City Council - Regular Meeting

This is the regular meeting of the Mobile City Council, Tuesday, July the 28th. Please stand for our invocation, led by Pastor Dan Taylor, Public Safety Chaplain, and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Let's pray together. God, this is a great day to serve you. We thank you that you're here with us. You promised to empower us and to guide us. Lord, you've blessed this great city. While we're not perfect, our desire is to keep working to improve and become a city that others would want to emulate. We trust you to help us do that. I pray that you would give these leaders insight and wisdom to do what is best and what is pleasing to you. And God, we thank you for doing that. In your name I pray. 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.

ROLL CALL. PRESIDENT SMALL. HERE. VICE PRESIDENT GREGORY. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER PINN. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER INGRAM. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER REYNOLDS. HERE. COUNCIL MEMBER FLEMING.

HERE.

COUNCIL MEMBER WOODS.

HERE.

STATEMENT OF RULES.

If you're happy and you know, clap your hands. If you're happy and you know, clap your hands. If you're happy and you know, then your face will surely show. If you're happy and you know, clap your hands. Good morning, everybody.

Good morning.

Hey, welcome to our July 28, 2026 meeting. At this meeting, we do have rules, okay? Number one rule, shh, all right? The second rule is, if you have any type of electronic device at this time, please put on the off or the vibrate position. The off or the vibrate position. The following rules are, any person that is designed to address the Mobile City Council must sign in annotating the resolution, the public hearing, or the public agenda item before entering the meeting. When addressing this council, the speaker must give his or her name. Any person that is designed to speak to a council on a non-agenda item must contact the city clerk's office no later than 2 o'clock p.m. on Thursday prior to the council meeting. The subject that he or she wishes to express to the Mobile City Council must be identified and pertain to the City of Mobile business. Anyone who has not given proper notice to the city clerk's office and wishes to speak on a non-agenda item would not be allowed to address this council. Each speaker is allowed three minutes to address this council. A bell was sounded indicating that your two minutes is up. One minute remain for summarizing. The second bell indicates that your time has expired. When addressing this council, there'll be no personal address to any individual council members. All statements are to be made to the chair who will recognize any council member who wishes to respond. To maintain the quorum, there'll be no undue applause. Madam Clerk.

Approval of minutes of July 21st.

So moved. Second. Properly moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Minutes approved.

Communications from Mayor Chiragadas.

Good morning, everyone. Good morning. As we've mentioned before, July is Parks and Recreation Month, and that is why we are recognizing a lot of Parks and Recreation Department participants today, a lot of winners. In Mobile, we like to win, and we have a lot of winners today. in this room today, and it's going to be a pleasure to celebrate everyone. I want to start by talking about our Mobile Parks and Rec Department track and field season, and I want to share some of the highlights with you from this season. Mobile Parks and Rec track and field department was named 2026 USA TF Alabama Outstanding Program in the month of March. They won the USATF Alabama Association Track and Field Championship, sent 27 athletes to the USATF Region 6 qualifying meet in Collierville, California, finished the regional meet with two gold medals, 14 silver medals, and five bronze medals. Incredible. qualified 17 athletes for the 2026 National Junior Olympic Championships in Norwalk, California. And they're led by coaches Jan Hickman, DeQuayle Robinson, Charles Wilson, Jalen Brewer, Ayanna Johnson, and LaWilte Robinson. And I want to call up Coach Hickman, all the other coaches and athletes, if you'll come up to the front so we can take a photo.

Congratulations. Congratulations. Congratulations. Why are you hiding, Cody?

First and foremost, I would like to thank the mayor and the city council for recognizing our outstanding athletes that have represented the city of Mobile. to the fullest. We've traveled many places this summer. We've been to Selma, we've been to Huntsville, we've been to Collierville, Tennessee, and they have shown up and showed out. We have a lot of young athletes. We have four athletes that were seniors that all received scholarships to college, either through athletics or academics. So all of our seniors received these awards. As I say, we have a young team this year. We're kind of in the rebuilding stage. I've been doing this for 33 years. So I've enjoyed every minute of it. I knew Mr. Graves when he was one of my security guards at Maine's middle school back in the 80s. So as I said, I taught school for 38 years. I've been with Parks and Recreation for 33. I love working with kids. I want to commend my assistant coaches who are all products. of the Mobile Parks and Recreation track and field program, except for Louilte Robinson, who came to us this year as a volunteer coach from Tampa, Florida. Also, we have awesome parents. Kids with awesome parents will always have success. If they have love and support, that's what every child needs to be successful. And I have the best group of parents in the world, and I think they deserve a big round of applause. Once again, thank you for having us. It's not about me. It's about the kids. And as I said, congratulations, athletes. They all have on their medals. And hopefully we'll be back next year. Thank you.

You can hear that they're winners.

Sounds like Santa Claus.

