City Council - Regular Meeting

Huh? Well, I was here.

I was here at 459, but I got called. All right, we're going to call this work session to order. Great.

Mayor, council members, how are you doing? Great, thank you.

All right. Sorry, I made you wait a couple minutes there. Um, so if you look in your uh council work session agenda, you'll see our Q1 goals. Um, I do have good news. The mayor and I met with Danny Long, president of Enterprise State. They're very open to the idea of possible innovation center and would like to pursue that um see what that looks like moving forward and see if there's a way we can work together to have something um built or constructed um on their campus. So, um we'll get some next steps in the meetings ahead um and hopefully have a better meeting. I know that each one of you also received an invitation to go see the workforce development center that's currently up and running. Might also be a good time while we're out there to discuss the the feasibility and what they they could envision. Uh quarterly reports on nuisance properties and customer service experience for the city. We're targeting a second meeting in March for that quarterly goal and as well for our engineering report um developed and given to the council on a monthly basis by March 1st. Um our federal and state transportation plan is in progress definitely sometime in March you will have a kind of one that's been vetted through us and ALDOT um for that plan. Uh tonight uh the the child care facility in partnership with inter Enterprise YMCA or Montgomery YMCA and Pass for Success Foundation. Um in just a few moments uh we have Patty Houston and AJ Hernandez with the Montgomery YMCA and Pass for Success that are here with us and will come up and give a presentation uh on that. And then the Bellwood TAP project still first quarter start. We're moving towards that end. Um, we're in progress on our next round of dangerous

building abatements and obviously the strategic planning meeting was completed on January 14th. So that concludes our Q1 goals. All right, any questions on the goals, right, then we will uh review the agenda. Tonight's agenda, we'll start with roll call, opening prayer, pledge of allegiance and the approval of the agenda, consideration of consent agenda. Uh, any questions on the consent agenda? All right. And then there is a request to address the council for a permit request from Warren Bowen, uh, Special Olympics torch run. Um, is Captain Griswald here? Little blind. There you are. Half blind tonight. Uh everything good on this. All right. Thank you. And uh same with the um bowable 100. All right. Any questions on either one of those council? And then we have a permit request for Main Street Enterprise Spring Showcase at the monument. Um, same person. Captain Griswell. We good with this one. Shutting down showcase at the monument. Um, looks like Saturday, April 25th from 10 to 3. Is this the spring festival what it used to be called? Is that the renamed version? Is that okay? Did you have anything to say about it? Okay. All right. I I guess I wasn't I wasn't thinking about the spring showcase at the monument being the new name for it. I Any questions on that?

Missed that part. I I think they did. I don't know. Anyway, last year. Yeah. Just kind of threw me.

Um All right. Then we'll have the privilege of the floor staff reports. We have no old business. And then we will review and consider resolution 020326 back to school sales tax holiday. Uh we typically adopt this. Any questions? Any issues with that? All right. Um authorize the mayor to execute a lease agreement with Enterprise Business Incubator, Elevate Business Services. Um, so there'll be lease uh office space within enterprise business incubator which is shared by multiple people. Any questions on that? Do we do we need to get Jesse up here and grill him for anything? We good.

What is the What is the um I guess that's the only question. What is the Elevate Business Services? Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Mayor, ladies and gentlemen of the council. Elevate Business Services is is a uh one lady operation who does HR, administrative work um some accounting um out of out of her house at at present, but she formerly had worked up at uh New Brundage up there and she's wanting to start operation here in Enterprise.

Any questions? All right. Thank you. Thank you. Um, authorize mayor to execute amended memorandum of agreement with Enterprise Healthcare Authority. Uh, you have something on this, Mr. Tullis?

Yes, sir. Uh, members of the council, if you'll look behind your work session agenda, you'll see a contract in there. This is uh main changes. If you recall uh last year, you appropriated some funds for the healthc care authority to help out with the OB crisis um here in in Enterprise to cover LOM's coverage. Um given the the current situation that's going on there, um the the what was approved was strictly related to OBGYn services uh within the city of Enterprise. those funds are are not going to be needed for LOM's coverage. Um we would like to expand the agreement to cover uh recruiting and retention services of doctors within the enterprise community um is basically the change that would be made. So it would broaden the scope of how the healthcare authority could use funds. They they don't get a blanket check, just so you're aware. Like the way that that works is it's reimburseable. So, they have to submit a qualified expense that that would come back to to the city staff essentially or the mayor's office for those purposes.

Is this uh pretty much budget neutral or is it It would be budget neutral. Yes, sir. Anybody have any questions on this? Is there any specific um areas that they are thinking of targeting?

Yeah, if you if you recall um the healthc care study at least part one that was done, we had I think some 40 odd physicians that we were short in the local area. Um and over the next three to five years that number was projected to grow over 50. So um really several of them uh o ob OB in family practice is is one of the predominant ones. ER uh and general surgery, but um there there's a a host of other specialties that are on the horizon that you know you've got an aging workforce. could include dentists, um you know, could include um orthopedic surgeons, but a as our workforce ages and some of the doctors that you may know here in the community, you know, if they're in their 50s or 60s, you know, they're they're not going to be practicing a whole lot longer. So um specifically this this will work with um the healthcare authority of the Eel Gibson Foundation and the efforts already underway by Medical Center Enterprise to identify and recruit physicians uh physicians assistants um nurse practitioners into the to the community.

Well, I definitely think that it's needed to be recruiting uh doctors to come into the area. Does anyone have any comments or questions about this thing? I'm sure it is them. Well, I'm not sure, but it's it's possible stem from our I guess almost tragic um what was the end of 24 25 when um we were threatened to not have physicians. So, that's right. And and to Medical Center Enterprises credit, their heads together on that.

