By Nathan Prewett, For The Tribune
LEEDS – A brief meeting on Monday, Aug. 1 saw the Leeds City Council pass several items related to repairs and surplus, as well as several speaking during public comments, including the director of the Leeds Main Street project.
At the beginning of the meeting, Mayor David Miller delivered his report, saying that the city’s waste management company, EcoSouth, has raised its contract price for residential garbage pickup by 5 percent, which took effect that day.
“That’s not something we can do anything about,” Miller said. “All the agreements of the garbage company have some kind of escalation clause that allows them – their expenses go up to, to increase the fees periodically.”
Additionally, Miller reported in what he called more positive news that Avenu has been hired as the new tax collector. They are able to perform different kinds of tax services, as well as policy providing 10-day temporary business licenses.
Miller said that the company may have an impact on the city’s economy.
“Their reputation is such that most people that shift to them see an immediate increase in revenue,” he said. “So we’re hoping that happens to us as well.”
Hearing from department heads it was reported that officers of the police departments have completed their training in responding to active shooting situations.
“That’s very important,” Miller said. “After what happened in Uvalde and what’s happened over a period of time at various other places, we took an in-depth look at what we do here and we were lightyears ahead of most of the places that have had problems.”
A police report can be found on the agenda packet online. Court Magistrate Laura Roberts was absent but her report can also be found on the packet.
During the regular meeting, the council passed three items and tabled one. The first was a resolution to declare certain city property to be surplus and authorize its sale. These were a 2012 HME firetruck and a 2007 Ford Crown-Vic that are no longer needed.
Next was a resolution authorizing a declaration of emergency to make repairs at Fire Station Number Two. Miller said that a “hazardous situation” with mold has occurred at the building, prompting a need for repairs that will amount to an estimated $100,000.
Next was to award the contract bid for repairs to be made for the City Hall Annex roof. The contract was awarded to Blair Commercial Roofing for $89,822. The money, however, will not come from the general fund but from the Alabama Trust Fund.
Lastly, was to consider accepting certain public roadways for city maintenance responsibilities. These were Millie Street, Whittaker Place and Pear Street. Miller said that the roadways were part of a family property that were eventually split up. They are not up to subdivision standards and were never accepted by the city.
The council voted to table the matter until the city engineer can study the roadways and determine an estimated cost of maintenance.
Afterwards the council decided to allow public comments before going into executive session to discuss potential litigation and the character of an individual.
The first to speak was Amber Vine, who is the executive director of the Leeds Main Street Project for Leeds. She said that she is working with Main Street Alabama’s resource team, which will visit the city in September. They will present recommendations for the city government to consider.
“They’ll be recommending a course of action with specific activities emphasizing on economic development,” Vine said. “Their recommendations were based on information gathered through a review of materials, interviews, and meetings in a facilitated community visioning session.”
This will take place on September 20-22, she said.
Second was John Bittle. He asked about the subject of the character of an individual that the council was about to address in their executive session, saying that rumors have surfaced among people. He asked if the council could say who the individual was and if said individual could speak for themselves.
Miller replied that the executive session could not be held in public but if something were to happen outside of the session that prompts public action there would be “full transparency” and anyone “accused” of any action could speak up.
Bittle then asked if any details could be divulged as to why the integrity of the individual would be questioned, to which Miller said “No”. He and Miller briefly and calmly discussed transparency, with Bittle saying that it would be preferable to say who is being discussed, and Miller said that they have to follow state law for such matters.
Lastly was Alex Warner, who said that he has recently moved to Leeds and expressed his excitement at living in the community.
Ragland-Pierce spoke to address the city’s website, suggested that it needed to be redesigned, saying that constituents have reached out to her to complain about finding the site hard to navigate. She said that among the changes that should be made is to improve how the public can contact the city government.
The council then voted to go into executive session.
Meetings are held on the first and third Mondays of every month at City Hall on 1400 9th Street Northeast. Agenda packets can be seen online at the City of Leeds website.