City Council - Regular Meeting

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Good morning, Birmingham. Today is Tuesday, April 7th. The time is now 9:39 a.m. I call to order the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council. Today's invocation will be led by Reverend Robins Sims, pastor of Woodlon United Methodist Church in Birmingham. And our pledge of allegiance will be led by Counselor Sonia Smith. If you're willing and able, please stand and join us. Good morning, Pastor.

Let us pray. Almighty God, you have given us a glorious day and we praise you for it. You've called us to be here and we are thankful. We are here Lord because you have made us with a need to be together, to work together. And that is such a great blessing, the source of so many good things, accomplishments, goals, progress, and we praise you for it. And yet, Lord, it is the hardest thing we have to do to be together, to work together. And we see evidence of that on this day as we marvel at the astronauts who have gone beyond the moon and are now on their return voyage home to the good earth. And we pray for them. And at the same time, Lord, the bombs are falling, buildings made by human hands and labor being destroyed, lives being taken, and we grieve. All of that, Lord, is our lot, our way. So, as we come here today, we pray that you'll help us to be our best. We're thankful for our city. We're grateful for its citizens. We're grateful for our mayor and his administration. grateful for this council, each member and their staff. And we're thankful that we can be here. And we ask you now to bless them. Give them every grace that they may do good work and that we all may live honorably and fruitfully to your glory. We pray in that name by which we know you. Amen.

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. Thank you very much, Reverend Sans, for that thoughtful prayer and thank you, counselor, for leading us in the pledge. Good morning, Mr. Clerk. Good morning, Madam President. If you'll please call the role. Thank you. Council member Gun. Good morning. Morning, sir. Council member O'Quinn. Morning. Morning, Council Member Smith. Good morning. Morning, Council Member Smitherman. Good morning. Morning, Council Member Vasa. Morning. Morning, Council Member Williams.

Council member Woods. Council President Proim Tape. Good morning. Good morning, Council President Alexander. Good morning. Thank you very much. Councilors, the minutes are not ready from the meetings of January 6, 2026 through March 31st, 2026. At this time, we'll entertain communications from the mayor. Morning, Mayor Wen.

Morning, Madam President. Good to see you. Good morning to the entire council. It's good to see all of you this morning. Good morning to those online as well as those in the audience here for the city council meeting, April 7. Madam President, I have three proclamations this morning. I'll try to be as fast as possible. Before I get into those, I do want to um start by expressing my some serious condolences to attorney Jay Mason Davis. Um his his entire family. Condolences to him as not to him, but to his family. Had a chance to speak with his son yesterday and this past Saturday. Um, as we know, he's a legal giant specialized in civil rights cases and served on the community affairs committee to address challenges in Birmingham during very tumultuous time back in 1963. But he also made tremendous impact um well beyond the civil rights movement as not only a legal scholar but given his time to be a professor and give back to future legal minds here in the city in our community. So again, we express our sincerest condolences to his family for the loss of a giant um not just for them but for our community. This time I would like to invite up Salem Green um and any guests she has with her to join her um who she partners with our create Birmingham partners who do amazing work in our community. Um, as Salem comes forward along with those guests you may have, I don't bite. I promise.

Good morning. April is poetry month and the city of Birmingham has locked arms with our poet laurette as well as several other local artists, performers, and advocates to celebrate storytelling across our community. Um, so she's here to share more and I'll step aside.

Good to see you. Good morning um to Mayor Wolfen uh the council and all of our wonderful guests today. I'm Salem Green, your first poet laurate and I'm just going to quickly say I have about eight more months in this position and I would like to thank the council and the city of Birmingham for all the support um that has been um honored in this position from 2024 to 2026. I've had the honor of serving as the inaugural and first poet laurate for the city of Birmingham appointed by mayor Wiffin and officiating ceremony here on January 16th in partnership with create Birmingham and the city of Birmingham. It has been my honor to be the poet laurate and it's my honor to say happy poetry month and this month if at any time you want to shout out poetry please let me know including my current book the other revival as well as other poets in the magic city poetry festival. Today we have create Birmingham who will tell you more about some of the wonderful work the poet Laura program alongside myself have been conducting uh in the city also alongside with the wonderful library Birmingham library and one of our poet fellows Senova Ya Muhammed so thank you all so much it's good to see you all

good morning my name is Viola Ratcliffe and I work as senior director for create Birmingham and it is my honor to be here this morning um celebrating national poetry month but also celebrating the poet laurate initiative. Uh Saleom's tenure as the inaugural poet laurate has been such a tremendous asset to our community and to our city. She has done hundreds of events, met with hundreds of people from the community and one of the greatest initiatives has been the poet fellow program that has seen four poets from Birmingham receive honores of $500 each to do work in partnership with the Birmingham public libraries and none of that would have been possible without son without the support of the city of Birmingham without the support of the city council. So we are so very grateful. Um we will actually open applications for the next poet laurate the 2027 2029 laurate applications will open in August and so um when that time comes create Birmingham will share communication but if you know of communi of creatives of poets of literary artists in your communities who would be a wonderful representation for the city of Birmingham as poet laurate please encourage them to apply when the applications open. It is a fantastic opportunity and we're just so grateful to be able to kind of shepherd it and help uh make that possible in our community. So, thank you'all so much this morning.

Thank you.

Thank you all so much uh for what you do and continuing to be champions and leaders as it relates to storytelling here in our city. At this time, I would like to ask Jenny Jensen along with the the crew that's super deep from AARP uh to join me as they come to the podium. Um the month of April is also fraud prevention month. And the unfortunate um news is that many Americans lose billions of dollars each year to fraud with older adults disproportionately affected making prevention, education, and strong consumer protections more important than ever. At this time during fraud prevention month, what we want to do as a city administration in partnership with the city council is continue to bring awareness um to this issue with the special proclamation that I will read in part and I'll step aside and allow Miss Jenny to give you more information. It states whereas Alamians report 18.2 2 million in fraud losses in 2025, according to the Federal Trade Commission with adults 60 and older. And whereas public awareness and education are critical in helping consumers recognize the common red flags of scams and keeping them informed about emerging fraud trends. And whereas our communities, which include nonprofit organizations, law enforcement, and public officials, are working to strengthen consumer protections, provide victim support, and advocate for stronger measures to prevent and prosecute fraud at the local, state, and federal levels. And whereas preventing fraud is a shared responsibility.

Again, I repeat, preventing fraud is a shared responsibility. And increasing awareness during fraud prevention month empowers all residents, especially our seniors, to protect themselves, to protect their families and their financial security. Now, therefore, I, Randall L. Woodford, mayor of the city of Birmingham, along with the Birmingham City Council, do hereby proclaim April 2026 as fraud prevention month in the city of Birmingham and specially encourage all residents to learn the red flags of scams and to support community and advocacy efforts that help prevent scams, protect consumers, and assist fraud victims. And at this time, Miss Jenny, you can do this way better than I can. Good morning, Mayor Woodin and city council members. I'm just going to stand like this because I'm short. Thank you. This is why I have volunteers. I'd like to take a moment to thank you for the proclaiming April is fraud prevention month here in Birmingham. It means a lot and helps shine a light on an issue that affects so many people in our community. The reality is scams are getting more sophisticated every day. Whether it's romance scams, cryptocurrency, or someone pretending to be a trusted source like a loved one. And the impact isn't just financial, it can be very personal. This proclamation helps start those important conversations and reminds people that they're not alone and that there are resources out there to help. At ARP Alabama, we're proud to be part of this effort, working to educate and protect our communities. Mayor Woodin and council members, we truly appreciate your support and leadership on this issue. Thank you. Thank you very much.

President and council have one last proclamation and I will get out of your way. At this time I would like to ask uh the community development team to come up and as they come up um they are led by Dr. Megan Thomas Um, I know the council's aware because you should have received some information, but this is community development week and the city of Birmingham recognizes the importance of these professionals, the whole team. Oh, they do. Oh, they're still coming in. We want to acknowledge this this very very professional team. These professionals their work in fostering not just a vibrant not just an inclusive but one of my favorite words resilient. They're responsible for leading more resilient neighborhoods in our city. And I want to take the personal time to thank them for the hard work they do. but also want to honor them with a special proclamation that I'll read in part and then I'll let Dr. VT come up before you all. And it states whereas the National Community Development Association celebrates the anniversary of the Community Development Block Grant, you may know it as CDBG program, which has been instrumental in supporting local initiatives aimed at improving the quality of life for residents in our city. And whereas the CDBG program has empowered communities to address a wide range of needs, including affordable housing, economic development, public

facilities, and service for low and moderate income individuals as well as families in our city. And whereas the community development week observed from April 6 to April 10th provides an opportunity to highlight achievements of the CDBG program and recognize the dedicated efforts of local leaders, the ones you see here, community organizations and residents who work tirelessly to enhance the well-being of our neighborhoods across our city. And whereas the city of Birmingham remains committed to leveraging federal resources through the CDBG program to implement innovative projects, promote equitable development, and build a more prosperous future for all residents. Now, therefore, I, Randall L. Wooden, mayor of the city of Birmingham, along with the Birmingham City Council, do hereby proclaim April 6th through April 10th of 2026 as Community Development Week in the city of Birmingham and call upon the people of our city to recognize the importance of commemorating this occasion and reaffirming our commitment to community development, equity, and opportunity for all. And I saved the best for last. Who can do this clearly better than I can? Dr. BT.