Yes, ma'am. And they they've done a really good job. I don't know if you've seen some of the the posts that they've they've made in media outlets, but um they do have a plan to continue um coverage within the women's center um and and moving forward and to continue to recruit and and get folks into the hospital or practitioners into the area. Um so they they have a full-time person that they've dedicated to that as well as some contracts that are out there to help recruit. But there are some things that come up um that the health care authority would be uniquely positioned um to facilitate like what happens if you get a a doctor coming from another market and there's a gap in insurance coverage who might pick up you know that that person on COBRA um you know so we're not talking you know hundreds of thousands of dollars but you know if there's a month or two that of a gap that that exists um or potentially if you've identified somebody that is um you know in their residence residency having some kind of a monthly stipen provided they sign a contract that when their residency finishes they come here. Those are some of the examples of how some of these funds might be used to help recruit.

So, since we're talking about healthcare, I I know there was a recent federal appropriation for some healthcare stuff for Enterprise. I don't know how public that is at this point. Um I think I saw some public media on it, but uh where do those funds go? Do they come to the city? Do they go to the healthcare authority? How does that

They'll go to the healthcare authority. There's a a $3 million congressional delegated spending request that was submitted by Senator Britt um specifically for s to procure a surgical robot and do installation for that. So um our community um not unlike many others did did not have a surgical robot. uh surgical robots um particularly in the in the gyn part of OBGYn and and then general surgeons um are trained at that at the medical school level. And so for the last 5 10 years, you know, people that come out, they they don't go into laparoscopic surgery, they do uh their surgeries and surgical robots. It improves patient outcomes. Um, but it's also a huge hindrance as we try to recruit here in the area because if they if they're forced to do laparoscopic surgeries, it drives up a revenue stream that some of those general surgeons or um on the gyn side might otherwise do here.

Okay. Um so that that would be through the through the um healthcare authority and the the hope is that they have a a usage agreement with medical center enterprise for for that or the doctors that are in that field or fields uh to use the fac um use the hospital's facility but the healthcare authorities machine. Okay. Well that's you already answered the question I was about to ask about would wouldn't that help with recruitment if we got that surgical robot. Yes, sir. Any further comments, questions? All right. Thank you. Yes, sir.

Next item on the agenda is request permission to purchase equipment street department ATV uh Polaris Ranger side by side. And this is a budgeted item. Any questions on that? All right. Then we'll recess regular session convened at E911. review the minutes. Uh there is a request to change the name of Bird Street to Elijah Dwey Way. Um is this where we have multiple Bird Streets or something going on? Yeah, we have a B

Y R B Y RD and a B I RD. Okay. I think it's a real attached Hello. Yes, sir. We had multiple two Bird Streets, one B IRD, one B Y R. Um, since the Bird Street off of Delville Avenue had no uh physical structures, we felt like this is the best time to go ahead and change that street name so that we won't have any problems. We have had problems in the past with um 911 being called to Bird Street and they um dispatched to the wrong one.

Okay. I thought I remembered that. So, thank you for clarifying. Um and then approve accounts payable. Then we'll adjourn the E911 reconvene mayor's report council comments. Any questions on the agenda tonight? Okay. Uh, next item on our agenda is the Enterprise YMCA path for success. Mr. Tolles,

I'll be um brief, but I I do want to introduce um the folks that are with us. um Patty Houston with Pass for Success Foundation and then AJ Hernandez uh and he's got a couple other folks from the Montgomery area YMCA which now uh runs our enterprise YMCA or at least supports it from the staff level um are here with us to to kind of talk about this. But as we've talked about in our strategic planning meetings um for the last couple of years um you know workforce has become a a big issue um in economic development or or lack thereof. And so one of the needs that we identified and and the council was able to fund was the workforce development center at Enterprise State Community College, which is now open and and providing career paths um that have never been offered here before. You know, automotive tech, nursing program is is up and running. Um and that's great that we're getting skilled laborers out into the workforce. But another thing that came up in in our um discussions about that was we have underparticipation, people that aren't able to participate in the workforce because we don't have adequate child care facilities in our community. And so, um I also meant to mention Neil Wade, um who you may remember from the strategic planning meeting, um had a medical issue and wasn't able to be here. But um I'll let Patty talk about how the Pass for Success Foundation ties into the community college system and and their partnership. But um without further ado, I'll I'll turn it over to them.

Well, good evening. Good evening.

Well, thank you all so much for giving us the opportunity to visit with you this evening and and talk about some work that the Path for Success Foundation is doing statewide in Alabama. Um, as Jonathan mentioned, uh, Neil Wade, you all know Neil, uh, he has worked in this state for a very, very long time. And in part of his work, separate from the foundation, by the way, he is the Paths for Success board chairman. And he and I work very closely together. And he's he hates that he could not be here with us tonight because he's very proud of what's going on here in Enterprise and excited about this opportunity. But with his work with communities around the state, a lot of ci a lot of cities including Enterprise wanted to have the conversation about child care. They recognized that it was a problem that was keeping a lot of their citizens out of the work for out of the workforce and on the on the sidelines. And so it's opened a lot of doors. You'll see in your packet, you can look at that later. There's a map of the communities that we've been working with thus far. And certainly Enterprise is on that map and we've had quite a few meetings over a course of a year at this point in time to get to the point that we are tonight. So what we're trying to do in child care is to bring partners together. That's the model for what we're doing. We want the partners in any given community and those vary depending on what your community has to offer. In most cases, the city government is involved. Sometimes the school system is involved. DHR is always involved. We are always involved and we are providing grant dollars to help support the partners in a community to bring a child care facility to fruition. Uh in some cases that might be a renovation or retrofitting which in what we're learning can be very very expensive. In other cases, and in this one in particular, modular construction is the most costefficient. and you're lucky in your community that that we're working with a modular company that's provided