It's truly an honor for me as mayor, along with the city council, to honor young people who are winners like you. We're always looking for ways that we can grow successful, you know, Mobilians with a bright future. And all those young people that are here today with strong family, the recipe is a strong home, a strong community, strong schools that allow our kids to flourish. And I just love seeing programs like this that are allowing our young people to flourish. One more round of applause for the coaches, the parents. Thank you. Alright, so we do have a lot of winners in the building and I'm going to call up a few more. Could I have the four and five you Trinity Gardens Falcons come on down with coaches? Get a picture another. Is our city champions in the four you five you division and we just want to tell him congratulations. Anybody here from the Trinity Gardens Falcons? Alright. Well, congratulations anyway. They're probably all, you know, having fun. It's summer. How about the 6U Miller Park Astros? I know they're here. Y'all come on down. They're looking handsome and coordinated today.

Thank you.

Some good-looking baseball players right there. All right, for our next group, how about the 7U, 8U, city champion, Texas Street White. Come on down. Yep, they're out having fun, too. All right. I know the Vikings are here. 9U, 10U, Duval Vikings. Come on down. City champion.

Thank you.

All right, last certainly, well, not last. Last for our city baseball champions, the 11U, 12U Aaron Park team. Come on down. They're probably at a park recreating right now. So we also want to recognize our softball city champions. So I know I have the 12U Highland Cardinals. Come on down.

Thank you.

Again, Mobile has a lot of winners, so we have a few more to recognize, including our 6U All-Stars, Cal Ripken State and Regional Championship teams. Come on up, 6U All-Stars. 6U All-Stars. Come on, guys. Don't be shy. Come on.

Oh, so come on up, yeah.

It's hard to keep all these winners straight.

Hey guys, the mayor kind of stole my thunder a little bit. We have so many winners today. We're going down the list, but this is for the Municipal Park six and under, and these guys are the state champions. You see Alabama on their shirts? So these are my, and I claim them, these are my municipal baseball kids, and they are leaving tomorrow to compete in the World Series. And listen to this, they'll be playing teams from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, South Carolina, and North Carolina. And they went undefeated at the state tournament, which was in June, and now they're hoping to bring back a World Series title to Mobile. So let's wish them luck. And I have a nice proclamation for them. Thank you.

And for everybody, you know, if they are in this tournament, they will qualify to possibly be on ESPN as well.

But literally, we're a series. So let's root them on.

Here.

Thank you. Oops. OK.

At this time, we want to, we also have, as far as K.I. Ribbon goes, let me give you a little back story on Parks and Rec Racing. This year, well, we know that we participated in the ARPA, Alabama Parks and Rec Association. For baseball, they never had, we've been several times for different sports. We know basketball does and other sports does, but for baseball, they never had a state tournament. So this year at Parks and Rec, we decided that we wanted to give our kids an opportunity to play after the season versus just playing the city championship and not being able to travel to state. So we embarked on joining the Cal Ripken League. And from that, joining the Cal Ripken League, it gave our kids, and I say NPRD and our community certainly gave us a chance to compete on the state level as well as everybody else. So from that, that's where these champions are born. So in our first year of being in Cal Ripken, we were able to produce three teams that either finished in the regionals or in the state semifinals. As far as the state, we have an overall state champion. And then they did pretty well when they went to the regionals, either winning one or two games. But as far as the first year program, it was a great attachment to the coaches and then the players in this league to be able to adapt and go on a bigger scale. So we want to definitely give them a round of applause for that. So the 6U all-star team was not present, but the 7U all-star team is here. So the 7U all-stars, please come down. So they were the region runner-up and finished in the semifinals in the state championship.

Three, two, one. Look here. Three, two, one. Look here.

And lastly, we have the 12-year group, which actually finished as the district and state champions. So like I said, in their first year, this group was put together. It was kind of difficult getting this group together, to be honest with you, but in a two-week span, they was able to come together and not only just play tremendously, but they also won the district and the state tournament. So we'd like to congratulate our coaches and our players for the 12-year state. Can I rip this? baseball champions. Like I said, this has been a testament to our coaches and our players for the hard work that they put in within our community centers. That concludes our presentation for the NPRD baseball softball season. Thank you guys for y'all time. Thank y'all for having us.

