City Council - Regular Meeting

In the hands of our capable city clerk, is Lisa Carol. This is the pre-meeting of the Mobile City Council, Tuesday, April the 14th. We have appeals request for waiver of the noise ordinance on April the 17th from 5:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. on Government Street. May the 23rd from 9:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Government Street. April August the 1st, 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. in Mardi Gras Park. November 7th, 11:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. in Mardi Gras Park. June 11th from 8:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. on Conception Street. June 12th, 5:00 p.m. until 11:00 p.m. on Conception Street. July 10th, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. [snorts]

Hope Park. July 25th from 1:00 a.m. I mean 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Hope Park. February the 7th, 2027 7:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on Broad and Canal Streets. May the 9th from 11:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. on West Bucker Road. June 20th, 2:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. West Bucker Road. July 11th, 4:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. on Dunaway Drive. Are there any issues on Councilwoman Ingram? Yes, um Mr. President. If you look at the first one, 1757 Government Street, if we can change that to 10:00 p.m. That's the only one? No, sir. The next one is going to be 54 South Conception Street. If you change that to 10:00 p.m.

[clears throat]

Followed by the second one at 54 South Conception Street, if you change that to 10:00 p.m. Thank you. You're good. Presentation of petitions and other communications to the council. Sheree Shaw, love it. Providing information about events for the National Day of Prayer. Darlene Shavers, Miss Super Senior Mobile, giving information about senior Alabama organization. Estelle Trotter City Civil to hold the Mobile Housing Authority and Board accountable for violating tenants due process rights. Rodney Tumor, present youth workforce transportation proposal. Tammy White Steel, community violence safety surviving mothers living through tragedy. Reggie Hill, regarding rules, economic development, and public safety. Resolutions held over 08377, approve item award bid for rental services for stages, screens, sound, and lighting. 08383, approve purchase order to emergency equipment professional for engine rebuilds for pumper and aerial trucks. 08384, approve purchase order to ImageTrend for annual renewal of emergency response case patient resource tracking and reporting software. 08386, approve purchase order to Motorola Solutions for surveillance cameras and a set accessories for citywide camera system upgrades. 08388, approve purchase order to Stivers Ford for pickup trucks. 21389, authorize contract with Arena Fire Protection for fire alarm inspection, maintenance, and repair. Various city locations. Ordinances being introduced 06018, ordinance to amend chapter 6 ambulance and other medical transportation of the City of Mobile Code. And uh questions or comments on that one?

Mr. President, I do have a question. Um on page 4 of 14 uh in terms of governmental ambulance exemptions if administration could um describe it states that if there's a major um if there's a major event, then you would need that certificate. What could be an example of a major event where you wouldn't [snorts] [clears throat]

Good morning, Council. So, major incident that we're talking about could be a mass casualty as far as we've had those in the past where during the BP cleanup, we had a ammonia leak and we had we were overwhelmed and our system we needed more ambulances to transport more patients and so that's where we call for outside resources from just the city to help us augment that response. Okay. And could major also be that if whoever's holding the certificate, if for some reason there's a shortage or there's something that happens on with the um current service that we could also um [clears throat]

move forward with the exemption to the certificate? This isn't um I don't believe there's an exemption to the certificate. It's more of an immediate calls of either overwhelming our resources with uh one incident um and natural disasters and that type of stuff. That's it. Okay. And and I gave you the wrong page. I'm sorry. It's page 7 of 14 where certificates are not needed. Okay.

Okay. So, with that one, that one would be mass casualties like a system overload or a severe weather event that puts us into situations where um FEMA is sending other units in here. Um the state could send resources in here to help us out if we had a huge natural disaster. Okay. Thank you. Yes, ma'am. Anyone else? Uh Mr. President, Chief Warrior [clears throat]

still at the podium. Uh it might be a good idea just to run through the highlights of what the changes are to the ordinance now as opposed to what the old one was. Okay, I will. Um I've I've got a statement that I can that will really sort of summarize what we're doing and um so the work that went into this amendment was guided with one principle and that's the citizens of Mobile. Um we want to ensure that they receive the highest level of BLS service that we can provide to them. Um and to achieve that, Mobile Fire Rescue must have all BLS companies under one ordinance and um a standard of accountability. Um that begins with every BLS getting their certificate of necessity. Um this amendment is not intended to push anybody out um of business. Instead, it ensures that all providers are meeting the current 2026 standards and not operating under outdated um decades ago. Um a key component of this is collecting accurate data. Um this allows us to better understand the current demands of the system and make informed decisions that improve service delivery at cost to the city. We cannot improve what we don't measure. Data collection is essential to understanding the system demands and performance. Um we also want to be clear that any data collected will be controlled, protected, and only reviewed by MFRD leadership.