some information that you have in your packet that shows a design, the cost, it's breaks down everything that that it is included and then AJ's going to talk a good bit about where it will go and of course the YMCA is going to fund fund the center. um you have if you look in your packet and we can scroll for is somebody scrolling go to the chart if you would because there's some statistics and data in there that I think that you'll want to think about at a later date that's specific to Dale and to Coffee Counties. Um this is the model that I just finished talking about. And then the issue with child care is that it's a bad business model. Child care has two very very serious problems. The first problem is the pay for the workers. In the state of Alabama, an average child care worker earns $10.50 an hour. McDonald's in most cases pays $15. It's very hard to hire someone and then maintain that person over a long-term basis. That's one of the problems. The other problem is what you can charge families. You know, when you're paying around $6,600 per child on average for dayare and if you have multiple children, what does that do? then in many cases people cannot go to work because they cannot afford it. So the problems exist and we're trying to put together a solution. Part of that solution is for a child care provider if they do not have a heavy mortgage or a rent then they can tap into all of the other resources charge parents a reasonable fee for their children and sustain themselves. So this model is about sustainability. So go on to the chart. keep going if you would they can look at these. This is something I just want to point out to you. So this is some statistics that um the 2020 data came from the data that was pulled together throughout the state that led to the 2024 legislation that

was passed by the Alabama legislature on child care tax credits. Since that time the department of human resources is working with the University of Alabama. So the 22 to 24 data and some of it is even 2025 came from the University of Alabama. And so it breaks down your communities by the number of children under the age five. Um what your child care capacity is and this is they're estimating the exact seats that you have. If you look at that in Coffee County in 2020 you had 1388. Today you have 1,114. Your seat capacity has gone down. Dale County on the other hand has moved in the right direction but not at a great rate. They calculate the percentages there and I think that's a a lofty percentage because I don't think that today in coffee there's 67% need and then a 76% need for child care seat expansion in these two counties because some families don't need to send their children to daycare. Uh they can afford for a parent to stay home. They might have a grandmother, an aunt, a neighbor, a friend that can keep their children. Having said that, I do believe in this county and in Dale County, you have right around a 50 plus% deficit. So, you need additional child care seats and I think this data supports that. So, having said all that, we at the foundation, uh, the YMCA has written a grant to us, and we're going to be issuing a $100,000 grant to the YMCA for the seed money for this project. um we want to blend those funds with YMCA and with the city funds to make this project come to fruition. So AJ's going to tell you a little bit about the facility itself, what they're going to be doing and what the outcomes and successes can be um through their their utilization. And then I have with me as well Johnny Frost and she is on contract with the foundation. We hired her

recently. She owns two daycarees in Daphne, Alabama. And she and I are working on a project together in Mobile. And I said, "You know more about child care than I'll ever know in my lifetime. Can you help us? Would you consider it?" She said, "Yes." So, she's going to be working with you here in Enterprise to help YMCA to talk specifically about what the facility has to look like, how how can we tap into these tax credits both state and federally, and she's very knowledgeable about that. And so, once AJ finishes, she's going to talk a little bit about the tax credit piece, which I think you will find very interesting. Ready? Good evening, chairman, council, mayor. I appreciate you all giving me the opportunity to kind of talk today about what what the need is and then what we can able to accomplish by your support. So, uh we'll work work through this a little bit, but uh I don't know if you all are aware, but in August, the Enterprise YMCA uh affiliated with the YMCA of Greater Montgomery uh to be able to allow us the opportunity to really serve the community uh further. And so over the last uh few months up to this point, we've really invested quite a bit into that facility with a new wellness center, a new basketball gymnasium, uh as well as some other amenities for families. And so we're going to continue to invest uh into the facility. Um, but as we were exploring what the the Y needed and what the community needed, child care was a clear uh indication from families that this is something that they they they've had in the past, the Y offered, you know, years ago. Um, but went away and something that was is a need of theirs. And so, a little bit about our Y. So, if you want to please go to the next slide. Um, so R Y is one of the leaders in the states uh in child care. So our, you know, we serve over, uh, 2,000 kids every single day in preschool and after school care, as well as, uh, 3,000 plus kids through summer camp programming. So, uh, we are licensed through DHR. All of our staff are fully trained, CPR certified, um, have all the requirements that that anybody requires to be able to serve kids at the highest capacity level. And so some of the things you'll see that we

offer from our program models uh is you know for our first class prek program, our head start partnerships, uh we have a lot of uh unique partnerships with the state of department of education uh to be able to offer a lot of learning loss prevention programming. So in the summertime, you know, kids really struggle with losing a lot of those uh things they've learned throughout the school year and and the the next month, you know, when they start back school, teachers really work hard just to catch them back up. So, we do we do offerings uh and we're the only ones in the state that do this through the Department of Education to really prevent those uh summer learning loss through Power Scholar Academy. Uh and you guys can see again some of some of the things we offer through STEM programming, literacy development, social emotional learning, uh feeding programs. Uh we're one of we serve over 500,000 meals a day, I'm sorry, a year over um you know, through our brown bag bus program and feeding programs for youth. And so part of this center would be to be able to give kids uh meals that maybe otherwise wouldn't be able to have those meals on a daily basis, right? And so uh not only is it providing them with safe quality high education child care, it's also giving them meals uh through through our program as well as uh just giving them positive spaces to grow. So next slide, please. So you guys can see we already talked about some of the needs uh that Patty mentioned, but you all can see the workforce gap here uh in our community, the be the the access gap, you know, uh we're working currently with Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery to be able to help some of those folks be able to not only get child care uh you know, as a um person serving our country, but also some of their their spouses be able to get employment as well through that. And so I believe that's a huge opportunity here that we can really serve working with uh the partnership through the base as well as uh again long wait lists. Uh you know the uh the opportunity here is so huge to be able to help uh families particularly um you know ladies be able to get into the workforce and be able to provide those those those needs that

