Mobile. She's a nursing student at the uh University of Mobile and um we're glad to have her on this morning. Okay, we'll go ahead and have our financial report.

Good morning. So this is the monthly financial report for the month ending January 31st, 2026. If you turn to page one and you look at the middle column there, you can see the current period earnings for the month of January at $40.7 million. Uh remember that January is the month that our business license uh renewals are due. So typically January is a really good month for us. That brings our fund balance to $187.6 million and uh as you see the reserve is there at 64.4 million. Uh and the general fund operating balance that brings that to $123.2 million. If you turn to page two at the top, we can look at our sales tax revenue for the month, 20 $1 million. Basically, uh year-to-ate actuals at $74.3 million. That brings us uh year-to-ate percentage at 34.84. So, this is the fourth month of the year. And so that number that that magic number we want to see is at least 33%. Anything over the 33% means that we're, you know, we're over what we budgeted. And when we get to the expenses, of course, we want that number to be below the 33%. On page three, at the top, you can see business license revenue for the month at $40.6 6 million. Year-to- date actual is at $42.2 million. And so that brings us to right at 76% of what we have budgeted.

On page four at the bottom, we can look at total revenues. Total revenues for the month is $77.5 million. For the year, $162.4 million. That brings us to 42.78%. On page five, that starts the expenses. I have on page five, six, and seven highlighted uh the variances on there for you to look at those totals. And you can see that each department uh is overall is running below budget. So, which is really good. So, you can see that for instance, the mayor's office is at 27.39. Uh, city council 27.79 and then public safety on the top of the next page at 20 26.6. So, that's falling underneath the 33%. total departmental and that's on the bottom of page seven expenses for the month at $24.9 million. Year-to- date actual is at 69.9 and u the year-to- date variance is at uh 24.64%. If we turn to page eight, you can see again for net income for the month, we're at 40.7 million, which brings us year-to- date uh net income at $47.4 million.

And if you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer. Uh council, any questions from this council or comments? I have just one question. It looks like we're up substantially in room tax. What what's contributing to that other than David Clark just doing a great job? So, obviously, you know, we did go up on lodging tax this last year, so you're starting to see that money come in for the lodging. Okay. Any other questions or comments from the council? Mr. President,

um staying on that vein because that's kind of that was actually what I kind of had a question about. Um, are we are we also collecting more? Um, I know that we were making a push to collect more, do better job of collecting Airbnbs and short-term rentals. Um, are we seeing an increase in that as well? Probably.

So, we're actually have uh Maria King, who is our revenue director, has done a fabulous job uh working on collecting that lodging tax income. We've had uh we've had really good success with that. Uh obviously uh you know the topic of business license related to short-term rental is still an ongoing topic that we're working on and we'll be you we'll be getting with all of y'all to discuss that further. But yes, we have been successful with getting um some of the short-term rentals to pay lodging tax where we we didn't in the past. So thank you Mr. President. Yes.

Okay. Um again, thank you uh for sharing this and seeing that we are definitely where we need to be in terms of revenue and um expenses. I do have a question on the sales tax. When you compare the month actual to the prior year month actual, it looks like it's a $2 million difference. Can you share what that might be attributed to? So, I will tell you that and and if you look on page the top of page two, uh I did add some additional information for each of you uh and and the mayor kind of wanted to see this as well so that you can actually see the total sales tax that's coming into the city and then you actually see that capital transfer. As you know, the 5% that we receive 20% of that is goes gets transferred to capital. We are we did budget that a little differently this year. In the past we have set a budget for the total. This year what we did was it's based on actual numbers. So once the revenues come in we take 20% of that sales tax and we move that. So in past years you may have seen where that the amount that was transferred or budgeted was higher um than than what it currently you know what it's we're doing this year because we're do doing it this year we're basing on actual numbers revenues that we receive. So then that difference is due to the fact that last year was not based off of the actual numbers. So yes so it that's correct. That's exactly what it is. Thank you. and other council members.

