By Crystal McGough
CLAY – Clay City Manager Ronnie Dixon informed the City Council at its regular meeting Tuesday, March 23, 2021, that the Alabama Open for pickleball will begin on Friday, March 26, at the Clay Pickleball Complex. The tournament will be three days long, running from 8 a.m. until midnight on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Dixon said that 400 players from three countries and 15 states will be competing in the tournament.
“It should be an exciting weekend,” Dixon said. “It’ll be a long weekend, but it should be a good weekend.”
Bell’s Stoked On Smoke BBQ, Tasteful Touch Catering and The Barbecue Stop will be food vendors at the event.
After hearing the city manager’s report, the council transitioned into a public hearing to address a zoning ordinance recommended to the council by the Planning & Zoning Commission.
Z-2021-01 recommends changing the zoning at the 6544, 6540 and 6569 Trussville Clay Road from Institutional to General Commercial. Many will know this as the former location of the Summit Church, which is currently in the process of being purchased by Perfect Service Heating & Air.
“They are a 35–40-year-old company that has been housed in Irondale during that whole time,” Dixon said. “They have an excellent reputation in the community and very many customers in Clay.”
No none spoke against the rezoning at the hearing, but Perfect Service Heating & Air Director of Marketing Landon Axt attending the Zoom meeting to speak on behalf of the rezoning.
“We’re going to use the building as our main office for technicians, marketing and accounting,” Axt said. “The house up on the hill we’re not going to use for anything right now, but later on, once we have more funds, we may renovate it to rent it out as either a house or another business space for a secondary business to come.”
The city council voted to pass Z-2021-01 unanimously.
The council also passed Resolution 2021-07, declaring personal property a public nuisance at the following addresses: 797 Chestnut Drive, 5239 Baggett Drive, 5439 Old Springville Road, 6415 Trussville Clay Road, 6530 Clay Palmerdale Road, 7112 Self Road and 7257 Frazier Circle.
“Those are all personal property nuisance, not weeds,” Assistant City Clerk Andrea Self said. “So, they’ve got exterior storage of non-operating vehicles or other personal property that is no longer usable for the original reason in which it was manufactured.”
Councilor Dennis Locke announced this month’s $500 School Grant winners. For Clay Elementary, Clay-Chalkville Middle and Clay-Chalkville High, the grants were awarded to the principals: Mr. Jacqnaii Finkley, Mr. Jason Wilson and Mr. Michael Lee.
For Bryant Park Elementary, the grant was awarded to K-2nd grade Self-contained Special Education teacher Hanna Tolbert. Tolbert will use the funds to purchase an eye-level bookshelf, letter-sized hanging file folders and plastic boxes for weekly assignments and tasks.
The council also elected voting delegates for the upcoming Alabama League of Municipalities meeting. Mayor Charles Webster will be the first delegate, with Mayor Pro Tem Becky Johnson as second and Councilor Ben Thackerson as third.
The next meeting of the Clay City Council will be Tuesday, April 13, 2021. This meeting will be held in person at Clay City Hall and will begin at 6 p.m.