Thank you, sir.

Good morning, council. Thank you again for having me. I am Dr. Megan Venal Thomas. I serve as the director of community development. And as we recognize community development week, I'm really excited to share that we have a strong pipeline of projects and programs that are coming to life across the city. and it's a testament to your support um all of your support across the years that have brought us to this moment. At the opening of the Home for All phase 1 at Faith Chapel last week, I said it took a village to build this village and it takes a community to do community development and that continues to guide our work. And so our theme for this week and every week really is about collaboration. And so I want to also thank the departments that may not always be visible but are really critical to our work every day. our permitting, engineering and planning, our public works, our department of innovation and economic opportunity, the department of transportation, capital projects, the office of the city attorney, DY department of youth services, the office of public affairs, park and wreck, finance, unhoused strategies, Birmingham Fire and Rescue, Birmingham Police Department, and the Office of Public Information. And I am especially grateful for my team who lead this work with excellence and with heart. I'd like to thank Corey Stalworth who's my senior deputy director and leads our housing division. Randy Foy who leads our public services division, Flora Johnson who leads our community resource office, and Caroline Douglas who leads the Birmingham Land Bank. um as well as our chief economic and community development officer Melissa Smiley who helps to lead us all. We are 43 strong in this department and it takes every one of us bringing

effort, courage and resilience as the mayor mentioned every day to be able to do this. So together we're not just building projects, we are building pathways. And when we work together, we don't just build those projects, we build possibilities, we build stability, we build a city where people have a real chance to th thrive. And so we have an action-packed week ahead. And I invite you to join us all immediately following council on the second floor for a short reception to learn more about what we have in store. Thank you all for what you do. It helps us do what we do and we are so grateful. Thank you,

Madam President. Yes, Councelor Smith.

Um, I just want to say I know we're not supposed to have a favorite department, but y'all probably my favorite department. I always get so happy when I see y'all come to budget and finance. But no, seriously. Um, I think I told Mayor Wood a couple years ago, I was like, I don't know where you got Dr. Thomas from but you got a gym and I was really thinking with and it's really all of our administration the 10 of us if there's like a pillar or legacy I would say it would be housing affordable housing there are so many options for people now and what I really appreciate you all you are making sure there's affordable housing on every side of town it's not the nice side of town that people say it's all the way from district one to district nine it's for the single person it's for the families amilies. Um, I I really do appreciate you all for that and being so aggressive and going after the projects and getting them completed, right? Because we've seen in previous administrations, they'll start projects and they don't complete them or it takes until next mayor or two for that. So, I appreciate that. Um, I want to shout out my CRRS, Flo, Sierra, Melody, and Whitney because thank you. I really appreciate that. They know there's there's a couple of our neighborhoods and I think it's for everyone cuz you guys really help to support us. You guys don't work for us but y'all support us in helping our neighborhoods. So I appreciate it and the homes for all shout out to Porsha. That's that's huge because we have had a lot of administrations have plans but never anything in action. They'll throw money at nonprofits just be able to see what's our what's our friend? They had the birthday last week.

Mr. Yeah, just him being able to move in on his birthday to go from living in his car for years to go into a home and have security. That's amazing. So, shout out to you all. Um, I'm rooting for you all and thank you, Mayor Wolf, for developing this team. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Pro.

Thank you, madam. Madame President, uh, some community development, Dr. Megan Venal, Thomas, Corey Starworth, and her team. I've gotten to know a couple of you guys the last five years. I see Flo, Melanie, Herman, and all the CR shout you all out. But I just want to commend you guys, Caroline, the good work that you all continue to do, the battles and the heels that we had to endure, a lot of push back, a lot of hard conversations that we had to champion. And and Dr. Thomas, you said something very, very, very powerful. It takes collaborative effort to do anything. And I really want to thank you all for embracing best evidence practices, informed practices that you see that's happening across um you know the country and people being receptive to accepting things in Birmingham because we do know the south does has a tendency for not wanting to accept uh evidence-based practices um that's moving uh the needle across the country. Mayor, I want to thank you and the administration and your team, you know, for all that you have done, seeing projects come from dirt, shovel, and going vertical. So, thank you all for the hard work that you all continue to do and and know personally and publicly that you have an advocate here on this desk.

Thank you, Councelor Woods.

Uh, thank you, Madam President. Did want to since y'all are here, really join in and celebrate you all. I think um you know I think we know it but I don't think everybody knows just the challenge that y'all face and I just have a great appreciation for the one creativity, dedication and hard work that you bring to the table and it doesn't go unnoticed. Like I said we are tackling some major challenges and I really appreciate the fact that uh y'all aren't just grabbing the lowhanging fruit. we're taking on the big issues and so just seeing this the unhoused issue and and affordable housing throughout the uh city and really leaning in. We've been dealing with Montgomery trying to get laws that will help you do that more effectively. But uh we've been able to make progress and do it consistently and that's just a testament to your hard work and ability to stay focused on what's in front of you and and not so much the noise. So kudos to that. Uh we're going to celebrate you this week but uh back to work. Let's get back to work. Thank you. I just want to echo what each of my colleagues have said and I know uh collectively the nine of us how we feel about this department. So we thank you Mayor Wood Whitman for u proclaiming this week and just celebrating this um across each of our districts. I am just truly indebted to each of you for the work that you do. And you know, I'm not going to start crying, but um I really want to thank they they gonna keep these on, but I really want to thank you for the work that you do when we talk about quality of life, how you just um keep our neighborhoods vibrant. And I want each of you as you walk through your daily task to just know how supportive you are, not only to us, but to the residents that we represent. And um so I thank you. I thank you. I thank you. I have to give a story. When Flo first started as a CRR, we were in a very very contentious uh neighborhood meeting and she utilized her skills and the

knowledge that she had to just really bring that level down to the right way that it should have been managed. And so I continue to thank you personally for what you did and um I thank you all. Again, I cannot say every each one of us, we've had projects that have all been supported and have been created and realized through the work that you do. And so, thank you. And there's one more person. I know he won't be crying, and that's uh councelor Gun. Go ahead, counsel.

Yeah, I won't be crying, but thank you, Madam President. Uh thank you all so much for the work that you do. Um, I didn't realize that the community development department was so big, but it's good to see that the city of Birmingham and the mayor's administration is actually investing uh in community development. There's something to be said about a city that takes community development seriously. Uh, we're not just talking about it, we're actually doing the work. And so, hats off to each of you all that are investing, making investments in our communities, um, from the physical built infrastructure to also the people. And I think that makes all the difference in the world um, in the work that you all are doing. So, thank you all so much and continue to do the work. All right. Thank you. And Pro Tim has one more thing.

Porsha, congratulations Project Girly on your your um your um home falls program. You did a fantastic job. Keep shining and and doing a great work. All of you all. Thank you all so much. Thank you.

I want to work. Madam President, that's all. I was just going to take a quick picture. Um, two gentlemen behind you and then that concludes the mayor's report. Thank you. Thank you very much. Um, at this time, councilors will return back to our agenda. Mr. Clerk, do you have any announcement of boards and agency expired?

Not at this in the month of May. Not at this time.

Thank you so much. At this time, council will begin to consider the consent agenda. All items that will be designated as consent are considered to be routine and non-controversial and will be approved by one motion. No separate discussion of these items will be permitted unless a council member, the mayor, or citizen interested in a public hearing so request. If so, such items will revert to its normal place on the agenda order of business. All matters of permanent operation that indicated with a capital P on the agenda will be read. All other matters will be announced by reading the item number only. All public hearings will be announced. Mr. Clerk, if you'll read the items that are being considered for consent.