So many winners. So many winners. Thank you to our Parks and Rec Department for really doing an amazing job this year, getting our kids out to the state level and producing some state champions. Very proud. So it's also my honor, along with the City Council, to recognize our Special Olympics team, the Mobile Revelers Therapeutic Volleyball Team. They earned a gold medal as Team Alabama in the Special Olympics USA Games in Minneapolis this June. Our athletes include Torrey Bringhurst, Alexandra Moore, Andrew Hubbard, Tyler Smith, Vincent Dennis, Pierce Hargrove, Desmond Jemison, Ellison Schaaf, Keon Peters, and Edmund Patton. I don't know if we've also got... Citrion up here with us, very good. Citrion Stallworth earned a gold medal in the running long jump track and field event. Gold medal winners here. Happy to have them and congratulations to all the athletes. Thank you to all our teams, especially our special Olympians bringing home the gold to Mobile. Very proud of y'all. And I know I've taken up a lot of time, but we do have two proclamations. And I want to recognize the Americans with Disabilities Act 36th year anniversary. And do I have Alvin Garvin here with us? Chair of the Mobile Advisory Commission for the Disabled, Vice Chair Carolyn Green, and City of Mobile ADA Coordinator, and Chief Procurement Officer Mr. Don Rose. If y'all will come on up. They had to sit in the back. There was no seats left. Oh, yes. Oh, I'm sorry. We're going to take a photo after this out front. And I just want to thank you all so much for what you do for our citizens. And it is my honor to read this proclamation from the Office of Mayor. Whereas, on July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed into law the Americans with Disabilities Act to ensure the civil rights of people with disabilities and eliminate discrimination against them. And whereas the ADA has expanded opportunities for Americans with disabilities by reducing barriers and changing perceptions and increasing full participation in community life, which has motivated the City of Mobile to continue our efforts to fully implement the ADA, And whereas throughout the year and on the anniversary of the ADA, we celebrate and recognize the progress that has been made by reaffirming the principles of equality and inclusion and recommitting our efforts to reach full ADA compliance. Now, therefore, I, Spiro Chiragadas, the 109th mayor of the city of Mobile, do hereby recognize July 26, 2026, as the 36th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act and ADA Awareness Day in the city of Mobile. Thank you. I would love to hear from you.

Okay. Good morning, Mayor, Chair Yagadas, and members of the City Council. I'm Carolyn Green, Vice Chair of the Mobile Advisory Commission for the Disabled, representing District 5. On behalf of our Chairman, Alvin Garvin, and the Commission, we want to thank you for the City of Mobile's commitment to accessibility for all our citizens, fairness and kindness to everyone, which is reflective of the character of our city and community. This year we thank you specifically for the progress the city is making. Transit improvements with wheelchair accessibility, infrastructure repairs with sidewalks and facilities, improvements in city digital access, inclusive programming interpreters for the deaf and wheelchair tennis the inclusion of snazzy special needs assistance stations for you with adult changing stations and warrior lifts for city events like the 4th of july at battleship park in mardi gras 2026 which is which was a huge success with over 3 000 mobilians and visitors being able to participate participate who had not been able to do so before This will continue to grow with more parking availability for Snazzy. Our challenge and request for you is to consider not just minimum accessibility in mobile, but truly inclusive universal design with adult changing stations and Hoyer lifts at every city event, program and facility, including the parks and recreational facilities. so that all our citizens can take part. We also would request for assessment of our city disaster and emergency preparedness plans to include those who are the most vulnerable with the greatest needs in our communities. In closing, we invite you to attend an upcoming Abilities Resource Fair this July 31st on Friday 10 to 2 at the Tillman's Corner Community Center. We also invite Mayor Cherry Agatis and the City Council and city leaders to experience a day or some hours as a wheelchair user in an upcoming event, come roll with me. Designed to connect the able-bodied and disability communities to bridge the gaps in communication, appreciation, and respect for how we all navigate life, we will keep you posted on the date. And it will be very eye-opening and lots of fun. Thank you again for an accessible mobile.

All right, and last but certainly not least, it's my honor to call up the Ichihara students and the official City of Mobile ambassadors. We have some certificates for them. Ms. Yuko Jordan, I'd like to call you up and all the other members of the Mobile Ichihara Sister City Association Board, plus our 10 students, and I'm going to ask Yuko to introduce them for me.

Ibuki Takeuchi. Akiko Yamauchi. Dahei Kwon. Maho Hirose. Yusei Yasui. Nanoha Mori. Otoha Motoi. Kentaro Nemoto, Hina Nishimura, and Nozomi Namba.

We'll have all of them come up.

Oh, yes. And I just want to talk about this group for a moment. These young people are from our sister city, Ichihara, Japan. They were all selected out of a number of applicants to be here to represent their city and to further our friendship and relationship with our sister city, Ichihara. I had the pleasure of meeting with them earlier today and hearing from them. And I know we want to recognize one student who has a speech for us this morning.

Hello, everyone. Thank you very much for a warm welcome. We are grateful for your kind hospitality. I'm very happy to have the opportunity to visit Mobile as a member of the Ichihara Sister City Exchange Program. I have heard that Mobile and Ichihara have been sister cities for more than 30 years. I was impressed to learn that although our cities are far apart, they have continued this relationship for such a long time. I'm honored to be a part of this change. I have been looking forward to this visit, and I hope to meet many people, learn about your culture and daily life, and share our own experiences as well. During my stay, I would like to experience things that I cannot experience in Japan and make the most of every opportunity to learn. I hope this exchange will help strengthen the friendship between Mobile and Ichihara. When we return to Japan, we will share what we have learned and experiences with our families, friends, and community so that this relationship can continue to grow. Finally, thank you again for giving us this wonderful opportunity. Although our stay is short, we hope to spend meaningful and memorable time with all of you. Thank you.