Mr. President, Mr. Pen, thank you so much for the information. Um, I know you stated about percentage um like revenue and expenses. You you stated that um in revenues we want to stay under 35%. Revenues anything over the 33% for January that means that we're doing better than we anticipated for the budget. Okay. And then in expensive side, I mean we want to stay under That's correct. Okay. First, Mr. President, Vice President, thank you again for coming and sharing with us. You had mentioned the short-term rentals, and I know we just passed a contract with Granicus. Have they started working on this?

So, we we've had a contract with them. We have extended uh some additional services with them to help us. So, they Yes, they have been working, but the new contract is uh currently being signed, and they're going to assist us more. So, they really have not started doing the work. Well, uh, they're going to try to help us do more on the collection side because we've had some issues with that. Okay. So, uh, but yes, that's correct. It It's just now getting going. So, hopefully we'll hopefully it'll be helpful. We Their track record shows that they are able to collect more with municipalities that contract with them. So, we'll see that. Yeah. Thank you. And other council members. All right. Thank you so much. All right. Thank you,

Madam Clerk. Adoption of the agenda. So move second. Probably move and second and discussion. All in favor? All oppose. Agenda's adopted. Appeals. We have requests for a way with the noise ordinance on March the 7th in Cathedral Square. March 14th at Lions Park and Marine Street. March 14th and March 17th on Dolphin Street. March 11th in Marty Gro Park. June 13th on South Royal Street. and April the 25th in Langen Park. So move second. Promptly move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? All oppose. Appeal passes.

Presentation of petitions and other communications to the council. Cheryl Newman. Newman present. Can you hear me? Yes. Good morning. Morning,

council president and members of the council. My name is Cheryl Newman and I'm with a nonprofit here in Mobile County called ROAR, Reach Out for Animal Rights. and Roar wants to come here today to publicly express our deepest gratitude for the entire team at the city of Mobile Animal Services. We see firsthand that Director Robert Bryant and his leadership team including Officer Michael Crabtree along with Stacy and Martin are truly the heart of the city. They don't just work at the shelter. They work diligently, often against overwhelming odds, to ensure every animal is treated with dignity. Their compassion is front line of the community's mercy, and ROR is proud to stand beside them. We want to publicly highlight the incredible collaboration and partnership that we have built with the city. This isn't about moving animals out of the shelter. It's about shared mission. When the city works handinand with nonprofits like ROAR and our fellowship rescue partners, we create a unified safety net that actually works. The partnership is our strongest tool for minimizing negative feedback and public frustration. When the community sees the city and the local rescues and nonprofits working together, they see a plan, not a crisis. By using the collective platforms to educ educate the public clearly explaining the howto's of volunteering, fostering and adoption, we stay ahead of the narrative. We turn our community into a powerful resource. The importance of an informed comm community and public. The key to this success is transparency and education. When people understand the process, they

stay informed and empowered rather than frustrated. We believe a system of clear communication where the public knows exactly where the needs are and how to meet them by showing the community a massive volume of work provided by Robert and the rest of his team and volunteers. We build trust. Transparency reduces the number of repeated calls to the shelter and to your offices. allowing the staff to focus mainly on the animals, which is what their job is, and transforms the public from crisis into active partners in our mission. That's what we all want. If we provide clear information and stay productive, the community will step up to help. ROR is fully committed to this partnership. I am asking the council to continue supporting Robert, his entire team, his volunteers, nonprofits, and rescues so that we all may work together to make Mobile a leader in animal welfare. Thank you for your time and your commitment to the people, the animals, and our city.

All right. Any questions or comments from this council? Uh, I would like to say I appreciate you coming down, Miss Newman. Um I understand Mr. Robert he have many odds against I mean he does a fine and great job and many citizens don't know but the number one call we receive in the city of Mobile City Hall is animals and everything but I do appreciate you coming down give us some kudos especially Mr. Robert and his team. Thank you so much. Anything we can do to help. Thank you. Thank you. M clerk Brooke Whitehurst.