Yes, ma'am. Uh consent agenda for today starts on page two with item three. Page three, items four, five, and six are on consent. Page four, items 7, 8, and nine are on consent. Page five, items 10, 11, and 12 are on consent. Page six, items 13, 14, and 15 are on consent. Page seven, we have items 16 and 18 designated as consent. Page eight, items 19, 20, and 21 are on consent. Page nine, items 22, 23, and 24 are on consent. Page 10, items 25, 26, 27, and 28 are on consent. Page 11, items 29, 30, 31, 32, and 33 are on consent. And page 12, we have items 34, 35, and 36 on consent. That concludes the consent agenda. Have one agenda item. All right. Thank you, counselors. Do we have any additions or items you'd like removed from the consent agenda? And we do have an addendum item that's also before us, which is um

Yes, sir. Item number six, the request is put the agenda item. It's item number 37. It's been requested to put on consent. Is that okay? Okay. All right. At this time, councilors will entertain a motion and a second. Second. And I missed a second. Who second? Who was the second? I'm sorry. Pro Tim.

Okay. Okay. All right. The iPad should be open right about now. Council member Vasa and Woods. Council member Woods. Thanks, sir. That vote should be up, Madam President. All right. The items that were considered for consent have been approved. So, if you're here for any of those items, they are approved and we'll continue with the rest of our agenda. Mr. Clerk, I do want to go first to the permanent operation item, I believe, before we go into our public hearing. So, item 17. Yes, sir. Thank you. That's item 17 on Yes, ma'am.

Seven. Item 17

on page seven, an ordinance authorizing the mayor upon receipt of payment in the amount of amount of 13,877.80 80 cents to execute a quick claim deed with Walter Lee for the sale of the north 12 ft of lot 8 and south 25 ft of lot 9 block 19 according to the survey of East Birmingham as recorded in the map book page one page seven the office of judge probate of Jefferson County Alabama and located at 926 37th place north Birmingham Alabama 35222 which was acquired by the city upon foreclosure of municipal improvement leans in accordance Section 3-1-4C of the general code with the city of Birmingham. This is an item permanent operation. I need UC to pass it today.

So move. Council member Gun. Hi. Council member O'Quinn. Hi. Council member Smith. Hi. Council member Smitherman. Hi. Council member Vasa. Hi. Council member Williams. Hi. Council member Woods. Hi. President Pro Tim Tate. Hi. Council President Alexander. I motion on the item. All right. Councilors. This is an ordinance authorizing the mayor upon receipt of payment to execute a quick claim deed to Walter Lee. This was recommended by the director of finance. Any questions regarding this item? We're ready for the vote.

All right. Voting should be open. Amen. Council member Woods. All right. Thank you. That vote should be up, Madam President. All right. Thank you. Item 17 passes. Next item, Mr. Clerk. You go to one. That's the hearing item. Or you have two and one and two left. We'll go with two first.

Okay. Item two, a public hearing pursuant to Alabama Code 1975 section 22-27-4 48.1G to hear comment from the public on the application of Harvest Solutions LLC proposing to site a new indoor non-hazardous medical waste treatment and paper shredding facility at 4400 7th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35212. Motion please.

All right. Thank you. This is a public hearing to hear comment from the public on the application of Harvest Solutions LLC. We have Attorney Bernard. Attorney Bernard, will you give us a rundown of this item, please? Good morning.

Good morning, counselors. I'm Julie Bernard. I serve as assistant city attorney in the office of the city attorney. Um this application I wanted to give you a quick rundown because this is governed under um Alabama state law um under the state code section 222748.1 which um was created in I believe 2018 or maybe 2017 I'm sorry um to govern how local governments um deal with the sighting of new solid waste facilities within their jurisdiction. Um, so it's a kind of convoluted process. I've been through it multiple times, but I just want to run through really quickly once again and for the public to understand. The council formally received the application on January 20th, which is of this year, which is a requirement of the statute. Um, you also approved um a public uh public awareness session that the applicant is required to hold which was held on February 23rd. Um and then the council was required to set and hold this hearing. Um all of this also requires an extensive amount of publication of notice and all of that has been provided. So we are here today for the council to hear. Um you're to hear comments from the public. Um under this statute you also consider written comments. Um and the written comments can be received through the end. They must be received through the end of this hearing. The council then has 30 days in which to make a decision. So this is not something you have to make a decision on today. We need to gather, make sure we have no written comments, and then let the council decide a future date when you'll decide. The important thing to know before you go into the hearing, the statute sets

out six criteria um that you're required to consider and I wanted to make sure I gave you those just before we start the hearing. The first one is the consistency of the proposal with the jurisdiction solid waste management need as identified in its plan. um the relationship of the proposal to local planned or existing development or the absence thereof to major transportation arteries and to existing state primary and secondary roads. Number three, the location of a proposed facility in relationship to existing industries in the state that generate large volumes of solid waste or the relationship to the areas projected for development of industries that will generate solid waste. Number four, cost and availability of public services, facilities, and improvements required to support a proposed facility and protect public health, safety, and the environment. Number five, the impact of a proposed facility on public safety and provisions made to minimize the impact on public health and safety. In number six, um the social and economic impacts of a proposed facility on the affected community, including changes in property value and social or community perception. The statute also provides that if the council denies the application, the applicant can submit a new application. If the council approves it, the applicant is required to file a declaratory judgment action in circuit court in which the court will review whether or not we followed all of these steps on the notice and the consideration and they can if they find that we missed something they can remand it back to us to cure various things. So, we've tried to be very meticulous on making sure that we did everything and making sure everybody's aware of what the process is and why we're doing what

we're doing. Thank you so much, Attorney Bernard. Just for the the interest for the council, you did receive this information in an email on Friday that outlined again the six u items that we should use for consideration as we go through this particular item. At this time, I would like to ask um anyone who is to represent the company if you just come and talk to us a little bit about the um process that you will be having um at that facility. Thank you. And identify your name.

Uh I'm David Dyer. I'm the founder and CEO of Harvest. Um I just prepared a couple remarks. First, I want to say good morning, Mayor Woodin, Madame President Alexander, and all the council members. Um thank you for your time today and and thoughtful consideration throughout this process. I'm I'm truly grateful. And uh I want to start with a simple vision. Birmingham is already the undisputed leader in healthc care for Alabama and this entire region. People drive here every day from Mississippi throughout the state, Florida panhandle and across the southeast to receive worldclass medical treatment at our great hospitals and clinics. But right now the medical waste generated by all that care leaves the city. It goes to processors in Gatston, Huntsville, Dothan, West Alabama, Louisiana, Florida. Every job, every dollar of tax revenue goes with it. Birmingham gets none of the economic benefit. Harvest's vision straightforward. Bring the nation's most advanced greenfriendly medical technology to the city that deserves it most. Treat non-hazardous medical waste right here. Create local jobs. Create local tax revenue. And do it with cutting edge technology that is cleaner, safer than anything on the market. Currently licensed in 45 states. This will be the first ozone facility in Alabama. And I believe Birmingham should be the city to lead the way just as it leads in healthcare. Kind of quickly how we got here. In 2024, through the blessing of a great team, our team was able to grow a company to over 130 employees here in Birmingham that served the city through free COVID testing at Legion Field. I was eventually able to sell that business, something I never imagined possible. When it came time to start my next venture, I made a promise to myself. It had to have real purpose behind it and not just be another generic competitor in the market. That search led me to Ozone Technology. I personally traveled to Indianapolis and I tour two massive facilities, community health center at the University of Indiana Medical Campus. These are large facilities, hundreds of beds, thousands of employees, scientists, critically ill patients on site 24/7 and right there on the site, not a

thousand feet away, not in a separate building across town since the ozone machine quietly doing its work. That told me everything that I needed to know about the safety of this machine. I knew then that this is technology I want to bring to Birmingham. Our technology and safety commitments. I want to be clear about what Harvest does and what Harvest does not do. Throughout this process, people have asked me some really good questions and I want to address them directly. Someone asked me if this is like a crematory. We have nothing to do with that. We do not handle bodies. Someone as asked me a great question about narcotics being dropped off. Narcotics are hazardous waste. We do not handle hazardous waste in any form. We treat non-hazardous medical waste only. We are not treating hazardous waste. Period. Everything that would come into our facility arrives in puncture proof containers or DOT approved sealed boxes. All of which are sealed, have spillproof bags inside. I want to be very clear. All of these operations would be inside. There's no water runoff. There's no odor. There's no emissions. There's no neighborhood cut through traffic. And this operation is quiet and low impact. in the property itself. Uh the site was an old heavy industrial abandoned eyesore overgrown with weeds, spray paint, broken beer bottles and liquor bottles, trash everywhere. We're transforming it into a clean, green friendly facility with professional landscaping. The neighborhood is going to see a property that they can be proud of, not one they can look away from. Medical waste is already here in Birmingham. It's in every doctor's office, every dental clinic, every red bin that you see. Uh, it's even in our great airport bathrooms. All we're doing is disinfecting it locally and sending it off. The waste exists here, whether harvest is here or not. But how we safely and in a green friendly way handle it is what makes the difference. The question is whether Birmingham benefits from the process of it or whether that benefit continues to go to other cities. I am committed and fully dedicated to using only ozone