[snorts]

And if a provider is meeting the standard, they will be very successful in [clears throat] this system. At the end of the day, this ordinance is about doing what's right for the citizens of Mobile and ensuring consistent, accountable, and high-quality BLS service across the city. So, major pieces is keeping everybody on a level playing field. Um everybody has their certificate of necessity as well as response requirements with data that tells us what they did over the past month. And this ensures that we know what's our biggest workload for the city. And then it's also responding to calls of service where we get overwhelmed and those are our biggest changes to this ordinance. And I know you all worked with the various providers within the city to go through this and you met with them and it to my understanding, everybody's on board. Is that correct? I would say that one of the providers is on board and also one of the changes um that we made with the University Health, they are on board with this as well. So, not everybody's 100% on board with this ordinance then. That is correct. What are what are the issues if you don't mind sharing? If you can. Let Let's Let me have Mr. Babble's talk. Okay. All right. Okay. Uh Mr. Woods Uh Chief, I just want to say thank you. And I know we've been dealing with this, I guess I know at least 2 and 1/2 years is when that first kind of came up that at least my first CON came up and um you know, we've always had those questions of well, then then again, sitting around and and discussing amongst ourselves on council of how do you justify the need for another CON or do we really need a CON and we've been kind of and you as well kind of been all you know, operating with we're not really sure.

So, I I really do like what this ordinance change does. I think it it um provides accountability um both for the city and the private provider back and forth on each other. [clears throat] And then also too, it does provide that that opportunity or that requirement um I should say for uh reporting. So, you know, you'll have numbers now um should a CON come up in front of us for an additional CON, um we'll also have you know, we'll we'll have numbers as well to try to make an educated decision based on hearsay. And then I do also like the fact that you know, there's a you know, there's a there's a time period for that CON to get re-examined cuz you know, right now really with the with the ordinance that we have, really a CON is in perpetuity forever kind of thing. So, I do like this. Thank you for all your work. I know you work really hard with you and your team on it. So, thank you for doing that. And I think this is um just kind of echo what you say. I think this is not only good for for you know, for the city, but it's good for the citizens of the city. And also too, really looking at this, it's good for the providers too. It provides a structure of to the provider so that you know, the provider can't say, "Well, I don't know what the city wants from me." So, now this really does lay this out. So, I I think it also uh provides the depth when it comes to emergency service so that you know, our guys on the on the fire on fire rescue side, they're not having to to really sacrifice or we're not sacrificing service on ALS just to go fulfill a BLS. So, I I appreciate it. Thank you for your all your work on this. Yes, sir. And I will like to comment also, the response reliability from both of our units right now, the BLS companies is at 99%. So, their combined response reliability is [snorts] outstanding. And we appreciate that from both of them. We have really great partners when it comes to our um our ambulance services. That's great. Mr. President.

Yeah, Councilwoman. I want to echo what Mr. Woods uh shared. I I just want to thank you also in the fact that you're actually using the data. I mean, if you look at the data where we started and where you are now, it clearly shows that you're using that data. And again, that shows us that when we put measures in place for accountability, we can get better results for our citizens. So, thank you. Yes, ma'am. Anyone else? All right, thank you so much, Chief.

