by Tommi O. Peters
For the Tribune
SPRINGVILLE – With potential severe weather on the way, Fire Chief Richard Harvey took the opportunity to note that city shelters would be open for the evening, as is standard protocol. He reiterated, “Anytime we have a tornado watch, the shelters will be open. We don’t wait for a warning to open them.”
Preceded by a Work Session and Public Hearings, council members moved quickly through a full agenda at Monday evening’s regularly-scheduled City Council Meeting.
Approval was granted for an Alcoholic Beverage application submitted by Gunter Oil Inc., doing business as Springville Shell. Change in ownership of the convenience store at 41 Springville Station Road requires the sale of alcoholic beverages to be licensed under the new owner’s name. Acquisition of the previous Bebo’s location brings owner Mike Gunter’s collection of convenience store locations to 14.
Gunter offered, “We’re really glad to be here. We look forward to doing some things in the neighborhood and making sure. I’ve always been very involved in the cities where our stores are located, so we’re looking forward to doing that here, too.”
Local businessman Mike Birgenheier was also present at the meeting, seeking to amend the zoning status of three of the four lots he owns on Elaine Street. Birgenheier request was to change the lots from their current status of R-1 Single Family Residential to R-4 Garden Home Residential. The change in zoning status would allow for six homes to be built on the three lots, rather than one home on each lot.
Birgenheier noted, “Several people that have come into [Rosewood Office Furniture] have shared that they love it here, love raising their kids here, but their parents or single parent lives in Trussville or Birmingham. We’d like to take care of them better, but we don’t want to move to where they are. We want to move them closer to be able to take better care of them into a place that’s nice and handicap accessible.”
For each of the three lots, Sherry Reaves of District 7 provided the motion to amend the zoning status. Without a second to the motion, Ordinance 2018-16 Amend Zoning Lot 10 Elaine Street failed due to no-vote. For Ordinances 2018-16 Lot 11 and Ordinance 2018-17 Lot 12, Mayor Isley provided the second to Councilor Reaves’ motion which allowed the Council to vote. With Councilor Reaves and Mayor Isley being the only 2 to vote in favor of the rezoning, neither of the additional requests passed.
In a review of bids for construction of a Community Storm Shelter, Fire Chief Richard Harvey shared that both bids received were over budget. He made note of adjustments to the plans which would likely result in significant cost decrease. The council approved Chief Harvey’s recommendation to reject both bids, adjust the plans and rebid the work with change of scope.
Having submitted the lowest bid for city paving work, Massey Asphalt & Paving was awarded the job for work to be completed in various locations throughout the city. The bid requires all work to be completed within next two weeks, weather permitting.
Councilor Tim Walker observed that none of the roads slated for pavement patching and upgrades were within District 5.
Mayor Isley explained, “Effort was made to triage the roads and select them based upon severity of damage. The roads that didn’t make the list this time might be the ones we’re able to service in spring.”
A motion presented by Councilor David Vinson of District 2 was approved to pursue a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant in the amount of $175K from U.S. National Parks. If approved, the city would need to match up to half of the grant funding. Results of the grant request aren’t expected until early spring.
District 3 Representative Wayne Tucker shared that he has received multiple complaints from individuals being awakened by the sound of compression braking systems, often referred to as jake brakes. City Attorney James Hill Sr. agreed to return to the Council with a recommended course of action regarding the noise concerns.
Other items approved included:
– Resolution 2018-34 Acceptance of Abigail Trail as City Street
– Expenditure approvals from the Fire Department:
- CAD add-on ESO interface in the amount of $1495.00 which allows data such as address and caller info to be automatically uploaded rather than manually entered at a later time.
- Front tires for Engine #522 from Tire Tech in the amount of $1078.58
- Brakes for Engine #522 from Tire Tech in the amount of $1554.34
The Mayor’s Report included highlights from October and previews of November events, presented from various department heads:
Senior Center
Nov. 15 Line-dancing demonstration
Nov. 21 Pot luck Thanksgiving gathering
Dec. 8 Participation in Christmas parade
Public Library
Thirty-seven new families joined the library in October, bringing the number of family memberships to 6,503.
Nov. 6 Coding Class
Nov. 9 Book Club
Nov. 10 American Girl Crafting Club
Nov. 17 Ancestry.com Genealogy Class
Nov. 29 Lego Club
Municipal Court
370 items on the docket for November, compared to 300 in October
Public Works
Nov. 16 Showing of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” at 6:00 p.m. in Big Springs Park
The next regularly scheduled City Council Meeting is set for 6:00 p.m. on Nov. 19 at City Hall, preceded by a Work Session which begins at 5:30 p.m.