Thank you. All right, we'll call all the students up if you'll come around so we can have a picture. Very impressive group, and Mobile is blessed with a number of sister cities, but I believe because of the Ichihara Sister City Association Board, this is truly our strongest relationship with any sisters, with all of our sister cities. We hope to strengthen them all, but I just want to say thank you to the board, to Ms. Yoko Jordan for all they do for this relationship.

Mr. President, I'd like to just let folks know, for those that do not, there are two places in the world where a jubilee occurs. One of them is in Mobile Bay, as we all know. The other is in Tokyo Bay. And this is a special sort of relationship that we have with Ichihara, and we share that great environmental uniqueness.

and also a special thanks to yuko and to don don fry who is also here for their work with the sister cities thank you for continuing to make this happen appreciate it and i hope you take them out to the japanese gardens for a picnic or something while they're in town we have a all-age ultimate event at the west regional library this thursday from three o'clock to six p.m

With that my remarks are concluded.

Good morning. As you see, Mobile is the city where we are born to celebrate. Can we give everybody that came before us a big hand? I would like to call down to the podium Isabella Anderson, Little Miss Alabama State University 2026. Do we have any Alabama State graduates in the house? Alumni? HBCU? I made some noise. I'm from Steuben College. Here we go, HBCU. Well, Isabella is a bright, kind-hearted nine-year-old from Mobile, Alabama, with a passion for serving others, inspiring children to believe in their self. She is honored to serve as Little Miss Alabama State University 2026. proudly represent Alabama State University with grace, confidence, and school spirit. She is also a proud ambassador for Miss Lower Alabama, the pageant system that first welcomed her and helped her cultivate confidence, leadership, and a heart for serving others. Isabella is a fourth grade honor roll student at Pritchard Preparatory School. She's enjoyed singing in her school's ensemble, pageantry, playing soccer, volunteering in the community, and spending time with family and friends. She believed that a true queen leads with kindness, integrity, and a heart for helping others. Through her community service platform, Bella, Bring Everyone Love, Light, and Aid, Isabella is committed to giving back to those less fortunate in the community through acts of kindness, service projects, and outreach. Her mission is to spread hope, encourage, and remind others that even the smallest act of kindness can make a meaningful difference. Isabella is truly honored to carry her title with integrity and serve as a young ambassador for Alabama State University and look forward to celebrating the university traditions while creating a memorable year for service and leadership. Can we give Isabella Anderson a big hand again?

Mr. President, I would like to also acknowledge Isabella's accomplishment because of her giving back to the community and the importance of small acts of kindness. She was recognized in our District 2 newsletter as the highlight for last week. So thank you for what you're doing. Always giving back. Thank you.

Good morning, Mobile City Council. My name is Isabella Anderson. I'm nine years old, and I attend Pritchard Preparatory School. And I am very honored to be here, and thank you for having me. Thank you.

Congratulations to you. And I will see that we also have some students in here from the Drug Education Council. Y'all just want to wave at us? All right. All right. Madam Clerk.

Okay. Monthly Finance Report. Adoption of the agenda.

So moved. Second. Propped and moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Agenda is adopted.

Appeals, we have requests for a wave of noise ordinance on August the 19th on Airport Boulevard, September the 6th at Langham Park.

So moved. Second. Propped and moved and seconded. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Appeal passes.

We have request for a waive of the noise ordinance on August the 15th on Pine Run Drive, Pine Run Road.

Motion to deny. Second. Prop to move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Action denied.

Public hearings. Today is the public hearing to declare the structure at 1307 Willow Lane a public nuisance and order it demolished.

THIS OPEN UP THE PUBLIC HEARING FOR THIS PARTICULAR SAID ITEM. IS ANYONE PRESENT THAT WOULD LIKE TO ADDRESS THE COUNCIL ON THIS PARTICULAR SAID ITEM? IF NOT, THIS PUBLIC HEARING IS CLOSED.

PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS AND OTHER COMMUNICATIONS TO THE COUNCIL, VANDALYN PIERRE.

Thank you.

I'm Virginia Guy. I'm the Executive Director of the Drug Education Council. I have some of our Mobile City County Youth Council members with us today. I want to make it real clear that the Youth Council was established by an ordinance of the City of Mobile many years ago and an ordinance of the county. So these young people are appointed by our elected representatives. I cannot begin to tell you this is the best class we have ever had. I thank all of you for the thoughtful appointments you've made. Mayor, city council members, you have just done an outstanding job with these young people. So I'll let them introduce themselves.

My name is Grace Kelly. I'm going to be a junior at Alma Bryant High School, and I represent County Commissioner Randall Dewitt.

my name is skylar white i'm going to the seventh grade at barton academy of advanced world studies and i'm with samantha here samantha ingram hi i'm maggie brains i'll be a junior at ums right and i represent mr josh woods with district six

Hi, my name is Savaris Young. I'm going to be a junior at BC Reign High School. I represent District 3 under the president of Councilman C.J. Smalls.

Hello, I'm Connor Bonnefield. I'll be a senior at Baker High School and I represent County Commissioner Randall Duke.