they have uh to to to sustain their family. So next slide please. So you guys can see what we're looking to do. So, uh, this space, uh, is currently on site, uh, something that you all, uh, have been very, very supportive of, uh, you know, through the city property of being able to establish the Y for a long term, for a long history. And so, uh, that space that you're looking at there, that's the best we could do from an aerial view, uh, is, uh, that open land, which is between the roundabout there. And so, it would not affect any current facilities that the YMCA already has. It would just be adding into that space. And I believe it's a perfect location to be able to access uh not only that new childcare facility uh but also our new basketball gymnasium uh and then you know going inside the uh the current youth development uh building that they access. And so, uh, what it would be able to offer is five classrooms, um, you know, a kitchen, conference room for the staff and teachers to have meetings with families, bathrooms, and then, as we mentioned before, between the $100,000 investment from the foundation, uh, and and a $600,000 investment from the city, we'll be able to serve 60 plus children on a daily basis through quality, high, you know, child care, uh, which is, uh, which is which would be a huge, huge blessing on those families. companies to be able to really uh get back into the workforce and really progress them. And so uh we do this across our region and so I'm really excited to be able to potentially expand this further and that that's just an example of what the modular facility that we can implement uh with the goal of doing this in the fall. So with the great part about having a modular facility which is approved through DHR to be able to put this up really fast um which to me seems seems really quick but uh you know that it's a great company that automobile who's able to do this and uh at a low cost. I mean if you were going to build this facility a different way you you would see three or four

times that amount. Next slide please. So you can see some of the community impact that would happen because of this. Again, as I mentioned, child development, economic growth, future job creation. Uh, you know, I think it will really help prepare our students uh for school age, you know, as well, right? This is going to give them a leg up, whereas otherwise they're coming in to kindergarten and and they're behind other students that they're going to really be ahead. And so I'm really excited for for that uh that ability of those students to be able to thrive when they get to uh school age programming. uh family sustain for them to be able to you know um when a job loss happens that what's what's great about the YMCA is we provide subsidies for family. So if somebody would have lo lost a job and they were in our childare programming we raise dollars so that those families don't have an absence in childare so that they can be able to still continue to look for for jobs so that they don't lose that opportunity which is really important for us and that's what makes the YMCA different from other you know areas. Uh and then obviously we mentioned the workforce impact. So um next slide please. That's really and so that that's really uh the YMCA's opportunity here. I really appreciated the mayor and and Jonathan and and the whole group here uh for being able to uh just see the vision that the YMCA has to really help impact the community and uh and be able to see the YMCA differently in enterprise moving forward. And so questions.

Uh you mentioned the number of children that you guys would be able to impact. What was that number again? Yeah, it it would be uh that current center is 60 plus children. So uh roughly about 67 kids on a daily basis. Uh that that would be preschool age, right? Okay. What are the requirements to participate for a parent to participate in this? What are the requirements for a parent? Yeah, the requirements. Yeah, it would be um you know, obviously there's certain forms and applications to fill out. Um but after that, you know, they would pay a minimal fee, you know, to be able to participate. Um, and so the great part about this is the YMCA through our, you know, organization and subsidies, we're able to offer this cost at a low at a low premium. So we are, uh, well below, uh, the averages in Montgomery, and we would continue that approach here in Enterprise.

What is that average low? Yeah. So, uh, currently for a preschool program, a parent in Montgomery would pay $110 a week. Um, which is which again is, uh, on average much lower than than, uh, you know, you see like $150 to $175 per week in most childcare centers. Um, and then, you know, through support and, uh, through company, you know, as well as other donors, um, those, you know, if a family applies for assistance, they can get that down to uh, as low as $55 to $60 per week. And that that's based upon a you know accredited process we take them through to showcase their their income. Y

so this is just a physical site investment that is being asked for not a continuous staffing on the city's behalf or oversight uh in terms of the daycare facilities.

No. Yeah. Yes sir. You're right. Yeah. We would we would handle all the operations as well as the um cost of the the programs and um and you know everything that requires of that. This would be a physical investment. Yes, sir. council. I just wanted to um remind everybody I know it's kind of transitioned in between uh you know two terms with with so we have some new council members from when we started this but um you know when we did the workforce development center enterprise state we had ideas about what was wrong in the community what we didn't have but we we needed a partner like the city's not going to get involved in in doing dual enrollment or workforce development education and training people how to weld or be a nurse, right? And so we we found that partner, they presented a plan. And so that that's where we were at with the workforce center. We we didn't know who. We didn't go to the Y and say, "Hey, we want to build this here. Can you you know, we were looking for a provider, somebody that could actually," and that's one of the big hindrances throughout the state is finding somebody like a YMCA to actually run the programming that you're talking about. Um it's not easy. There's a lot of hoops to jump through. DHR accreditation and our current why um you know when it started um there weren't all the rules and regulations and and I think that's one of the reasons that child care isn't offered there today is that DHR won't accredit the site and so if we were able to provide funding to them which is in the budget um to to build a facility that could be accredited by DHR and they run the program um that that was sort of the the genesis of you know why we we found a partner. We didn't look for it and say the Y is going to do this. We we were trying we we initially started out with the Boys and Girls Club um as we went through this. We had conversations with the school system and Head Start and a lot of different other programs um until we we settled on one that we could take

action on. So, I just wanted to give a little background on that as well. To uh for a child to participate in this, would they have to be a resident of the city of Enterprise? Uh, that's a great question. Um, you know, I think from a workforce lens, um, you know, I think the parents would would be working in the area because that would be the the most, you know, easiest way for them to access it. But, um, you know, if if the spots were available, we would not turn anyone away, right? And so, I think that, you know, uh, it would be whatever the best need for the family would be is what I would imagine. Yes, sir. I was I will say I was surprised to hear that $55, $60 a week. That's unheard of.