Yes, sir. Consent [snorts] Consent resolutions being introduced 31393, authorize [snorts] the mayor to apply, accept, and receive a notice of award and memorandum of agreement from the Bureau of Justice Assistance for the fiscal year 2025 Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Grant. No local match. 37394, 395, 396, 397, 398 are recommending approval to ABC Board for issuance of a restaurant retail liquor license to Folly's Oyster and Cocktail on Monroe Street for issuance of a specialty retailer of consumable hemp products license to Cottage Hill Package on Cottage Hill Road for issuance of a specialty retailer consumable hemp products license to Cottage Hill Package on Cottage Hill Road for issuance of a specialty retailer consumable hemp products license to Piggly Wiggly on University Boulevard and also on Moffett Road. 58399 58400 are authorizing removal of weeds and assessing costs for removal of weeds groups 1676 and 1674. 60 401 and 402 are approving award of special bonus to the Parks and Recreation employee of the month and officer of the month. 60403 and 404 are approving pro determining pro appropriations to Gulf Coast Ethnic and Heritage Festival and Youth on the winning side serve a public purpose and approving payment. CIP resolutions being introduced 09405 transfer funds from CIP project cruise terminal replace roof parapet Alabama Municipal Trust Fund to Capital

Project cruise terminal disembark ramp Alabama Trust Fund for design, engineering, construction, installation, and related work necessary to provide the disembarkation ramp to accommodate larger capacity vessels. $25,000. 09406 transfer funds from Capital Project Cruise roll up doors gateway to Capital Project Cruise terminal disembark ramp for design, engineering, construction, installation, and other tasks associated with the new disembark ramp to accommodate larger capacity vessels. $25,000. 09407 transfer funds from Capital Project Cruise terminal replace roof parapet to Capital Project Cruise terminal disembark dis disembark ramp for design, engineering, construction, installation, and related work to provide disembarkation ramp. $50,000. 09408 transfer funds from Capital Project Cruise roll up doors gateway to Capital Project Cruise terminal equipment miscellaneous for passenger lobby chairs and stainless all processing tables to accommodate larger capacity vessels. $75,000. 09409 transfer funds from Capital Project Cruise terminal elevator upgrades to Capital Project Cruise terminal disembark ramp for design, engineering, construction, installation, and other tasks associated with new disembark ramp required to accommodate large capacity vessels. $200,000. Mr. President. Yeah, Mr. Woods. By moving this money out of these accounts, does that mean that we are deferring these improvements such as roof replacement, roll up doors, and uh elevator upgrades? Yes. And so, we've got to get There was a couple of things. There's repairs to the current gangway system that we had to make. Y'all approved that not too long ago. It ate up some of the money that we needed for a second disembark and embarkation for

the larger ship. So, there'll be two. Um this is moving money out of projects that will not proceed in the next 6 months so that we can focus on getting ready for the larger ship over the next 6 months, if that makes sense. And so, we'll be working with um Joe Snowden to get these projects teed up for the next fiscal year that need to be done. But basically, they were not going to be done this year. We got 6 months left. And so, we moved this funding to get the more immediate needs done at the cruise terminal. Without Without in [clears throat] dire straits with the roof replacement, the roll up doors, or the No, we're we're not Again, the the the what they've done is prioritized their capital budget. We're going to take advantage of the 6 months that the ship is away to get it prepared for the larger ship. You y'all know about the fender system. You know about the gangways. This is the second embarkation disembark. And it's so we can move more passengers in order to get the ship ready for the second set of cruisers that are headed out of Mobile. Uh but we will These are I'm not saying these don't need to be done. I'm just saying we're not going to be able to do them over the next 6 months. So, we'll be working on the budget starting today to get these projects funded that are that are necessary to upgrade the cruise terminal. Okay, and these are these are design contracts. So, where's the money coming from? [clears throat] It's the design and construction of the Well, design and purchase of the gangway and then the in construction of the gangway. Yeah. Mr. President.

Mr. Woods. [clears throat]

Um Chief, the uh larger ship and I I think I I heard it on the news on the way in. Um what So, right now, what what's our capacity? And then what would the the next ship, you know, do we know what that capacity looks like? The the next ship will will see an increase between 800 to 1,000 passengers. And the ramp is uh really essential for getting those people in bar quickly cuz we still have the same same time frame. And the ramp will allow us to avoid pinch points cuz right now, our major pinch point uh to get people to their luggage is the escalator and one elevator. So, by having this ramp, we can both facilitate the people's additional 800 to 1,000 people with their luggage down to where they need to be. And then the with the stainless tables, stainless steel tables, we can stack the luggage. People can quickly identify their luggage and leave. Um Joe, how many how many I guess what are we what are we selling out now? How many are we going to be selling out whenever this starts?