technology. Environmentally friendly. No incinerator or burning anything. No autoclaves that uses thousands of gallons of water. These are older technologies. Birmingham should have the best and the ozone is it. One passion of mine is taking single-use plastic medical devices, treating them and recycle them. Nobody in Alabama is doing that. Environmentally responsibility is a big deal to me. Next month is the International Clean Med Conference in St. Louis. Um, and they'll bring together massive institutions from across the country and even Europe. Places like Emory, Harvard, Washington Medical Center, UAB, Johnson and Johnson, all with a passion of environmental stewardship. Clean Waste, the system that we purchased, will be there, and I'll be there as well. The moment is real, and I want Birmingham to be a part of it. Now, our commitment to the Kingston neighborhood. Now, as much as I believe in this technology, I want you to know that equally, my excitement about being a long-term partner in the Kingston neighborhood runs just as deep. Throughout this process, we've worked to show who we are by our actions. We've run radio ads, newspaper ads, we've held public hearings. We've spoken at three neighborhood meetings. We've attended the Morell Todd Housing Authority meeting. I've personally handed out my cell phone to countless residents and told them, "If you have a question or concern, call me anytime. I don't have a 1-800 number. I followed up with city officials to find anyone who had questions and personally reached out to listen. The overall feedback when I when people understand what it is that we're actually doing is positive, but I understand and I truly respect that some people may not like it. Those people still matter to me and I hope that I can earn their trust. Last Saturday, we hosted an Easter egg hunt for the Kingston neighborhood at Stockenham Park. And we brought out a local food truck, all free, in an effort to build trust and relationships with the local community. I even brought my 5-year-old son, Fields, to help. And hanging out with all these sweet kids in the neighborhood was one of the most joyful things I've experienced in a while.

About 75 people came out. Little kids were helping us lay eggs in the grass. Afterwards, the kids kept coming up to me asking, "When's the next event? Can you get us a water slide? Will you take my mom's cell phone so that you can text her when the next event is? Said, "We want to do it." But I also sit on a park bench with parents and I listen. I listen to moms who told me they felt trapped. There's no hope. I learned the average wage in the housing authority is around $11,000 a year. I met a sweet little boy who showed me where he'd been shot in the shoulder last year and the bullet came out of his arm and he almost seemed unfazed about it. No one should ever have to experience that, especially a little kid. The last two summers, I went on a mission trip to Honduras to an orphanage where I got to serve and hang out. Pastor John and the Auburn basketball team was there. It was so awesome. I learned that doing these things are great. However, you don't have to get on an airplane to serve. You can go right down the road and love on these kids and lift them up just like I did on the mission trip. I found people in this neighborhood are starving for any kind of positive change. And I believe that God has put us here for a reason. I can't solve the world, but I can show up. I can listen. I can build trust. I can invest not just money but my time. What we're committed to is environmentally friendly technology. As I mentioned, um I'm committed to only using environmental technology, but in addition to all of the Alabama Department of Environmental continuous monitoring and EPA compliance and guidelines, Harvest will submit a voluntary air quality testing to further show we're committed to being a great neighbor. I'm committed to hiring locally and then also we want to have a free mentorship program. I was a wild kid. I was the youngest of five. I didn't listen like I should have. I learned a lot of things the hard way. When I graduated from Auburn, I applied for hundreds of jobs after college. Started out cutting grass before I landed my first real position in the medical space in 2007. There's so many talented people in the neighborhood with

entrepreneurial spirit. If someone tells me I want to open up a business, I want to be a barber. I want to have a commercial floor cleaning business. I want to sit down with them. Let's get an LLC. Let's build a business plan. Let's set goals. Let's set vision. That's what moves the needle with me. I have a big heart and get energized about helping the younger generation. I've already earmarked money for a community center in the Kingston neighborhood if we can find the right site. I'm committed to ongoing events like we did last Saturday. Other partnerships. O'Neal Steel is our neighbor. I reached out to them through the help of a city council member and um they're committed to collaborating with us on philanthropy projects. My other neighbor, Metal Plate, has also been supportive. Together, we can accomplish great things. I share these things not for recognition. I'm not on social media for reason, but I want you to know who I am. I've donated a house to a tenant of mine in inner city McGomery whose 12-year-old son, Nelson, was killed in the front yard by a mistaken identity in a driveby shooting. I have a nonprofit in Shelby County that we lease for a dollar a year to women's ministry helping women come out of prison and court referral programs to get jobs and rebuild their lives. Last fall when the city asked business leaders to step up with SNAP benefits, Harvest was the largest donor given as my love language in the neighborhood will see firsthand. Also, I want to recognize three incredible leaders. President Brenda Hollyfield of the neighbor of the Kingston neighborhood um association was rightly rightfully cautious when she first met me. She wanted to know my heart and my intentions and I respect that. She has such deep wisdom and a huge heart for her community. Also, Eldred, the president of Morell Tide Housing Authority, has such a powerful story. I'm committed to working closely with them. I've also enjoyed speaking with counselor Gun, who I really respect his leadership and I know his passion and his heart for helping the Kingston community. Two other things quickly. The alternative I would ask the city council

to consider if harvest doesn't come in. What happens to this site? I had a heavy industrial user email me about leasing land to them. One that may not need a permit. One that may not need to come before the council at all. One that might actually pollute and one that has no interest in serving the community. No jobs for local residents. No mentorships. No community events like the Easter egg hunt. No investment in Kingston. And I don't say that as a threat at all. I just say uh say it because this is the reality of the industrial zone land. In closing today, um my ask today is simple. Grant harvest this permit. And I'll say this, hold me accountable. Come back in 6 months or a year. And if you talk to Miss Brenda and she says, "I haven't heard from David since the hearing." Then the city should pull my permit. If I'm polluting, pull my permit. I mean that. I've never had anything to hide and that I know that we can turn this heavy industrial property into an asset for Birmingham and Kingston, make a positive impact that's needed in the community. I am committed and I'm fully dedicated to clean, green friendly technology. I'm committed to this neighborhood. I'm committed to being a great business partner for the city of Birmingham and I'm committed to showing you by my actions that Harvest will be the kind of partner that in this city that makes them proud. Thank you for your consideration and thank you for your time. Thank you so much. At this time, I will open it up for questions from the counselors. And do we have any questions for Harvest Solutions?

Councelor Gun. Thank you, Madam President. Uh thank you, David, uh for bringing those remarks about Harvest Solutions. I know during your time uh out in the community and engaging the community um there are there were a lot of questions and concerns and you've had an opportunity to address some of those concerns. Um could you speak a little bit to um your community engagement strategy that you facilitated?

Sure. Um I I completely understand like when you say medical ways just the negative implications that that people think you know a lot of the questions we had was about human bodies that we cleared up or narcotics and you know I'm very uh sympathetic to the fact that behind us you have a steel galvanizing facility that has had environmental effects. So people rightfully ask me, hey, is this going to pollute? And I just point to the dozens of, you know, massive hospitals where, you know, that I mentioned have thousands of employees. You've got cancer wings, ICU units, scientists, and um Kelly can speak to the data, but that's the main thing is people want to know that it's safe. And then, you know, a lot of people have had questions about jobs. How do we apply? Um people, you know, like I said, they're hungry for change. um am I committed? A lot of people like, you know, how do we know that you're going to show up? And I to totally understand that and I respect that because uh you know, it seems like in the past there's been businesses who've made empty promises.

Yeah. Uh I do have a follow-up question. I know my colleagues have any questions. Any other questions? Yes, Pro Tim. Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. How many jobs were you creating? Um what type of jobs um will they be and will it you know be jobs where people can be trained you know to work you know into uh the medical uh waste facility.

Yes. A great question. I mean it could be anybody who's operating on a machine which would require eight weeks of training. We'll have drivers. We use box trucks and light industrial vans. Um we have employees in the office. Um, and I'll I'll post that on our website where people can easily go and I plan to be active in the neighborhood meetings as we want to prioritize hiring local again. So if people you know we're not hard to find.