Yeah. And and again, that's that's for families in dire need, right? That's a 50% subsidy, but but the YMCA has, you know, has really established um you know, through through our organization, you know, we have 17 locations across uh the River Region and our Enterprise that um you know, we've really it's one of our social impact pillars. So, something that we believe in deeply is youth development. And so, this something that, you know, I believe I'm a product of the YMCA. I was I was a a child who got scholarshiped as a you know, for my single mom. And so I know the impact it can have and that's why we believe in that. Yes, ma'am.

And and daycare just it it taps into a major problem just with parents getting jobs on um child support level just about you name it because the state allows up to so many dollars that you know a family can get credit for. And sometimes that doesn't even touch on what um they're paying if they're paying 650 but they can only get a credit for 510. So that would eliminate some of the problems you see there and tie into some other resources that we have in the community that could see some improvement perhaps.

Yes ma'am. I mean we work with a lot of uh DHR uh programs that really help provide those subsidies as well as you know um our programs are uh not only certified but we provide a a center director as well as certified teachers over those programs. So there's a lot of uh support staff to be able to help that. But again, uh the issue I I think we notice is childc carees uh especially pre preschool centers do not make money. They're they're not a money maker. But for us, it's one of our drivers that we that we you know we believe in. And so uh for us, this investment is necessary, I think, for the community, but also, you know, for for family growth. And so that's something that we believe and that's why we want to do this. Thank you.

Yes, please.

Hi. Um, I'll just talk a little bit um about the state and federal tax credits um because I think that will also um explain some of what deficit may be left um when you're talking about the cost of child care. Um as Patty mentioned, my name is Johnny Frost. Um I own two centers. I operate them um in Bowwin County, Alabama, but I've worked very um closely with some of the people at the state level on the new Alabama um employer state uh tax credit. And just to give you some information about other ways and other partnerships um with some of your local businesses where they can take advantage of some substantial tax credits by offering an incentive for child care for their own employees. Um so I'll start really quickly. The newest tax credit is going to be the Alabama employers um child care tax credit. And that credit um specifically is for your for-profit businesses in your community. they will have an opportunity to provide child care support uh to their families um in a variety of ways whether that is paying them a weekly stipend or working with a provider directly like the YMCA where they secure specific slots for a certain number of children. um those costs would then be um those costs would qualify as a qualifying expense for them for the child care tax credit. And depending on the size of the business, that credit can be up to $600,000 um as a tax credit um against their Alabama income taxes. So there's a huge um tax credit available to anybody in the state of Alabama. And it's also available, it's not just for big businesses. if you have one employee all the way up to a 100 employees, you can take advantage of this tax credit. So, anyone that has um W2 employees is available uh to use this tax credit to offset some of those

expenses. Uh there's also an expansion now to the um IRS 45F credit that took effect in January of this year. That credit is now $500,000 for qualifying expenses. Um, businesses can also stack those two credits. So, it reduces their tax liability. Um, and they're they're able to offer this. It's being offered as an incentive for the employers to incentivize and make this a benefit because the employers understand the importance of child care and um quality child care in their own workforce and the financial impact that has when families have to call out because they don't have consistent care or need backup care because grandma can't keep the child. Um, and in those cases when the employer is able to stack their own benefit with a child care subsidy through uh the state of Alabama, in some cases it can reduce a family's um it can reduce their uh child care cost to to zero dollars based off of their own income and what their family qualifies for. Um so there are huge um in benefits to your families um through their employers if the employers are um willing to look at that from an ongoing operational standpoint. So in terms of keeping cost low in the years after this center were to open, they can continue to take advantage of that and offset those costs and also work with the YMCA in order to drive that cost of care down so that the families are not feeling um the the constant pressure of what the cost of quality child care is. Is this a payment direct from the employer to the child care facility or is this money that they give to their employees?

So the employers can do it in a number of ways. Um the probably the the most um frequent that we are seeing right now is a child care stipen that's paid directly to the employee and that employee can then take that stipen and use it at a qualifying childare center. So if it's a licensed center um they can go and as long as they make a payment to that qualifying center and then submit the substantiating documentation then they can do it that way. There are other cases where they pay for seats. So an employer may say I want 15 spots and they can pay the provider directly for those 15 spots and they're secured for their employees. Okay, thank you.

Thank you. Is there any questions today?

I want to just close and say a couple of things and I know we're probably over our time so please forgive me. Here in enterprise you have some unique opportunities for partnership past the initial investment which is to provide the center at no cost to the provider moving forward. You have Enterprise State Community College here. We at the foundation are partner with all the community college in the state. We do a huge scholarship program for workforce development programs. We you we utilize Enterprise State regularly. But they also, as I understand it, have a child development program. I got a call from one of their employees last week and said, "Hey, what's this child care center?" Those students can do internships at this center. Which gives a lot of help to the YMCA as far as staffing is concerned because they get credit for that. And those internships could be paid at some level as well. Your military presence um is very very helpful. In many cases, your military comes in what two to three years and then they move out to their next assignment. Military spouses often have a hard time finding jobs. They could work here at this center and even bring their children with them. I think that's a huge benefit. AJ mentioned too that the educational component. Um this is very personal to me. I spent a lot of years in education and I believe strongly that these children will have a chance to be school ready when they get to kindergarten. And you can track these kids and see how they compare against those that stayed at home and didn't have this educational component. Lastly, I'd like to say that we're doing this in Aliceville. We're doing this all over the state, but the Aliceville center is built. Uh we came in on the backside. The seed money and the land was provided by the city. The money was raised to build the same modular unit that you're looking at, which is a fiveplex. And by the way, it's like a Lego. When they outgrow the 60some students, you get you add additions to that. And as long as you have the land, they can add to the facility as needed. So, you have room to grow down the road.

That one's a fiveplex. I think AJ wants to go see it. Uh we're providing the the final funding. we're equipping it with, you know, chairs and desks and beds and kitchens and playground equipment and a fence and those kinds of things. So, that's a different model, but I think you should be aware there is something in place that this this can show you exactly how it can work and how it can benefit a community. So, I'm going to stop and say thank you very much for your time. Any other questions of any of us? Does a site selected will that allow I mean where it's going to be put that going to allow for growth? It does. allow four more classrooms. Four more. Yeah.