Thank you so much. You'll be hearing a lot from these young people this year. Thank you.

Timothy Hollis.

Good morning, my friends. Long time, no see. Timothy Hollis. Mr. President and members of the council, today I'm here for a just cause. There are neighborhoods that simply sit inside a city and there are neighborhoods that help build the city. Tomanville is one of those neighborhoods that fall in the second category. Today I'm asking the council to give Tomanville history and a highlight. I'm asking the council to recognize this history because it's very rich and very important to our town. The Tolmanville story reaches back nearly two centuries, around 1825, when General Theophilus L. Tolman built the historic Tolman family home. His son, Harold T. Tolman, went on to serve this region as a state legislator, a circuit judge, and nearly 30 years he did that, a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama. That house was eventually removed from Wilson Avenue in Tolmanville, carried to the University of South Alabama, and restored and used for years as Alumni Hall. Think about that. When the university lifts a house from its foundation, carries it across town, and preserves it for future generations, that is not merely a sentiment. That's evidence. So to give you a fast track, this history cannot be replaced. It must be protected. This is the community that raised Henry Hank Aaron before the world knew Hammer, before 715, before 755. He practiced in Atonementville, hitting bottle caps with sticks. This community gave us DeMarcus Cousins, a LeFleur great who carried Mobile onto the Olympic stage and returned as a gold medalist. It gave us legendary coach Ben Harris, an outstanding quarterback at Tolmanville High, a prolific Alabama State University quarterback, and the architect of four state championships at Blount. Coach Harris did more than win football games. He developed young men and changed what an entire community believed was possible. The figure's name is literally written into this community through Michael Figures Park and Community Center. A civil rights attorney, Alabama Senate leader, alongside Morris Dees, he represented Bula McDonald in the lawsuit that produced the seven million judgment against the United Clans of America, essentially bankrupting the organization and establishing an important legal precedent. A generation later, Mobile native Shamari figures carried that legacy into the United States Congress. His election helped give Alabama two black congressional representatives at the same time for the first time in state history. And on St. Stephen's Road, a historical marker, it identifies Tomanville as the birthplace of Major General William Crawford Gargis. One more minute. the United States Army Surgeon General, whose work combating yellow fever and malaria helped make construction of the Panama Canal possible. And we all know we depend on that very much dearly in this 21st century. Council members, some communities are called historic because wealthy people once lived there. Tonerville is historic because world-changing people came from there. A federal judge, a surgeon general, a civil rights giant, a United States congressman, an Olympic champion, a coaching legend, and a home run king himself. That is not coincidence. That is cultural soil. I am respectfully asking this council to commission a professional historic resource survey, identify Tomanville's contributing homes, schools, parks, churches, streets, and cultural sites, and begin the formal evaluation process for local historic district and national register recognition. And if anybody needs any help, I'll be glad to help along that process. Thank you.

I THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. MR. PINN. I WANT TO THANK MR. HOLLIS FOR COMING DOWN AND SHARING THAT GREAT INFORMATION ABOUT OUR TOMAVILLE COMMUNITY LOCATED IN DISTRICT ONE. I TOTALLY AGREE. I ACTUALLY ALREADY HAVE STARTED THAT PROCESS. I WILL BEGIN WITH MR. HOLLIS. I THINK IT'S VERY VITAL TO CELEBRATE BEING IN THE CITY WHERE WE ARE CALLED BORN TO CELEBRATE OUR COMMUNITY. SO MANY GREAT PEOPLE CAME FROM THE TOMAVILLE COMMUNITY. FROM THE HISTORIC STANDPOINT, EVEN NOW. MR. HOLLIS HAD A PHILADELPHIA EAGLES SHIRT ON. WE HAVE MARLIN SANDERS WON A CHAMPIONSHIP FROM THE TUMBLEVILLE COMMUNITY, FROM SEAL STREET, FROM LAFLEUR HIGH SCHOOL. AND SO IT'S SO MANY GREAT THINGS. I KNOW YOU HEAR ME TALK ABOUT THAT COMMUNITY A LOT, BUT I THINK IT'S TIME TO RECOGNIZE IT. SO WE WILL START THAT PROCESS. I WILL BE WITH MY COLLEAGUES, AND WE'RE GOING TO BE MOVING FORWARD. BUT THANK YOU, MR. HOLLIS.

Mr. President?

Yes.

I would like to join in and thank Mr. Hollis for coming out and sharing with us the legends of the Tomville community. Thank you for that. And I look forward to moving forward with that request. Thank you.

All right. Madam Clerk. Anna Bush regarding Ordinance 07033.

Good morning. Y'all are very fortunate. I thought I only had two minutes.

What's your full name?