So you will you do like a job fair. And then another question um and you said something that was that's key to me is I believe in you know people giving second chances those that are formally incarcerated or people that are are just as impacted by the system. How would you engage those individuals?

You know that's a great question. So in that situation I'd love to go to like Miss Brenda the neighborhood president like hey tell me about this young man or this young lady. Like what do you think? How's their character? we give them another chance. I'd really like to lean on neighborhood um associates and people that are involved, but I'm totally open to giving somebody a second chance, but at the same time, you know, they've got to pass drug test. I want to make sure that our employees are safe and that we're doing right by the community. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Smith. Yes. Um can you please share examples of facilities like this in other cities and um how that has worked out for them?

Sure. Um, one that I personally flew to was uh Texas Decon in San Antonio. So, they've got a neighborhood behind them. They've got a restaurant. Um, I are you meeting like facilities that use ozone or just medical waste? So, facilities like what you're building and just how um I guess the environmental effects that it's had in those areas.

Yeah. Um, so I'm not aware of any environmental like impacts with the facilities that I've been to. Texas Decon and then you've got major hospital systems like the University of Kansas, University of Cincinnati, University of Indianapolis. Um, and then in Alabama, uh, you know, I mentioned the four cities, uh, Gadston where you've got a massive machine. And in Huntsville, they even use an incinerator where they're burning medical waste. And I'm not aware of any medical issues. I haven't read any articles that would be on the news about that. Would you like to? So, I'm sure. Yeah, she can speak to the science a lot better than me. That'd be helpful.

And your name, please.

My name is Kelly Perl. Um, I'm the CEO of Clean Waste Systems. So, the technology that um, Harvest has selected, and I'd love to tell you a little bit more about our technology if that would be helpful. Um, I think it's important to recognize that Harvest had options when considering uh the type of processing technology to use to process medical waste. They could have chosen more traditional technology like an incinerator or an autoclave. It's um some of those technologies can certainly be less expensive upfront. And I think it's important to recognize um that Harvest uh didn't choose a traditional technology. They did significant research in order to come to clean waste systems. And I think that decision matters. um tells you a lot about the fact that this is a company that's thinking long term, that this is a company that's willing to invest in doing things the right way and that they understand that being a good neighbor isn't about just meeting minimum standards, but really exceeding them. Um, what makes our technology different is how clean and controlled the processes. So, our machines operate inside a building. They're sealed and fully enclosed and they use oxygen to create ozone to treat the medical waste. So oxygen from the air that we breathe is um electrically charged. It creates ozone which is um a a volatile gas and it is a natural sterilizer um that ends up reverting back. It has a halflife of about 30 minutes and it reverts back into oxygen. So ozone um does the work and then it turns back into the oxygen in the air that we breathe. So there's no heat, no

combustion, no smoke stacks, no waste water, um and no lingering odors. We're registered with the EPA. We are approved in highly regulated states like California and Oregon, Minnesota, New York. Um, and treating waste through our machine results in zero greenhouse gas emissions. Uh, reduces the carbon footprint by over 75% compared to a traditional autoclave and reduces the waste volume by over 80%. So, this is an example of waste that has been put through our system. It looks like confetti. Um, and from a community standpoint, I think that's really important to understand that it's designed to be quiet and clean and virtually invisible from day-to-day life. Um, as David mentioned, many of our machines operate inside hospitals like the University of Cincinnati, um, and others around the country and frankly around the world. We've been around for 14 years. um uh they're near residential locations, uh restaurants. Most most people in the neighborhood don't really even know that they're there. Um and that's really the kind of business that you want. Um we installed a machine a few years ago across the street from a greenhouse nursery and understandably they had a lot of questions about would the ozone impact the plants that we're trying to sell. And so um the first two weeks that the the site was operational, we did air quality testing for two weeks every day and not once had any elevated uh ozone readings beyond ambient air. So ozone is occurs in nature. It's been used to treat uh water for over a hundred years and it's not a new technology. It's a relatively new application of that technology.

Um, but it's just air. That's what makes it so unique. Um, I think it's important to acknowledge that it's not just about the machine, but it's about the operator and that technology doesn't make decisions, but David Dyer and and you all do. and um bringing a a deliberate decision to to Birmingham that reflects a higher standard and environmental prioritization is um is kind of what we're here to talk about today. Um uh Harvest is leading with responsibility and a cleaner approach and I think that's worth supporting. Um I'm happy to answer any additional questions that you would have about the tech.

Thank you. Any other questions? All right. Yes, council gun. Y uh thank you. And this may be for uh the administration, but I want to make sure uh that residents in Kingston and surrounding neighborhoods are uh comfortable uh with the company locating in their community. Uh to that end, I know there has been a community benefits agreement uh floating around uh that has outlined four commitments uh by the company uh to uh the community. Um is something like that possible for the city of Birmingham? um as companies are are deciding to locate uh in our communities. I don't know if that's something that's enforceable, if something that we can enter into um with the company and the community. Um just looking for recommendation on that.

That question is to administration.

The city can enter into a community benefits agreement um with an organization um who chooses to be in any footprint within the city. Okay.

Thank you, Mayor Wooden. Any other questions? Thank you so much, ma'am. At this time, this is a public hearing and we would like to hear from anyone from the public that would like to speak to for or against this particular company being given um permitting to operate here in the city of Birmingham. If you're here to talk for or against, if you're lined up by the doors to my right, be your left. Or if you want to, since y'all on that side, this is fine. If you'll line up right here when you come to the podium, you do have three minutes. If you'll give us your name and address and then if you'll state um your reason for speaking today and if you'll go ahead and right here. Thank you. Good morning.

Good morning.

Brenda Holyfield, 4500 13th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35212. Um, currently I am Kingston Neighborhood Association President and I wanted to mention how Harvest has really been very willing to come to two-hour neighborhood meetings to answer concerns, fears, and questions. Um and the main thing with the fears is from previous environmental harm that has occurred over near the where the site would be and that has deemed a section of housing to public housing to have been torn down because it's considered brownfield. Now, um, let's see. Based on the information that we received from Harvest and Independent Research, Harvest could possibly operate safely in Kingston with the understanding that if an issue arrives during operation, the recycling would stop until the problem has been resolved. Todd and David have expressed their willingness to make a difference in our neighborhood and also to enter into a community benefits agreement. And one thing I'm really proud of is that Harvest has agreed to build a community center in Kingston, something that we've been needing for some time. Um and we're we're hoping that that can be built um at Stock Park, the area where we cannot um use our walking trail because the railroad um tracks are there and the water is running off which has created an actual pond, nature created pond and so we can use our track and I'm thinking if that

building's there um it may alleviate that and also give us a walking track. And like I said, Councilman Gun has that um proposal. I'm not sure where it is at this time, but we look forward to Harvest being a business in the neighborhood that will protect our environment as well as invest in our community. Thank you for your time. Thank you so much. Next resident. Thank you. Give us your name. You have three minutes and your time is shown up there. I'll need like 45 seconds. Good morning.

You're good. My name is Andrew Capstikdale. Uh I'm a proud business owner in Birmingham and have been for about 20 years.

I've invested not only financially in the city, but personally, and I care deeply about the future, its growth, and the well-being of the people that call it home. That's why I'm here today to express my support for Harvest Solutions. I believe this initiative represents the kind of forwardthinking approach Birmingham needs. One that strengthens our local uh local economies while addressing important community needs. Community needs. As a business owner, I understand how vital it is to create sustainable systems that benefit both commerce and community and harvest solutions aligns with both of these. So, I just ask that you would approve it. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Next president. Thank you. Good morning. My name is John Wall and I have the honor of being the campus pastor at the Foundry Ministries in Bessemer, Alabama. Um I want to speak on behalf of David Dyer and his character uh this morning. Um I it's not a prepared uh endorsement but a reflection of um personal experience I've had with him. Um u David and his team has uh worked very hard and I've seen just how he's come through. we were um together on the board for a organization called Farm for Hope, which I was able to be a staff member of. Um and to watch David uh come onto campus um almost weekly and to spend time with all of our men. We were a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. Um he could have just given money um but he didn't do that. He came every single almost every single week. Uh spent time with the men, got to learn their names, got to learn their stories. Um, and then he would call me immediately after once I saw his car leaving campus. I just picked up my phone because I knew uh it would a call would be coming and he would say, "How can we help? How can we help? How can we help?" And it was just so meant so much to me as a staff member to see uh his love not only for uh the program, but for every single man in that program and even men I still see till today ask me how he's doing and will tell me just their deep appreciation for what he did for them. I also had the opportunity to serve with him uh in Honduras and uh first of all he really just gave me the opportunity because I could not afford the trip but he called me and said I'm going to take care of it and pay for it. You just send me your information. Um so and he did and we were able to go to Honduras and serve. Um but just to see how he loved the people there, how he bent down with the children, how he spent time with the mothers, how he carried uh the our equipment and just his love for the people that were there. It meant so much for me u to be able just to see his character um and for the

love that he has. And so I'll finish with this. Um you've you really get to see people's character in those moments of serving. And I've over the years I've seen a clear pattern of the way he leads with integrity and with compassion and with a sincere desire to help people. His credibility with me does not come from business strategies or polished presentations. It comes from the way he consistently shows up for others. Um, this initiative they are stepping out of is not about operating the business, but it's about serving the community in a meaningful, responsible, and lasting way. And it's about building something that creates impact and not just profit. And it is the same uh values that I've seen David embody for years. So, I hope that you and pray that you improve this project.