Okay. Glad you mentioned utilizing the students at Enterprise State. I know Troy opened the Coleman Center there in Dothan and utilize it as a daycare facility, but it's also a training ground for the early childhood ed uh students through college of ed. So, uh that's a great model. Thank you so much. Thank you very much. Second. So, we have a request to go into executive session. Um, do I have a motion? Make a motion we go into executive session. Second. All in favor say I. All oppose, same sign.

All right. Motion carries. Go in executive session. We do not expect to conduct any further business and work session. We will be resuming at city council time at 6.

Hallelujah.

Yeah. Yeah. All right, the uh February 3rd meeting of the city council come to order. Let the record show that all members of the council are in attendance. Let's all stand for our opening prayer and pledge. And prayer will be offered by Councilman Scotty Johnson.

Please pray with me. Dear Lord, we thank you for for your arms around us. We thank you for everything you give us each and day. Lord, be with our city. Be with this council tonight. Be with all our citizens. And let us tonight just do your work that you had provided for us. And oh Lord, we come to you and just thank you for the riches and for the blessings that you provide each of us. And Lord, I thank you for providing those blessings to all our citizens, all our city workers, our first responders, and Lord, all our military wherever they are around the world. In your heavenly name we pray. Amen. Please join me for the pledgece to the flag of the United States of America and to the stands one nation indivisibley and justice for all.

All right. I call for a motion to approve the agenda of the meeting as submitted. I move to approve the agenda of the meeting as submitted. Do I have a second? I second. All right. All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. All right. All m uh all matters listed with the consent agenda have been distributed to each member of the council for review are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion of the city council with no separate discussion. If separate discussion is desired on an item, that item may be removed from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda by request of a member of the city council. I call for a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented.

Move to approve the consent agenda as presented. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I.

I. All oppose, same sign. Motion carries. All right. I recognize uh Warren B representing Coffee Geneva Special Olympics is requested to address the council to obtain a permit to hold the Special Olympics torch run on Friday, March 13th. 2026 from 8:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. with a rain date of Friday, March 20th, 26. Uh, Mr. President, mayor, council, uh, this is our annual torch run for our annual track and field day. Uh, will be held at Bates Memorial Stadium. And, uh, we've got right now about 12 elementary schools that are going to be participating. Uh we've got a uh great support from the police department and running the torch as well as other uh people from Fort Rucker and other areas to do so. No changes from the years past.

Okay. All right. And um we if you just want to stay there for the next one. All right. So uh do I have a motion? I move to approve the permit request as submitted. Second.

Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. And just for the record, we did uh referred to Captain Griswell during the um work session about this. So that was approved. Okay. Uh now, uh you have also requested uh to address the council to obtain a permit for the Boheal 100 on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026 from 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. with a rain date is Saturday, May 9th, 2026. Street closure at 8:30 a.m. from Alberta Street to North Main Street across Bole Weevil Circle. That's correct. Again, this is a this will be our 22nd Boevil 100. We have moved it uh from downtown when we originally did it 20 plus years ago and now we we stage at the church go down uh Alberta, turn right on North Main and go out to 51 uh for our fun ride as well as our 25 mileer. And we also have a virtual 100 that anybody that has a computer, has a a bike, a stationary bike, whatever. And this is a fundraiser for the Enterprise Lions Club to help raise funds for our different organizations that we donate in the spring. And again, no changes from last year.

Okay. And we also um got approval from Captain Griswall during the work session on this. So, do we have a motion? Move to approve the permit as requested. Second. All right. Any discussion? All in favor say I.

All oppose, same sign. Motion carries. Thank you. All right. So, we also have a um permit request for Main Street Enterprise Spring Showcase at the Monument. Spring Showcase at the Monument. Saturday, April 11th, 2026 from 10:00 a.m. to 3 pm with a rain date of Saturday, April 25th. Street closure from 6:00 am to 4 pm from College Street, Edwards to Railroad tracks, and street closure from 7:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. Easy Street, Edwards to Main, Railroad Street, College to Grubs, West Grub Street, Maine to Railroad Street, East Grub Street, Edwards to Maine from 8 to 4 and closure area will be Main Street. So,

um, this event happens every year. Not really anything different. It follows a very similar, um, format and setup to Hooville. It is a little bit shorter. It goes from 10 to three rather than 10 to 4, but I have spoken with all the department heads and there have been no issues so far, but if you have any questions, feel free to let me know. All right. Do I have a motion? I move to approve the permit request as submitted. Second. All right. Any discussion? All in favor say I. All oppose, same sign. Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you.

All right. Now, we'll move to the privilege of the floor. This is the part of the meeting where anyone in attendance tonight who wishes to address the council may do so for three minutes. If there's a public hearing on the agenda for the topic you are concerned with, please wait until that public hearing opens to address the council. If they choose, staff, mayor, and council will respond to your comments during the appointed times later in the meeting. Repetitive, disruptive, and disparaging comments will not be tolerated. If you're found out of order, your privileges can and will be revoked. Does anyone wish to address the council at this time? All right. Please state your name. Jesse Bowman. Address 304 Willow Drive.

Sorry.