My name is Anna Bush, and I live in District 2. Ordinance 7 is regarding the new animal control ordinance. And hard cases make bad law, and animal cases are hard. Without disrespect for the work that went into this, I do urge you to reject two sections of this in whole or in part. In particular, the BSL inspired language for high risk dogs. There is no reason this body should carry water for insurance companies and landlords. They're big boys, they can take care of themselves. Discriminating against particular breeds is unnecessary. Any dog can bite and must be leash walked or confined regardless according to section 722 of the same ordinance. This special definition exacerbates housing difficulties for people with pets. and makes it harder for them to socialize their dogs in group obedience classes and dog park play. So there's no reason for the city to create a cover of law for this description, which is not even very accurate in terms of what dogs probably should be more carefully trained. Most odious of all is the entirety of 731. Where to start? The overnight criminalization of hundreds of citizens is unconscionable. It is arbitrary in both number of pets and land. If my lot exceeds a half acre by a few feet, can I have as many animals as I want? If I have three dogs and I have an aunt that dies or moves in with me, do we have to pick which of her three dogs we can't keep? Why not eight cats and two dogs instead of five of each? Many people have more than five cats or dogs, particularly those who specialize with senior pets. Most are well cared for, while people with single pets may be terrible owners. This notion that a person must be authorized to keep their pets with no grandfather clause, no readily available waiver process outlined, no additional guidelines for what qualifies them for permission at sole discretion is ripe for misuse. There are no fewer than two terrible outcomes. Number one, the abelians decide that this is the law they're going to follow, since it doesn't affect traffic, and take their extra pets to the shelter, which hasn't accepted under surrenders really since 2004, but remains over full. Or, more likely, people become sneaky, fearful, unwilling to be neighborly, possibly reluctant to get vet care, where pet counting is a cudgel for petty neighborhood tyrants wasting city resources. All of this without addressing community cats and TNR as subject unto itself, hindering and prosecuting the very people who've spent their own resources doing the one research-backed thing that does help with cat control in our community. Don't take us back to the terrible days of collecting, catching, and killing cats, or not. and since i have an extra minute i absolutely am thrilled that this includes microchip encouragement i'm glad that it's looking at breeders backyard breeders in particular businesses that are being operated without licenses in our city and please fix your animals all right thank you step life regarding res resolution zero nine seven nine nine

Good morning. Busy morning. My name is Seth Blitch. I'm the president of the Mobile Firefighters Association, IFF Local 62. I want to speak to y'all this morning about Resolution 09799, the 2.5%. I represent approximately 55% of the active firefighters and around 100 active retired firefighters. As firefighters, we sacrifice a lot to serve citizens of Mobile, but we are not the only ones. Our families do as well. From long hours, missed birthdays, missed holidays, training, deployments, so on. Not to mention the physical and mental aspect. These are just to name a few. For our retirees, especially men and women that have been retired for over 10, 15 years, they have continued to sacrifice. With this being said, I'd like to show my appreciation to Mayor Chair Gattis and his staff, pension board members, and city council members for consideration of this 2.5% COLA for police and fire retirees. So I just want to say thank you. All right. Thank you. All right.

Ordinance is held over. 64032, consider the proposed rezoning of property located at 7271 Greenlight Road from R1 to B1.

Motion to approve. Second. Probably move and second. Any discussion?

Mr. President. Mr. Woods. Originally, I do feel that there is some speculative nature to this rezoning, but after review between pre-council and now, I think it does, it will be accommodated in that corridor. I think some of the major concerns were a potential opening of maybe bars or something around that area. But after reviewing UDC, looking through uses, I think that B1 is an acceptable zoning for this area. Thank you.

Any other discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? I don't approve.

RESOLUTIONS HELD OVER 08770 APPROVED PURCHASE ORDER SUNBELT FIRE FOR FIRE BOOTS AND HELMETS. 09773 TRANSFER FUNDS FROM GENERAL FUND ATHLETIC AQUATICS TO CAPITOL COUNT AFRICATOWN WELCOME CENTER. 09774 AUTHORIZED ONE TIME LUMP SUM PAYMENT TO RSAERA CITY OF MOBILE RETIREES UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF SECTION 2 OF ACT 608 OF THE REGULAR SESSION OF THE 2026 LEGISLATURE. 21-777, authorized contract with Iker Construction Corporation for installation of new playground equipment at Labrador Park Playground Court. 21779, authorized contract with USS Alabama Battleship, doing business with USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park for replacement of teak deck on Battleship USS Alabama. 21780, authorized contract with Longview International Technology Solutions for post-disaster support services.

So I'll move. Second.

I'll move and second. Any discussion?

Yes, sir, Mr. President.

Yes, Vice President.

Going back to 21-777, which is the contract for installation of new playground equipment at Loretta Park, we talked a little bit about this last week. This is a project that we have been working on for well over a year to replace the playground equipment at Loretta Park. It is... probably 25, 26 years old over there, and we have made a lot of repairs and patches to this equipment, so it is beyond time to replace it, and I'm really happy to be able to do that. We have met with the neighborhood community residents several times to get their input on what this equipment should be, the design of the playground, and just to let them be a part of the decision making. So I'm really happy to get this moving. We didn't want to take the old playground down until kids went back to school because they needed a place to continue using the park, you know, this summer. So it looks like we will start construction sometime in September. Before that time, we were looking to do something of a groundbreaking, if you will, at the park, kind of a last play sort of thing, just to celebrate. Because when this playground was put into place, it was community-driven. They raised funds, they did the design for the equipment, and were just hands-on involved in bringing this playground to fruition. So we want to make it a special time for taking down the old and bringing back the new for the neighborhood, for the residents. We'll keep everybody informed, but this is a really great contract. I'm so happy to see it moving forward, and it'll be a really nice amenity for everybody in the city because this is a well-loved and well-used park in the city of Mobile. Thank you, Mr. President.