Thank you. Good morning. Good morning. Pull this down. Council President, Council, Mayor. Good morning. My name is Terry Chapman and I'm the director of public policy for the Birmingham Business Alliance located at 2117 2nd Avenue North. And on behalf of the Birmingham Business Alliance, I would like to express our strong support for this project and for the long-term community partners helping to bring this vision to life. I have had the privilege of working with um David and Todd over the last few months and we at BBA were pretty thrilled that they have set their sights on Birmingham and on Kingston, a neighborhood that I'm very familiar with. Uh, this initiative brings cutting edge bioscience innovation, a target industry for us to Birmingham while investing in an area of our city that deserves continued attention and growth. Projects like this have the potential to create highquality jobs, attract new talent, and drive additional investment in the surrounding area. And that's exactly the kind of momentum that we would like to see here in Birmingham. Their mission includes safely transforming non-hazardous medical waste processing processing with clean environmentally responsible technology while creating jobs and economic opportunity for Birmingham which aligns with our mission at BBA and we believe reflects the values of everyone here at the city of Birmingham. Thank you for your time.

Thank you very much. Anyone else from the public that would like to speak? Go ahead, sir. Uh, first I'd like to thank you, Mayor Woodson, Madame President, the council members. Uh, I've had the opportunity to speak with most of you in your name.

Todd Cook, Birmingham, Alabama. I'm one of the owners. Uh, it's been a blessing. I'll say that openly. For us, it's about Jesus first and foremost, being the hands and feet, which is why we want to do this. So, I'm going to make it short. Uh, uh, I'll keep this very straightforward. Harvest is a medical waste processing company. We've heard that multiple times. We safely handle and process regulated, keyword, medical waste. The same type of waste that's already here in Birmingham. We can keep it here. We can ship it out. Uh what we're proposing is to bring that capability here locally, not to ship it out. Key word, with transparency. That's what we represent. Accountability, commitment to doing it the right way. You guys are committed to doing it the right way. I also want to mention that I'm not doing this alone. My business partner, David Dyer, much like a brother to me. We've been partners in multiple aspects for about 20 years now. Um, we built a healthcare company. He was modest. We sold that to LabC Corp, a global leader in healthcare, the largest diagnostic lab in the world. That wasn't by accident. That was by the grace of God and by doing things the right way. I want to be clear about what this is and what it is not. This is not a heavy industrial operation. Even though this is where we have to be, there are no smoke stacks, no harmful emissions, no disruptments to daily life. The equipment that we use, you heard in detail, we could have chose any way to do this, but we made the investment and we made the decision to do it this way, which is not being done right now in Alabama. John Maxwell, if you're familiar with him, he's a a mentor of mine. He said, "True leaders jump the fence first. That's what we want to do. If it's not

the right way, we jump back. We make another plan." You're a fence jumper. We want to be a fence jumper. We've worked closely with environmental and regulatory expert to ensure that we meet and exceed all state and federal guidelines. But just as important as what we do, it's how we do it that's most important to me. We're committed to being really good neighbors. That means open communication, hiring local, reinvesting into the community. I'm also a father of two daughters. I take that responsibility serious, not just at home, but how I operate the business, how I show up in communities, just like this one. I understand there's been questions. I appreciate that. That's part of the process. That's why we're here. But my commitment is simple. I'll operate with integrity. That's all I've ever done. We will be transparent and we will earn your trust if we haven't already over time. We're here to be long-term partners to this community. This is not a project. This is a passion. There's a big difference. I'm committed. David's committed. The entire team's committed to doing this the right way. Thank you. Do you have a question?

Council, thank you so much, sir. At this time, this completes the public hearing and so we have any other comments that we have from counselors. Council Williams.

Yeah. No, I think we've heard a hell of a lot of stuff on something we can't even vote on today. But I uh you know, I I do want to thank this organization. I' I've known um Mr. Dire for a while now and um he uh he he has impressed me in so many different ways. Um not only from what he's been able to do from a business standpoint, but how he is a um his corporate citizen mindset is something that I think can be seen when you have members of the neighborhood coming up and and saying, "Hey, um this might sound scary, but we trust this gun. It's something that we want." So, I don't know what the next step is since we can't vote on it today, but um you know, it's 10:50. The only person that kind of makes me laugh even when I think you're being insulting with the process, but thank you, counselor. Appreciate your transparency. Um just to sort of outline what is before us today. Because of the change in this state law, we do have to hear from the public. We appreciate the information that we received from the company, the owners, and um just looking at, you know, your business model and how you want to serve the community. Um it's very rare for us to have someone to come before us and talk about community service agreements and uh or benefits agreement and what they want to do to for the community. So, I believe we're all appreciative of that today. Um because of the requirements we have and I think I'm going to get clarification from the attorney, we did have to get the public comment and we do need to know about written.

Madam President, as as she gives you that clarification, um you can continue to talk to her. I just want to publicly state David and your team. Thank you for your very intentional intentionality and way u for your community engagement. You and I have had several conversations u probably close to a year now related to this. So just I want to could have easily just text you but I want to publicly thank you for your um community engagement. Very impressive. Thank you. Thank you so much. I did receive clarification. Uh we do have a comment from Madame Pro.

Thank you uh Madam President. Again thank you uh Dave and your team uh for the great presentation on day. I do want to acknowledge uh Miss Bowler and her daughter Nyla uh with Miss Brenda today. Miss Brenda, I don't know you personally, but thank you all. Sean, thank you all for the commitment that you continue to walk, you know, with the Woodline community and just the just the city and communities at at large. Thank you. Thank you. I do want to clarify and just ask, have we received any written comments either through the council office or from the clerk? Not that I'm aware of, Madam President, but we'll check again after the meeting is over.

And same thing from you, um, Mr. McDaniels. I don't know if any comments have come in through the council. Nothing official.

Okay. Um, I would like to go ahead and give us an opportunity to ensure that we've received these comments and um, we could bring this item back to us next week. And I would like to ask we consider to vote for this on the 14th based on any comments that we receive or after we review those comments. Is that okay with the council? All right. Well, thank you all again. I don't believe we have to take a vote on that. I'll ask for parliamentary procedure. All right. So, we will bring this item back to us once we review and ensure that we have heard all the comments both public and written. Uh and this was opportunity for the public comments. We'll review and go back through the clerk's office and through the council office and uh see if we receive any written comments. Again, we thank you all for today and we appreciate everyone's uh participation in this process. So, Mr. Clerk, now we'll go to item number one. Item one, an ordinance to further amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham, case number ZAC, 2025-31 to change zone district boundaries from C2, general commercial district to QI1, qualified light manufacturing district filed by VJCTA max. Uh the property owner and Connor England window architecture PC. The applicant is situated in section 18 quarter section 4 township 17 range 3 west in order for a compressed natural gas fueling site for the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority. A bus fleet for the property generally located at 943 Forestdale Boulevard. The hearing a part motion please.

Thank you counselors. This is an ordinance to further amend the zoning map with the city of Birmingham. And since this is a public hearing, I'll turn this over to councelor O'Quinn with our planning and zoning committee. Thank you, Madam President. I'll have the staff report, please.