Hello, my name is Brooke Whitehurst. I am also here today to speak regarding my experience with the city of Mobile's animal control services. I first began animal rescue many years ago, but heavily got involved in the last year when I began documenting the animal issues we have in the city and county so we could have proof that there was an issue within our state and we could hopefully make changes at the state level. Over the last year, I've developed a professional working relationship with many people at the city shelter. I have been extremely pleased with the documentation that the city provides for those who give reports. Written communication provides a paper trail for complaintants to follow and holds all accountable for their actions in each case. I have worked closely over the last few months with Mike Crabtree, communicating weekly regarding animals that are located within city limits. Due to my documentation, when animal control is closed, many times people come to me for help. Mike has been instrumental in in allowing me to report these things to him and him dispatching them, even if it's after hours. He has spent a lot of his time off duty looking into the concerns that I've brought to him. I believe that his willingness to communicate with people in the public has directly influenced the lives of many animals in the city of Mobile. I'm not here to say that the city's animal services are perfect, but I do know that they are willing to work with people in order to make the lives of animals better. Many times they take a lot of heat from the general public when they are just doing the best with the resources that they have been given. I believe that with more support and funding from the city council, the program can continue on the positive path that it is currently on. There are many times that negatives are displayed all over social media regarding the inaction of our city's animal control officers. I fully believe that most of those situations do not tell the entire story around what happens in each case. Many times our officers aren't given the full story. They are given conflicting information or are told partial or halftruths. I know this to be the case because I've dealt with this myself when people come to me for help after hours. I attempt to stick up for our animal control officers online and have developed quite a reputation with few of the animal rescuers here in Mobile County because of this. While I understand that Mobile County Animal

Control is doing the best, I'm sorry, the Animal Control in Mobile is doing the best they can, I believe that our city council members can help by providing support to the program. Robert Bryant and Michael Crabtree are currently working to rewrite the ordinances that involve the animals within city limits. However, when our officers complete investigations and bring them to court and our judges dismiss the perpetrators with a slap on the wrist, I imagine it makes officers feel as if their work was done for nothing. I think that our city council members can do a job uh do can help by holding our judges accountable. That means that you will have to stay up to date on what is going on with the cases involving animal abuse and neglect. But if we look at statistics, I believe it's worth it for you to stay involved. The FBI classifies animal abuse and neglect as a crime that is prevalent amongst career criminals. In almost every case where animal abuse and neglect is taking place, other crimes are occurring as well, whether that is drug use, child abuse, or any other criminal activity. So, you see, focusing on the people who commit these crimes can lead to a better community for us as a whole. We have to stop viewing them as just animals and view them as a gateway to a better tomorrow for the city of Mobile. I applaud all the changes that have been made thus far and I'm here to ask city council to offer support, accountability, and funding that's needed.

The animals don't have a voice. They don't have a choice, but we do. Sorry, I was almost there. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much for coming. appreciate you coming down and offering your support of what uh Robert and his team are doing. And you mentioned the the rewrite of the ordinance. Robert and his group have sent us a copy of the draft. So, we will be looking at that very soon and making some changes. We appreciate y'all. You're welcome. Mr. President, uh Mr. Pen,

I want to join in with my colleagues and just thank y'all too for coming out and your service and all the work that you're doing through your nonprofit to assist the city. Um thank you to Robert and Michael as well. Thank you for everything that you're doing with animal service. We seen a major difference. Um and we need to highlight that and thank you so much for coming down and highlighting and we'll be working to make sure that we can move forward with making um the ordinance stronger or and better. So thank you Mr. President. Uh Miss Ingram.

Yes. I would also like to join in and thank you because you represent what how we should work across the uh all actions and and needs in the uh city. It takes a village. It takes all of us and for you to volunteer and to be a part of this and understanding that you want to be a part of the solution. It means a lot. So, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to do that. And and again, thank you Robert and Michael for the work that you all are doing. Thank you, Madam Clerk. Reggie Hill regarding resolution 08212 09213 08215 and 21235.