Uh first I'd like to uh thank Mr. Waltz and Mr. Mac and welcome to the uh board and and I pray for your success and and working together to uh make Enterprise a better city. Um with that being said, I'd like to get started with something because right here I have a publication and in this publication it talks about my interactions with public officials. Well, the only public officials that I've had inter interactions with are right here. Uh and I don't know if they're all here, but a lot of them are. And um so what I'm going to go over and I want to start with on April 6, Stephanie Potter um a mental health specialist for Coffee County Courts instructed me to record every interaction with any individual involving the case that I was involved in. So if any recordings I talk about, please understand that they were directed by a member in her acting duty as um uh mental health observer for Coffee County. So, what I'd like to start with and and everything that I'm saying has been recorded. So, when I interacted with you, Mr. Johnson, it was about my interaction with Mr. Moore. Correct, Chief Moore. Do you remember that, sir? Yes, sir. You do. Uh, and then I What was that about? So, my interaction with Mr. Moore was about what? It was about my complaints about his officers trying to force me to give my children back to someone that they were claiming was abusing them. Now, this is all recorded. This is all recorded. So, that was my interaction with Mr. Moore. And then it was also about reports that were written very, very terribly. And when I say terribly, I mean there was one time where someone drove their car into my yard intoxicated, busted their way into my home, assaulted my wife, and it was written down as domestic violence harassment. The person was still on the property. The vehicle was still in the yard. She sat there and bered them for

about 30 minutes and they still let her get in the car, drive off. It was very traumatizing to my wife and she was assaulted. I had the videos. It was all recorded. I have videos all around my house. I have video cameras and I record the inside of my house as well. Why? Because of all this. And what was I told? If I don't like what's going on, sue the city. I I don't think that's right. I don't think that's right. that citizens should have to pay for the malfeasants of other people. But I'm going to end this now and I'm going to end it pretty shortly because this has gone too far. I have not tried to get anyone arrested or deported. The evidence showed that I was speaking to someone and they informed me of a crime that was committed against me. It wasn't something made up in my head. This evidence was produced. And this is why what is going on in our country is going on because we have local governments covering for illegal immigrants and they're they're hiding them from prosecution. This is exactly what happened in my case. This is absolutely exactly what happened in my case. How can I be making something up and how can this be retaliation when I was informed of the crime? All of this went to Enterprise PD, but somehow in this publication, it's just accusations. Yes, sir. Your three minutes are up.

Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. All right. Is there anyone else who would like to address the council? All right. Seeing no, we'll move to staff reports. Do any of the staff have any reports? Hi, just a quick reminder, uh, we are now into February and our business license renewal season goes through February 15th. How about giving me a call tomorrow about that?

Okay, call. Call. You know where to find me. So, um, actually, what I did want to point out though is that February 15th is a Sunday this year and then the 16th is a holiday. So, we're actually gives everybody through February 17th to make sure that they get all of their paperwork turned in um to the office. And the ladies working in the revenue office are doing a great job. I just wanted to give you a really quick update. Last year, January 2025, they issued 1,226 licenses during the month of January. This year, they've in the month of January, they issued, 1583. So um that's a another 357 um business licenses that were issued in the month for over last year. However, that still is a significant we normally issue around 4,400 licenses in a year. So we're still sitting only at 36% approximately. So everybody be sure to come in and get your stuff in so that you don't have any late fees or penalties or anything like that. So February 17th.

Thanks. Thank you. Any other staff reports?

All right. Seeing none, we'll move into old business, which we have none of. And now we'll move into new business. Introduce and call for consideration of resolution 020326 providing for the adoption of the back to school sales tax holiday as per act 2017120 beginning at 12:01 a.m. on Friday July tw 1726 and ending at 12 midnight on Sunday July 19th 2026 covered items relate to purchases for school purposes to include among other things clothing school supplies and computers. Do I have a motion? I move to adopt resolution 020326. Second.

All right. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. All right. Call for a motion to authorize the mayor to execute an agreement on behalf of the city of Enterprise with Terry Michelle Grantham and Elevate Business Services LLC for the lease of office space within the Enterprise Business Incubator located at 102 Commerce Drive as per the terms of the lease agreement. Do I have a motion? Move to authorize the mayor to execute the lease agreement as submitted. Second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I.

I. All oppose, same sign. Motion carries. Call for a motion to authorize the mayor to execute amendment number one to the memorandum of agreement with the Enterprise Healthcare Authority for the purpose of physician recruitment and retention within the city of Enterprise. Do I have a motion? I move to authorize the mayor to execute amendment number one to the memorandum of agreement with the Enterprise Healthcare Authority as requested. Second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I.

All oppose, same sign. Motion carries. Introduce and call for consideration of a request from the city engineer, public works director, Barry Mott, to purchase a Polaris Ranger sidebyside ATV from Dalling truck and tractor at a cost of $19,294. The equipment is a budgeted item in the FY26 Street department budget. Do I have a motion? Move to authorize the purchase request as submitted. Second. All right. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries.

All right. We will now reassess our regular session and convene into the E911 board meeting. All right. Let the record show that all members of the board are present. And I call for a motion to approve the January 6, 2026 E911 board meeting minutes as written.

Move to approve the January 6, 2026 E911 board meeting minutes as written. Second. Any discussion? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. There is no old business. So we will review and consider resolution 020326 introduce and call for consideration of resolution 020326 providing to change the name of Bird Street located off Daleville Avenue between Hull Street and Cersei Street to Elijah Dwey Way. Do have a motion. Move to adopt resolution 020326. Second.

Any further discussion? All in favor say I. All oppose, same sign. Motion carries. Call for a motion to approve accounts payable A for January 2026 in the amount of $3,450. Move to approve the accounts payable A for January 2026 in the amount of $3,450.3. Second. Any further discussion? All in favor say I. I. All oppose. Same sign. Motion carries. E 911 board meeting is now adjourned. Do you have some? Yes, sir. Sorry. Thank you. I'm sorry. May I address my 911 board?

Let me unadjourn it first. No, go ahead.