Good morning. My name is Kim Spur. I serve as the zoning administrator for the Department of Planning, Engineering, and Permits. The item before you this morning is case ZAC 2025-31. This is a request to change the zoning from general commercial to light manufacturing. The property is located at 943 Forestdale Boulevard and it is located in the Smithfield Estates Neighborhood Association. Um the application is for a compressed natural gas station for the Birmingham um Jefferson County Transit Authority bus fleet. Um there are no maintenance repair operations currently planned for this site. However, there will be fluid top offs at the fuel dispensers. There will be one small building for operations of the stations and buses will drive up fuel and check their fluids and then they will leave the station. There is um potential long-term plans for this site for BJCTA to use this um as a fleet maintenance and operations building. However, there are no current plans for that future development. Um this site is 14.1 acres. It's currently zoned general commercial. The properties to the north are zoned C1, which is Jefferson County commercial and R1, which is Jefferson County single family. To the south, it is also C1 Jefferson County commercial. To the east, it is R5, City of Birmingham Multiple Dwelling District and C1 Jefferson County Commercial and R4, Jefferson County Multifamily. The city's adopted long range land use plan has identified this property as general commercial. Um the reason that

they are having to reszone C2 does not allow for buses to be fueled or have any kind of maintenance operations which is why they are requesting to go to the I1 zoning district. Um because the property does abut residential a C landscape buffer will be required. along the portion on the east. There will also be a Bbuffer that will be required on the western portion of the site. The storm water requirements are the usual for all developments in the city of Birmingham. All of the soil erosion civil construction permits will apply. Um the Birmingham Department of Transportation did not have any comments for this application and this property is located in the Pratt Ensley framework plan area. Their framework plan has been adopted but their reasonzoning has not been changed yet. Um the applicant did attend the Smithfield Estates Neighborhood Association meeting on January 17th of this year. They did receive unanimous support for this resoning change. The vote was 18 to approve and zero to deny. The applicant then attended the zoning advisory committee meeting on February 3rd and there were four vo votes to approve and one abstension for that request. On February 24th of this year, the applicant attended the planning and zoning committee meeting and the planning and zoning committee recommended 4 to zero to recommend this resoning with the following Q condition. Um, they recommended that all uses be allowed in I1 except for the following, and I'm going to read those out for the record real quick. Um, so these uses would not be permitted. A private club, a funeral home, groundmounted solar, a

caretaker dwelling, apiary, a medical cannabis cultivator, dispensary, integrated facility, processor, secure transporter, or state testing laboratory, an animal boarding facility, an animal daycare, an animal kennel, mini storage warehouse, payday loan, title loan or pawn shop, outdoor urban farm, farm, railroad station, adult establishment, wrecker impound lot, chicken coupe, water treatment plant, or water sewer pumping station. And that concludes the staff report. Um, the applicant is here to answer any questions.

All right. Do any members of the council have questions for the staff? All right. Say applicant present. All right. You can just give us a summary. We have a microphone for this gentle. He He's bringing a mic.

Um good morning. Um staff pretty much gave a good summary. Um this is only a fueling station for BJCA. Um the buses will come in, fuel or top off their fluids and leave. Um the rest of the site will be will remain as it is. Um all of the water waste will still drain the same way that it's doing now. Um we're just act if you I think you guys have a packet that shows the site plan where the little small building. Um that's the only area that we're affecting right now on that site. Okay, thank you. Any questions for the applicant? All right, this is a public hearing. Um, if there are any members uh of the audience who are in attendance to speak for or against, we will hear those comments now. All right. Um, any other questions regarding this item? All right, seeing none. Um, Madam President,

thank you, Dr. O'Quinn. At this time, we have no further questions. We're ready to entertain the vote. Council President Alexander. Yes. That vote should be up. Okay. How would you like to vote, Council?

Got it. All right. Thank you very much. Item number one passes. Thank you all so much. All right, Mr. Clerk, do we have any other items? All right. Thank you. At this time, councilors, we'd like to We do not have any speakers, so we'd like to entertain any updates you have from your various districts. Council Lassa, would you like to go first?

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. Thanks for your patience. Had to pull up my notes. Uh, New South Softball Southern Shootout was this past weekend at George Ward Park. It's a wonderful event. We had 32 teams from across the Southeast. A great show for the park and the wonderful fields we have there. and just appreciate this group that has been using the facility since 1984. This is the 42nd anniversary. Uh so we're very uh glad for that. Uh also just want to mention um that the St. Elias Food and Cultural Festival is April 17th to April 18th this year. It's a Friday and a Saturday. Uh definitely always appreciate and look out for that the wonderful food and cultural activity there. more information online, of course. Uh and lastly, we have uh Forest Park South Aenddale Neighborhood Association meeting uh tonight at 6:30 p.m. at the South Aenddale Library. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you so much, Council Smith.

Thank you, Madam President. Oakwood Place neighborhood meeting will be held today at 4 p.m. at Harrison Park Recreation Center. Mason City will meet today at 4:30 p.m. via teleconference. Then West Dan Manor will meet on Monday, April 13th at 5:00 PM at New Hope Baptist Church. This Saturday, April 11th and 18th, we will be hosting a two-part computer 101 class. Both days starting at noon at Holy Family High School. Join us to learn basic computer skills, internet safety, email, and more. Attendance at both sessions is encouraged, and feel free to bring your own laptop. For more information, please call 2052153053. And now I want to say a happy early 18th birthday to my D6 intern Mariah Anderson. She turns 18 on Friday. Also there, the annual Ronald McDonald red shoe run is this Saturday. The run starts at 8 a.m. Uh you can still register at Ronald McDonaldhouse.org. You can either do the 5K run or one mile. And also the Italian Fest, which I think is held at Sloth, will be held this Saturday from 12 to 6. Thank you.

Thank you, Counselor Williams. Thank you. Robuck Springs uh will be Thursday, April the 9th at 7 o'clock at the regular place in New Beginnings Church and Robuk will be Monday. Um the well, I might be wrong on on that one. Um, also, uh, economic development, tourism will be after this meeting in D and E. For those of you, if you could make your way there. Thanks. Thank you so much, Councelor Smith.

All right. Thank you. First, I want to acknowledge Mr. Johnny Gun, president of the Belleview Heights Neighborhood Association, for being in attendance today. Um, a reminder that the Birmingham Park and Wreck is still hiring lifeguards for the summer. So, if you're interested, please call 205-254-2189 for more information. This Friday, April 10th, the Birmingham Public Library is hosting its fifth annual A Novel Tasting. So, this signature fundraising event supports library programs um and will take place at the central location. So, all residents are invited to support this cause. Um, moving on, the College Hills neighborhood will have a cleanup this Saturday, April 11th from 9 to 1, and the meeting location will be at the intersection of Center Street and 9th Avenue West. Arts and Parks Committee is scheduled to meet on Monday, April 20th at 3:30 here in the council chambers. If you have any agenda items, please submit them to dhelp at firmingham.gov by Monday, April 13th. We have several neighborhood meetings this week. Today, the Fairview Neighborhood Association is meeting at 5:30 p.m. via conference call. The Thomas Neighborhood Association will also meet this evening at 6:30 at Greater St. Thomas Church. And the Tuxedo Heights Neighborhood will meet on Wednesday, April 8th at 4:30 p.m. at the Pratt City Library. On Monday, April 13th, Tuxedo Neighborhood will meet at 5:00 p.m. at the East Ensley Public Library. Rising West Princeton will meet at 6 p.m. at the Rising West Princeton Corporation. and the Ensley Highlands neighborhood will meet at 6 PM at the Five Points West Branch Library. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Gun.

Thank you, Madam President. Uh my announcements for today, uh the Collinsville Neighborhood Association is hosting a community funday this Saturday at Bethl Baptist Church from 12:00 to 4:00 p.m. Uh the Airport Hills community will be hosting their third annual v voter registration and restoration drive at the Brownsville Heights Community Center until April the 10th. They'll be there from 11:00 am to 2 pm each day. So, if you'd like to register to vote or find out how you can vote um and restore your rights, come out to that uh voter registration drive. Uh Neighborhood Housing Services is hosting the Home Wise Expo, which is a free event uh which will work to connect homeowners with experts, tools, and resources to maintain and improve their homes. Uh, this will be happening April the 18th from 10:00 a.m. to 4 pm at the Bill Bill Harris Arena. Uh, this event will feature a special guest appearance by Interior Designer and winner of HGTV's Design Star NextG, uh, Cameron Hamilton. Uh, so neighborhood association meetings that are happening tonight and this week. Tonight, we have the Fairmont Neighborhood Association, uh, which takes place at 6 p.m. at the North Birmingham Library. Uh, the Inglnook Neighborhood Association is on Monday, April the 13th at 5:30 p.m. at the Inglnook Recreation Center. Uh, the Woodlon Neighborhood Association is also that same Monday at 6 PM at the Willow Will Willowwood Recreation Center. Airport Highlands is also that same Monday uh, at 6 PM at the Pleasant View Baptist Church. Robuck Neighborhood Association is also that same Monday at 6:30 PM at the Buttoningham uh Police East precinct. Uh that Tuesday, April the 14th, uh we have three neighborhood associations. Kilo Springs takes place at 6 p.m. at Smith Middle School. Northeast Lake takes place at 6 p.m. at Southern Museum of Flight. And lastly, Penfield Park takes place uh at 6 PM at

the Brownsville Heights Community Center. That concludes my announcements.