Thank you madam city clerk to the sisters and stakeholders of mobile greetings. Reggie Hill is my name arise today to continue these pertinent conversations pertaining to city business. Um there was a saying the elders used to have about uh uh killing two birds with one stone. Now, we remember when some agenda items came up before. I'm not necessarily for the shooting of the doves and quils and things, but I want to use that same analogy as to apply to agenda items we have today with what I intend to continue presenting to this body. Uh, and those items today, let's begin, please, with uh, Sage Park 08-212. I want to commend uh, the gentleman for district 1 for securing his resources. Uh, this to me is a way that we start with eradicating some of the conflict and hostility we see in the community. these type of investments because it impacts all seven districts, not just one district, one area. So, it's good to see something like that on the agenda. I'm doing the same analogy from before to say is when we're looking at things like the sports hall of fame, uh this build out, I don't want it to be misconcred. I'm not against increasing tourism in the city, but us taking resources from the unassigned fund balance. That's the concern. We have so many other issues that are going on within the city of Mobile and we don't see ourselves putting at least a thousand or 2,000 or $20,000 out of that to go towards this. And I'm for encouraging young people to go and pursue things, but certain careers might not be as successful as what we could do to put them on the right path just with literacy and understanding how to be good citizens. So, we should be considering that as we move forward. This looks at this piece about the uh the Mobile U Civic Center here. And we just got the uh the finance report and it's saying that every department is under budget. And so to me what it appears to be is that and Mr. Barbara said this from years ago that we take those resources that are left over to put in the unassigned fun balance. So we're if we're intentionally doing these things to get additional resources for matters, we should have the capital in place to actually eradicate some of the issues that we're seeing. And we know how this process went through. So I'm not going to beling that. We had the

opportunity to go through court, but we know how resources can move and justice can be thrown out the door. We know how that goes, too. But we're here and so we're going to continue doing this and we want to see the issues actually right. Okay, these are the processes that we need to use. Uh we had some young people come down here today, uh these ambassadors and a lot of times we see and we've even seen this with the yes initiative and other initiatives. Um children have to pay to be a part of things or they're already on the right track. they can get references, they're able to get their scholarships, but the young people who are not on that pathway, there's really not anything there for them. And the ones that are in place, there are some issues as to why we can't get the resources there to those individuals. So, I'd like to see us use our investigatory powers to look into how we can equal the or level the playing field rather of where we're spending these resources. If we want to see the things actually change as communities, it's not the materialistic things or the uh pretty projects that are going to do it. We're going to have to invest in the things that might be the ugly project and the things that are going to cause tough conversations. So, we can continue this in the uh later weeks. Thanks for being on the floor,

Mr. President. Yes. Let me just correct the statement he made. There was the $500,000 for the sports hall of fame was not from the unassigned fund balance. It was an unnamed allocation in the capital. All we all we did currently is we named the project which is the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame. Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Ordinance is held over 640. Consider a proposed conditional use permit for property located at 1356 Government Street, 120 Espoure Street, 1356, 1358, and 1360 Kai Street 64011. Consider a proposed modification of a previously approved plan unit development for property located at 6151 Marina Drive South. So move. Second. Proper move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? All opposed? Ordinance pass.

CIP resolutions held over 08 212. Approve purchase order to Warner's Athletic Construction Company LLC for artificial turf replacement system for Hearnden Sage Park 0923. Transfer funds from capital improvement fund unallocated projects to general fund account for the buildout of Mobile Sports Hall of Fame. So moved. Second properly moved and second. Any discussion? All in favor?

All oppose? Item passes. Resolutions held over. 08215 approved purchase orders from Daphne Automotive. 08216 approved purchase order to Photokite US 42 drone systems with cases. 0827 approve purchase order to Lewis Long forward of of the show of Scholes. 319 amend resolution 31001. That needs to be taken separately. Oh, okay. Um 37220 consider the application of favor residential care for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate a shuttle service. So moved. Second.

Prompt move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Resolution pass. 31219 amend resolution 31 10001 adopted on July 29th, 2025 to change the local match requirement. So moved. Second. Move and second. in discussion. Sir, Mr. President, we just I have an amendment I'd like to offer that just modifies the resolution wording u in a little way. It It's just cleaning up some uh wording that was done. All right. Uh and it's on and it's on file with the clerk's office. Okay.

Okay. Properly moving second on the amendment. Any discussion? All in favor? All oppose? Amendment passed. Going back to the original. Any other discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Item pass. Ordinances being introduced. 14012. Per council rules. This will lay over for one week. Consent resolutions being introduced. 58221 through 60222.