I would like to make you aware of uh our contract with our call answering uh platform is ending. So 5 years ago we contracted with Soliccom as the next generation 911 answering platform. Soliccom was the lowest bidder at the time and that was 5 years ago and they were not wellliked by the users and they were unfavorable when it came to customer service. Um they our current cost for the contract was $1,300 a month. Uh $650 per seat. So the 911 call answering platform contract for SOLCOM is ending May the 10th, 2026. So we've vetted several platforms and we have a solution and that I wanted to address. Our solution would be Vesta. They're a Motorola um entity. They're also contracted with in digital. They have over 60% users in Alabama and over 90% in the United States. The two demos and that we sat through and we traveled to Pike County uh to review the system, it seemed to have no issues. Um in we communicated with the telecommunicators and they they love the program. Um the state board favors the platform. Um the issue is that it's going to cost a little bit more um than uh our soliccom did. So you want to go ahead because I can't see.

Sure. Absolutely. And um also we'd like to move from having a two seat 911 answering service to three seats. We are a four seat center. So we could use the additional fourth one for various other things that the dispatchers have to do aside from 911 call taking. but a minimum of three seats as we actively use all three. And currently we don't have a 911 answering station at the third seat. So some of that additional cost is just in uh expanding due to the the call volume that has expanded over time. So the cost difference now that we're looking at is per seat about $182 a month more for this program. The benefits though with this program, Soliccom was actually um outsourced through Canada. So they were very difficult to both pay to both work with and to get customer service because they were outsourced outside of the country. Vestas ran here and supported by in digital who works out of Alabama. And like Tangi stated 60% of the 911 centers use this in the state of Alabama and 90% nationwide. That's how reliable this product is. that really went into our decision- makingaking versus some other platforms was the reliability because we had so many flaws and issues with Soliccom and the cost of a 911 product failing is a lot more than a financial cost for the city. So, this was our proposed solution based on those considerations. We would like to um propose the contract and allow our attorney to view it before it we go any further. And I just needed permission to do so.

And that extra seat that gives you an opportunity for training, right? Yes, sir. It does. Okay, great. Outside of the $182 per month, are you going to need any hardware or any any other items that have to be swapped out or changed?

Everything is going to be included. It's just um since we already have soliccom in place, the um vendor is asking that if we want to beat that deadline of the May the 10th so that we won't go monthtomonth with soliccom, we we probably need to get an answer no later than March. So that's why I wanted to present it to you tonight. Captain Griswall, does this affect you guys in any capacity? That would be something I would have to speak to Chief Moore about. He is still available for me to speak to him and I would prefer to do that before this is made to find out exactly where the money would come from, whose budget it comes out of. If it's ours, yes, that would affect us.

Okay, that's why I didn't I didn't know who was paying for the upgrade. Miss Hill, is this refresh our memories. It was something u that you all want to switch to um that was covered with some monies outside of I not that's not this is not the No, ma'am. I know I think you're talking about the prepared program. Yes, that's okay. I didn't want you can explain the prepared.

So, so the 911 pro is the actual platform that we're losing the contract to or the the contract is expiring. It's the full base platform that allows us the calls to be routed to our center and answered. This platform actually lets us route our non-emergency calls as well, which would allow us to it would alleviate some of the equipment that we use. we would no longer need to have like physical phone headsets for separate calls. Currently in dispatch, we answer two different phones and have a headset on for the radio. So, this would integrate all of those systems. Prepared was a product that assists any 911 program that makes it uh more efficient for the user. Any other questions? All right, I guess we will wait for city attorney and

thank you you guys to get back with us. All right, thank you. Thanks. Thank you. Meeting is now adjourned and we will resume our reconvene our regular session. Mayor, do you have a report for us?

Yes. I want to begin by thanking the council for your hard work tonight. I especially appreciate your approval of the various training and travel requests for our city employees. It makes me proud to see our team members choosing to invest in their professional growth by sharpening our skills and staying current in their fields. They are better equipped to serve our citizen and keep enterprise moving forward. Speaking of progress, this week marks a very special milestone. We are officially celebrating the one year anniversary of our recreation of a quarted center. It has been an incredible year of seeing our residents enjoy this space and we remain excited to offer these types of high quality of life projects that make our city such a wonderful place to live and play. Looking ahead to the weekend, I want to invite everyone to join us downtown Enterprise this Saturday for the Migras on Maine. This festivity will run from 4 to 900 p.m. Not only is this going to be a fantastic time for the whole family, but it is also a vital fundraiser that helps support our ongoing downtown revitalization efforts. I hope to see a great crowd out there supporting our local heart of the city. Finally, a quick reminder that all city offices will be closed on Monday, February 16th for the president's day. Please note that the garbage collection schedule will be adjusted for that week. You can find the specific details regarding those changes on the city's website at the enterpriseal.gov good about following our Facebook page. Thank you.

Glad to see everyone out tonight. Thanks for coming. Want to thank our staff for all your hard work and um all the department heads and our uh staff entire the city. So really appreciate that and you all have a good night.

Uh thank you for Mr. Byron for spearheading some of the projects he does. So uh always great to see you and and the work you do for the city. even back to when I I was a little kid and you were refereeing at the rec center. Uh, also make note of uh Glenn and the public works guys. I had someone on College Street comment about the the striping that's going down over there. So, thank you guys for taking care of that. So, there are uh little things that we think aren't big, but they're big to somebody. So, let's just keep that in mind. So, thank you for everybody for attending.

Just thank you for attending and thank you for all our citizens online watching this. And uh I know we had this cold weather go through and there's been some water manes broken and everything else. Allan, thank you. You guys got out there really quick and taking care of that area for us, but uh God bless everyone and thank you city workers for everything you do each and every day. Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Bow, for what you do. You're here every time I'm here. I look out and you guys are are here. So, I appreciate um not only your attendance, but giving back to the city and and doing what you do for Enterprise. Um so, thank you for that and thank you for giving me a hard time for being a little late today. So, appreciate that. Um and then thank you for Captain Griswall because I know you didn't want to be called on and you didn't want to say anything and I'm thankful that you stood up and got behind the mic. So, thank you guys. That's the faithful row right right there. Thank everyone for coming tonight. Hope you have a good night. Speak is adjourned.

Captain Griswall.

Captain Griswall. Captain Thank you. I'll have