Thank you so much, Councelor Woods. Thank you, Madam President. Uh, quickly, uh, a couple neighborhood announcements. Uh, the Apple Valley Neighborhood Association will meet today at 7 p.m. That is at the East Pinson Valley Rec Center. The Robuck Neighborhood Association will meet next Monday, April 13th at 6:30 p.m. at the Birmingham East Police Precinct. Uh, if you want to attend virtually, uh, you can contact our office, uh, email bhmist1@gmail.com. Also, Earth Month is April and so we have several events coming up where you can get involved uh taking care of green spaces or just learning a couple educational opportunities as well. On Saturday, April 18th at 9:00 a.m. we will be at Huffman Ballpark for community cleanup. Uh just prepping, keep making sure the space stays up to par uh throughout the season when we have our young athletes out there competing. uh Tuesday, April 21st at 5:00 pm, we'll be partnering with the Spring Road Library and Blackberry Rivereper for Hip Hop in the Environment. And so this is an event where you can learn more about protecting our environment while enjoying a live performance from Shahed and DJ Supreme. Uh this event last year was was really uh wellreceived and the the young people had a really good time. So looking forward to doing it again. So definitely get out and participate. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Council Quinn. Thank you, Madam President. East Lake Neighborhood Association meets tonight at 6 PM at Household of Faith Church. Smithville Neighborhood Association will meet on Thursday at 6 p.m. at the Smithville Court Community Nutrition Center. The transportation and infrastructure committee will meet on Monday at 2 p.m. here in the council chambers and the planning and zoning committee will meet on Tuesday, April 14th at 3 p.m. here in the council chambers. The Gate City Festival uh hosted by Oak Tree Ministries and the Vine Church will take place on Saturday, April 18th. Um that will be at 6600 Interlockan Avenue um from 11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. You can visit oaktreeministries.org for additional information and volunteer opportunities. The foot soldiers 63rd anniversary street celebration will take place on Saturday, May 2nd from 10:00 a.m. to 700 p.m. in the historic 4th Avenue business district. For additional information, please contact their office at 205 518 0321. And finally, um, please help shape Birmingham's multimodal transportation future by participating in GOB BHM. Visit birmingham.govhm to participate. And that concludes my announcements.

Thank you so much, Madam Pro. Thank you, Madam President. WM Neighborhood Association meeting will be tonight at 6 p.m. at the WM Library and it's already been stated by council Smith. Thomas Neighborhood Association meeting will meet tonight at 6:30 p.m. at Greater St. Thomas Community Church. North Birmingham Neighborhood Association will meet on next Monday, April the 13th, 6 p.m. at the North Birmingham Library. Sherman Heights Neighborhood Association will meet Monday also April the 13th at 6 p.m. at the Morning Star Christian Church. This concludes my announcements. Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Madam Pro Tim. These are announcements for district 7. On Thursday this week, the Roosevelt City Neighborhood Association will meet at 5:30 p.m. at the Roosevelt Rec Center. On Saturday, April 11th, we'll be hosting our Love D7 Environment Day. This will go from 9:00 a.m. to 100 p.m. We uh will have resources and all types of information that we want to provide to neighborhoods in D7 so that you can go out and plan your cleanups for the rest of this year. We have some phenomenal partners that have joined on with us. Uh we will have the UAB the mobile market will be there. The first 100 people that sign up through Eventbrite. You will get vouchers and um you'll be able to do some great shopping. I know other counselors have used that mobile market. They have great uh vegetables and items that can be purchased. And so we want to be sure that we provide that opportunity for residents. We also have collaboration with keep Birmingham beautiful Omega chapter of Alphacap Alpha Sorority Incorporated. We have um Jefferson County Greenways. We have um also have a partner in Representative Kelvin Datcher. He'll be staging um same type of events over at Greater Shiloh and 6th Avenue Baptist Church. And so we'll all come up over after the end of our cleanups and we'll congregate at the Jones Valley Middle School and just have a great opportunity to fellowship and um talk about resources that we have and sign people up for similar events, cleanup events with through the district. So that's Saturday, April 11th from 9:00 a.m. to 100 p.m. If you have any questions, please call my office. You can go to the D7 or Birmingham City Council website. On Monday, we have two neighborhood association meetings. Powderly Neighborhood Association will meet at 5:30 at the Henry Krompton Rec

Center and the West Goldwire Neighborhood Association meets at 5:00 PM by conference call. On Wednesday, counselors, April 15th, we do have our April Committee of the Whole Administration and Government Affairs meeting. We'll be meeting at 3:30 in council chambers. Um right now we have one agenda item. We will need to uh discuss the process that we'll be going through. We do have some vacancies that coming up on the municipal court. We have some um some of those appointments that are um coming up for reconsideration. And so we'll be talking through that process. If you have any items that you'd like to see added to that agenda, please let me know. and I'll be going back reviewing any outstanding items we've had from previous CLS or from any of our retreats. And so just give me that information if um if you have something you'd like added to that agenda. On April 25th, this year's fantastic voyage will be taking place. They'll be taking students to the historic Huntsville, the first city in Alabama that is dead to have ended segregation. They'll be leaving and returning from the Birmingham police headquarters. The ages for participants are 7 through 18. The event is free. For registration information, please contact Daisy Cooper at 2562262315. Again, if you have a child between the ages of seven and 18, you'd like to get them registered for this historic um what they call the fantastic voyage. It's allowing children to visit places in Alabama that they may not have ever visited. They have an historic perspective. And um so please sign them up for that. Those are all the announcements that I have at this time. We do want to thank our officers on duty, officer Pinker and Officer Tarant and our fire inspectors that were on duty, Inspector Snow and Griggs. We do not have any speakers. So at this time we can entertain a motion for adjournment.

All those in favor please say I. Thank you. Meeting is adjourned. Oh, did I hear some music down there now? Good morning, Birmingham. This is city councelor District 3 Josh Vasa here at the lovely George Ward Park uh celebrating the New South Softballs Southern Shootout. It is a great opportunity to bring community together for the last 42 years. This group has been occupying this space bringing in community and making sure that we have representation not just from throughout the city but throughout the southeast. Right. We have 32 teams playing today. Folks from North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and of course throughout the city of Birmingham. We have umpires from Columbus, Ohio, uh using utilizing all these fields that we have at George Park. So, we're so excited to have this group continue to use this space. 42 years is a long time running, and we're excited to see it moving, not just uh for the last 42, but for 42 ahead. got some too. Put it all in the bag.

Today we presented a resolution to New South focusing on the fact that this is an inclusive and safe space. It is welcoming for all people just like the city of Birmingham. And so this definitely represents the values that we have as a city and we're excited to see this playing locally right here in Birmingham. I just want to say that, you know, Birmingham has so much to offer and where we have groups like this that work with community that bring community from outside our city in to show what we have to offer. That's something we want to uplift and celebrate. So, we're very glad to be here and and definitely support you I'm taking my brand new spaceship. I'll be going. This is the first in the state of this kind of micro housing technology paired with wraparound services. So we are making history here today.

You are valued and you have a place to begin again. From that belief this home forall program was born.

That reminds me of why I went into public service. At its core, I believe government exists to protect its citizens, especially the most vulnerable. That responsibility becomes clearer the closer you get to the local level where the impact of our work is most direct. All of us here understand the challenges that we're facing. You're the ones most invested in finding solutions that can help our neighbors. But when we talk about homelessness, we're often trying to solve a problem that doesn't have a single answer. At least not one that works for every situation. For some, it's the loss of a job. For others, it's health challenges. family circumstances, our hardships that built over time. What that means for us is that our response cannot be one sizefits-all. It challenges us to rise to the complexity of the moment to respond with intention and compassion for our neighbors who are often overlooked. I want to thank the partners, advocates, and neighbors who made today possible. As been mentioned by both of the speakers before me, projects like this don't happen without people willing to step up, collaborate, and believe in better outcomes for everyone. I'm proud of what we've accomplished today, but it's important to recognize that the work is only just getting

started. We are often judged by how we care for the most vulnerable. Today, we're taking one step to being the kind of community we aspire to be, but we still have miles to go. The good news is that every step we take, we get a little closer to being the Birmingham that history calls us to be. One that stands for dignity and justice for all people.