Move to wave the rules for immediate consideration of these resolutions as read. properly move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Rules wave. Mad clerk. 58 58221. Assess cost for removal of weeds weedling group 1671 6222 determining appropriation to Kalin's closet for college. Serves a public purpose and approving payment. So move second. Probably move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose? Item pass. CIP resolutions being introduced. 08223.

Move to wave the rules for immediate consideration of this resolution as read. Properly moved and second in discussion. All in favor? I. All oppose. Rules wave. Madam clerk. 08223. Approve purchase order to Ascendant Strategy Management Group LLC for one-year subscription to Clear Point Capital Project Management and Reporting Software. So moved. Second. Move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. My CIP resolution pass.

Resolutions being introduced 08 224 through 60241. Move to wave the rules for immediate consideration of resolutions 08-224 through 08-229 with the rest being laid over for one week. Second. Properly move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Rules way. Madam clerk.

08224 approved purchase order to A and D Cromwell concrete and construction for storm drainage vegetation and debris removal. 08225 approved purchase order to Alabama pool works for swimming pool chemicals. 08226 approved purchase order to Best Price Services LLC for storm drainage vegetation and debris removal. 08227 approved purchase order to Enterprise Rental Car for rental of passenger vans for Marty Gro support. 08228 approved purchase order to JJ Quality Homes for storm drainage vegetation debris removal. 08229 approved purchase order to Major League Landscaping for storm drainage vegetation debris removal.

So moved. Second. Properly moved. Second. Any discussion? All in favor? I. All oppose. Resolution passes. Announcements. District four, Councilman Reynolds. No announcement. District two, Councilwoman Ingram. No announcements. District six, Councilman Woods. Announcements. District five, Councilman Fleming. No announcements. All right, here we go. District one, Councilman P.

Thank you, Mr. President. Um, this past weekend was amazing. We celebrated black art at the Mobile Museum of Art, like stated by our mayor. We had a great turnout, broke records, matter of fact. Um it's the most people that they had at an after hours event. Um and I truly want to thank a couple people. Um one the event started one the mayor the mayor had his um annual event um I think it's the cookies meet with the mayor event and and treats. And I saw John from the Mobile Museum the art of art the executive director and I was in Kesha office and we was talking. And I had this idea and I was like, how about we do events celebrating black art, free event, just a great time to come and celebrate. John came inside and we had a discussion. Um, and and they made it happen. Um, his team at the Mobile Museum of Art was amazing. Jenevia did an amazing job planning this event. It was a great turnout. We had so many people state that this some of them was their first time in the museum. Um, and it elevated. So, I just want to thank all the artists. I want to thank Kesha and her team. They was there present assisting um and we really just had a great time celebrating um black history, black art um and it was a great turnout. So again, I want to just truly thank everyone that came out and made it happen. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Councilman Penn, District 7, Vice President Gregory.

And um we will be two in a row here with announcements. I'm sorry, Mr. President. I do want to um thank the folks at John Will Elementary yesterday as well as United Way for helping to set up the ReadAcross America event. We do this every year. We go and read to classes. Yesterday we were at John Will with the PreK4 class. This was also Dr. Seuss's birthday, so we celebrated a little reading some of the Dr. Seuss books. And as y'all know, it is quite the tongue twister to read those to these little kids, but we made it through. Also yesterday afternoon I went out to Miller Park to visit the field there. As you may know, Miller Park has not really been used much lately. We do have some teams that are there this year um using it for practice for practice and some scrimmaging. So I toured with the Miller Park Astros and William May to look at everything and talk about what they've got going on. There are more than 200 kids who have registered to play at Miller Park this year and that is quite a record. Also this past weekend, um I joined in a celebration for a woman who is quite a trailblazer here in the city of Mobile. Her name is Anne Williams. She just retired after serving 30 years as a Mobile Fire Rescue employee. She was a driver and an EMT. Now, she was a trailblazer first because 30 years ago, hiring women on at the fire department was pretty unusual. Second of all, she is the first African-American female to be hired by the Mobile Fire Rescue Department. So, we had a big celebration for her. It was not only her retirement, but her birthday. So, a big celebration for an and we wish her well. But what I want to close with today is yesterday at around 11:00, there was a shooting in one of my neighborhoods over off a road on Valdez. Um, it was posted on Next Door Neighbors, so a lot of people were talking about it and wondering what was