Any other discussions? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? I don't pass it.

Resolution 21778, authorized professional services contract with Dominican Resources Incorporated.

Move to layover one week.

Second.

Second.

Prop to move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? I'll lay over one week.

Ordinance is being introduced 07033.

Move to layover. This is per council rules. It will lay over for one week.

Consent resolution is being introduced, 31783 through 6788.

Move to waive the rules for immediate consideration of these resolutions as read.

Prop to move and second in discussion. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Rules waived. Madam Clerk?

31783, authorize the mayor to apply, accept, and receive a grant from the Department of Justice Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services for the fiscal year 2026 Law Enforcement and Mental Health and Wellness Act Program. 4784, declare the structure at 1307 Willow Lane a public nuisance and order it demolished. 58785 and 786, declare weeds noxious and assess cost for removal of weeds, groups 1680 and 102. 60, 787, and 788, determined in appropriations to James Strickland Youth Center and Liberty Learning Foundation serve a public purpose and approve payment. Second.

Second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Item passes.

CIP resolutions being introduced 01789 through 08790.

Per council rules, these resolutions will be laid over for one week.

Resolutions being introduced 08791 through 6803.

Move to waive the rules for immediate consideration of resolutions 08-791, 792, 793, 794, 796, 797, and 60-803. Second. Prop to move and second. Any discussion?

ALL IN FAVOR? AYE. ALL OPPOSED? MADAM CLERK?

08791, APPROVED PURCHASE ORDER TO BUSINESS-ORIENTED SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR ANNUAL RENEWAL OF BOSS DESK SERVICE TICKET AND ASSET MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE. 08792 AND 793 ARE APPROVED PURCHASE ORDERS TO BEST PRICE SERVICES AND JJ QUALITY HOMES FOR STORM DRAINAGE, VEGETATION AND DEBRIS REMOVAL. 08794, approved purchase order to CDW government for desktop computers. 08796, approved purchase order to Howard Industries for annual renewal of device management software. 08797, approved purchase order to MCCI LLC for annual renewal of laser fish document management software. 6803. approve authorized settlement agreement and release of claims.

So moved. Second. Prop to move and second in discussion. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Aye.

All for public hearings. 41-804, call for public hearing to consider the application to rezone property located at 1509 Navco Road from B2 to B3, scheduled September 1. 41-805, call for public hearing to consider the application to rezone property located at 4600A Hamilton Boulevard from RA to I2, scheduled September 1. 41-806. Call for public hearing to consider the application to rezone property located at 97 Central Drive from R1 to R3 scheduled September 1, 41807. Call for public hearing to consider the application of Ever Bliss Senior Solutions LLC for Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity to operate a shuttle service scheduled August 11th.

So moved. Second. Prop to move and second. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. All opposed? Club of hearings call.

Announcements.

District 1, Councilman Penn.

Thank you, Mr. President. We have a lot of great things taking place this week in the Tummelville community. While I'm talking about Tummelville and Mr. Hollis just came, I also want to acknowledge the first black clerk in the city of Mobile came from Tummelville, from Seal Street. And that's the great Ms. Lisa Lambert. So thank you so much for your service. On July the 30th, we will have the Figgish Park Community Day. I want to give a big shout out to Curtis Graves, Director Graves, and the Public Safety Department and the administration for putting this together. It will be an evening focused on community engagement, youth empowerment, gun violence prevention, July the 30th, 5.30 PM at the Figures Community Center. We also will have a basketball game, the youth versus the mobile fire rescue fighters, firefighters. And I might go out there and play a little bit. You're going to join me on President Small? Yes, sir. All right. And then that Sunday, we also have another event. It's the Gulf Coast Annual Back to School Bash at Figures Park, August the 7th, hosted by Dre Day. I want to give a big shout out to Brave by Reflection and so many others that will be supporting, volunteering, Um, so many different organizations, but the two loonies, um, organizations, they also graduates from the floor, big quote, national clothing company will be given out, uh, book bags to the community. Um, and I'm a part of it as well. So we're inviting everyone to come out August the second from 12 PM. THE 3 P.M. FREE FOOD, FREE GIVEAWAYS. THIS IS GOING TO BE A GREAT TIME IN THE TOMAVILLE COMMUNITY THIS WEEK. SO I JUST WANT TO THANK EVERYONE. WE ALSO WILL HAVE OUR COMMUNITY MEETING COMING UP IN AUGUST. MORE INFORMATION WILL BE COMING ABOUT OUR COMMUNITY MEETING IN TOMAVILLE FOR DISTRICT ONE.

THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. I'M FROM TOMAVILLE, TOO, COUNCILMAN FINN.

SEE, DISTRICT ONE, THANK YOU FOR REPRESENTING PRESIDENT SMYLE.

District 2, Councilwoman Ingram.

Thank you, Mr. President. Greetings, District 2. Great things are happening in District 2 because of your generosity. This past Saturday, July the 25th, we hosted our first homeless care kit distribution where neighbors were helping neighbors. We distributed over 80, I want to say it was like 80 some bags that were distributed in our most highly concentrated areas. We started at 8 a.m. at the MAMGA den and then 10 a.m. at the second precinct. So again, I just want to thank Dr. Kendall Young, his team for coming out and supporting and all of the volunteers that were a part of this. Not only were we able to distribute kits, but we were also able to connect our unhoused population with services to families. you know, again, make sure we're taking care of our most vulnerable population. Uh, so again, I can't thank you enough for that. Also, um, some upcoming events on Saturday, August the 15th, we're going to partner with the city of mobile for a back to school giveaway at Mardi Gras Park. So please be a part of that. We first had it scheduled for August the 1st, but we've moved it now to August the 15th so we can partner with the city of Mobile. So we're looking forward to that. And I want to thank District 2 residents again for your donations because that is what's making this a success. And lastly, we have our August 13th District 2 community meeting, and it's going to be at Robert Hope Community Center. And we're asking all to attend and stay engaged in the process. So again, thank you, District 2, for the great things that are happening. Thank you, Mr. President. president.

Thank you, Councilwoman Ingram. District 4, Councilman Reynolds.

I'll be brief, but I want to extend a special thank you to our very own Josh Woods for his service on the Mobile Planning Commission. Most folks don't know this, but last week they had over 30 items on their agenda, and they toughed it out for over four hours to conduct the business of the city. So I want to extend a thank you to Josh for not falling asleep during the meeting.

We appreciate you, Councilman Woods. All right. Edition 5, Councilman Fleming.

Thank you, Mr. President. Congratulations, Mr. Woods. You made it through a long meeting. I know that was a tough one. They didn't even have an intermission, I don't think.

Two Red Bulls in four hours.

on a lighter note uh what a great feeling it was to walk in here this morning and see so many of the youth in this city being able to celebrate all of their success and i'm sure i'm going to miss a few here but i mean i made a list of parks and recs track team miller park astros trinity gardens texas street duval vikings aaron park high point cardinals The Municipal Park team that is going to play for the World Series, our city's 7U, 12U champions, our Special Olympians, the Itchy Horror students from our sister city, our Little Miss Alabama State, our Drug Education Council. It's just really reassuring and refreshing to see so many of our young people get engaged. make a difference, put Mobile on the map, represent our city in such a high-class way. It's just really refreshing when we hear of so many bad things going on in the world and our city to just see a bright spot with our young future leaders. So I just want to give them another shout-out. I know we all appreciate your patience this morning while we recognize them, but they just deserve a lot of recognition for all the hard work they do to represent our great city. And On a business note, for the citizens of District 5 that live in the Jackson Heights neighborhood, I'm sure you're aware that some road resurfacing has started. Be patient with those crews that are in there trying to resurface and take care of some streets and drainage. And also continue to be patient along the Dolphin Street corridor as we work from Sage Avenue to Robbins Road and that. So with all of that being said, thank you. That's all I have.

Thank you, Councilman Fleming. District 6, Councilman Woods. No announcements, Mr. President. District 7, Vice President Gregory.

Thank you. I just want to follow up on Josh Wood's service on the Planning Commission. Josh, you are the man for the job, and I don't think you'll have any of your colleagues fighting you for that position anytime soon. So hang on in there, buddy. You've got it. i believe that district six is made for that position i think it is too for some reason district six seems to be the district that takes on the planning commission so thank you for that a little outside of that my district meeting is coming up on thursday It will be at the Mobile Museum of Art. This is our annual back to school celebration. We will be collecting school supplies for the three elementary schools in the district. And, you know, it's general supplies, notebook, paper, pens, pencils, binders, that kind of thing. If you need any suggestions, you can call the office or, you know, call the schools. They can tell you a little bit more specifically about what they use. We will also have a light dinner and I will be presenting checks to each of the elementary schools as well while we are there. So look forward to that on Thursday evening, six o'clock at the Mobile Museum of Art. And that is it for me. Thank you so much.

Okay. And I'd like to extend congratulations to two people in this room. First, I would like to extend congratulations to our very hard working council member, Councilman Ben Reynolds, for receiving the NAPI award a couple of weeks ago and also to our city clerk for receiving the politics award for being the hardest working appointed official in the city of Mobile. Congratulations to you all both. And our mayor. Congratulations. Anything from the administration? Motion to adjourn. Second. Probably moving second in discussion. All in favor? Aye. All opposed? This meeting is adjourned.