Currently, you know, with the Carnival Spirit, we're 2,500. Like when when people say we're at over 100%, we base that on that there's two passengers per stateroom. Now, when when travelers when people travel with their families, they usually have their kids sleep in the room. So, anything above two per room, we're at over 100%. We've been over 100% this cruising season. So, with this cruise line, if they go over 100%, we're talking about a lot of people. And then a last last thing to ask you, uh I know we talked about parking. And um with the additional 800,000 people that that we're going to be selling out, um is are we going to need to I guess ultimately eventually address the parking because you know, I know we we floated I guess it's been about a year and a half ago, talked about the parking deck and all that fun stuff. Uh is that something that we may be in the future need to look at? Yeah, we are looking at that. In fact, we should be looking at that strategically long-term for another parking deck. But in the interim, we have identified uh several locations that we can temporary park people in the interim before we could strategically address the long-term need for parking. Got you. Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else? Just quick comment, Mr. President. I wanted to just take the time to to really acknowledge Joe Snowden's work. It's easy for people to come in here and just ask for unassigned fund balance on a new project. Um for them to go through this process of what they're going to be able to accomplish and not accomplish in the next 6 months, and then moving those monies to priorities, it's exactly what we want to see department heads do. Thank you. Yeah, thank you so much, Mr. Snowden. Council [clears throat] Clerk. Resolutions being introduced 03410 and appoint Logan Glenn as Executive Director of Finance. Does anyone have any issues or problem by taking this up today? All right. No objections. 08411 approve purchase order to CDW Government for annual renewal of Cisco malware protection and network security software. $73,050.81. 08412 and 413 are proven purchase orders to H F Glock Construction and Major League Landscaping for storm drainage vegetation and debris removal. 08414, approved purchase order Insight Public Sector for 30 computers, 0 20 32,533 dollars 20 cents. 08415, approved purchase order Leggett Family Enterprises facade installation for Hillcrest Road median from Cottage Hill Road to Windsor Drive, 27,245 dollars. 08416, approved purchase order Northstar Performance Improvement for five day training course for incident investigation root cause analysis and management oversight certification, 25,180 dollars. 08417, approved purchase order Stivers Ford for super crew pickup trucks, 69,294 dollars. 09418, transfer funds from

Langham Park dredging to 2022 CIP project Langham Park storm water for additional construction administrative services, 27,000. 09419, transfer funds from capital project convention center capital to capital project convention center mechanical improvements to replace the existing chiller, 310,000. 21420, authorize amendment number two to contract with Geosyntec consultants for CIP Langham Park storm water improvement, 27,000 increase. Mr. President. Yes, Mr. Woods. Um, can I be added as a co-sponsor on 08415? Oh. Yes. Thank you. Mr. President.

Yes, Mr. Vice. Uh, I just want to go back to the um, storm water and the the vegetation that the drainage and debris removal work we've been doing. That has has really been a successful citywide program. And I'm just really happy to see that we are moving forward with these and look forward to the next budget to maybe funding it even a little more because I think it's making such a difference throughout these neighborhoods. I've been out visiting some of the work and it's amazing how many people are out there getting this work done so quickly and what a difference it really does make. So, thank you. Call for public hearings, 41421, call for public hearing to consider the modification of a previously approved planned unit development for property located at 1879 Conception Street Road, scheduled May 19th. 41422, call for public hearing to consider the application of Charles Henry Royal II for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate a shuttle service, scheduled April 28th. Announcements. Uh, Council. Uh, Vice President.

[clears throat] Okay, let's go back and look at uh, those that we will waive the rules for. We've already agreed to 03410 on the resolutions. Going [clears throat] on down the list, 08412, 413, 414, 415, 416, 418, 420, and I think that's it unless you all have any more. All right. Anything from administration? Anything from administration? All right. [clears throat] All right, we'll see each other downstairs at 10:30. All right, yeah.

[clears throat] Did this guy reach out to you? Taylor Hatch? You know Taylor? Yeah.