going on because, of course, police cars were out. Uh, some people reported, you know, police dogs were in the area looking for some suspects. I want to thank the Mobile Police Department. Your communications director did a great job posting information to the media and to us as it was happening as best they could. uh and quick work by Mobile Police in shutting everything down and finding first of all a person of interest yesterday and today we got the information that um someone has been arrested and of course the investigation is going on now. I mean another shooting in the city of Mobile. We can't get used to this. It's it's just absolutely wrong that this continues on. Uh but thankfully the Mobile Police Department was there very quickly. nobody else was hurt and the community was settled down with their presence. So, thank you for all of the work that you all did and we will be getting more information as it becomes available and we did post a statement about that yesterday. So, thank you and that's all I've got. Thank you, Mr. President.

Thank you, Vice President. Greetings to the citizens of District 3 on last Friday. Uh I was joined in with um Councilman Penn who was a judge and Councilwoman Ingram who had brought greetings at Council Elementary School at their black history program. I was the guest speaker on last Friday. A great fun we had with the U students, the faculty and staff and even the parents u had a great time on yesterday as councilman um Gregory has stated it was ReadAcross America celebration and also Dr. Soup's um birthday and I had an opportunity to to go to Craighead Elementary School and read to two different classes and had a lot of fun. So I also like to thank the faculty and staff at Craig Head for the great hospitality. Um after they were we did the reading, they had gave us a great uh celebration as a reception of plentiful food. Councilman Pin, you missed it. But um I'd like to thank again the faculty and staff at Craig Head Elementary School for a great day on yesterday for Dr. Sue's birthday and read across American celebration. Uh District 3, mark your calendars for Saturday, April the 4 from 3 to 5 p.m. Our annual Easter egg hunt uh will be taking place. Uh we ask for volunteers to please contact my office. Um looking to have another great celebration. Again, this would take place on Saturday the April the 4th from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the Maraveville Elementary School located on Dolphin Parkway. not only just inviting the kids from the uh community of Mazeville, but throughout District 3 in the city of Mobile. Again, this is a great event that we have every year. Looking forward to it. on Saturday, April the 4. Also following the um our annual Easter egg hunt will be our community meeting for the um North and South VIP area communities, Odell community and the Mazeville community on April the 7, which is a Tuesday at 6 o'clock p.m. Any

particular topic of discussion that the residents would like to discuss, please contact my office at 2512082087441 and please let us know exactly what would you like to discuss. Again, looking forward on April the 7th, which is a Tuesday, at 6:00 p.m. at the Maraveville Elementary School. Also following on Tuesday, May the 19th at Mertz Elementary School, we will have a community meeting with the Doll River, Pleasant Valley Road community, Sky Ranch, and also the Morningside community. And the same as um the other community meetings, please contact my office. any particular topic that you all would like to discuss? Again, that would take place on Tuesday, May the 9th at Mertz Elementary School on Government Boulevard. Anything from administration?

Nothing further. Mr. Motion to adjourn. Uh, properly move and second in the discussion, Mr. Pen.

Yeah, thank you, Mr. President. Um, before we close out, I do want to give a big shout out to the greatest high school in the world, John Ellaf floor. They made it to the final four. They will have their game on tomorrow. um they're doing an amazing job. We don't have too many teams left um from this region and they are there playing in the basketball game. Also want to give a big shout out to Bush Park Kana's Boys and Girls Club. We had two um two of the girls team win the city championship this past Saturday. U my daughter played for one of the teams and and that's just amazing to have them represent District 1. Thank you to Parks and Rex MPD um for making sure that um we made it um had a safe game. Thank you, Mr. President.

Mr. Ron, we need to look at council rules for Mr. Pen. You know, any other discussion? All in favor?