By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
LEEDS – The subject of a blocked doorway at the Leeds Main Street meeting room that has been brought up in the past two meetings of the Leeds City Council was once again discussed on Monday, Sept. 19, which led to a back-and-forth between Mayor David Miller and others on the matter.
In a past meeting, a resident spoke during public comments about a doorway at the Leeds Main Street meeting room leased by the Water Works Board that was barricaded and then sealed off, blocking access to an area with restrooms. Miller has since insisted that the reason for walling the doorway was to protect sensitive documents in the city-owned part of the building.
At the Sept. 5 meeting, Councilman Eric Turner and Miller had a tense exchange about the council not being notified of appropriations to construct the doorway. Miller said some decisions could be made without speaking with the council first.
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The council returned to the subject last night, with Turner this time requesting that the wall be taken down. In the following discussion, Miller said that there would need to be clarification on code modification before removing the wall.
“It’s very possible that if we don’t close it off, it’s considered over 5,000 square feet,” Miller said. “Which means that we would have to (install a sprinkler system in) the entire building, and that’s way over $100,000.”
Turner then asked, “What would have happened if we hadn’t built that?” Miller reiterated that the Water Works Board was notified of plans to seal the doorway and it was mentioned at a past meeting with them.
Some board members were present at the council meeting, where member Cary Kennedy spoke from the audience and said that they have a use agreement for the common area where the restrooms are located, asking why they would have such a thing if the wall was there.
Miller replied that the use agreement stipulates that the city be notified if that part of the building was being leased and that the board did not do that. He also said that the board was notified, though Kennedy said they were not.
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After some further questioning from Kennedy, Turner then again made a motion to remove the wall, to applause from the audience. However, Miller stressed again that leaving the doorway open may have to entail installing a sprinkler system, which would be expensive.
Turner amended his motion to include getting an opinion on the sprinkler system and voting pending approval that it would not be needed before removing the wall.
Kennedy spoke again and pointed out that while the meeting room has an ingress or entry point, the wall now prevents an egress. Water Works Board Chairman Eddie Moore then stood and spoke, saying that the wall is partly theirs and wants for it to be open.
He also asked if it would not be considered trespassing with the wall being built by the city, to which Miller reiterated that the board had been notified of his intention to build it.
Councilman Johnny Dutton asked if it would be possible to build a security door in place of the wall that can be opened by those allowed a key. Councilman Kenneth Washington suggested that the city meets with the board to hash out an agreement.
“We need to sit down with both sides and work this out like gentlemen,” Washington said.
After further discussion, the council voted to table any action on the wall until the next meeting.
Among public comments was Leeds Main Street Director Amber Vines, who encouraged unification and gave updates on the program.
“We must all come together to push our community forward; it’s very important to do that,” Vines said.
She reported that the Main Street Alabama resource team is in town and will be conducting interviews and studying the city. She added that there will be a vision session on Sept. 20, at 5 p.m., at Leeds Middle School.
In other business, the council:
- Appropriated $50,000 for Leeds Main Streets
- Appropriated $5,000 for the Leeds High School Band Boosters
- Appropriated $3,000 for the Woman’s Literary Club of Leeds
- Appropriated $15,000 for the Leeds Arts Council
- Approved an agreement with Regional Planning Commission to develop a Comprehensive Plan update
- Adopted and ratified the January 2022-August 2022 city expenditures and payables
- Approved the demolition of a building on Thornton Street deemed to be unsafe
- Gave a property owner on a building being considered to be unsafe on Beech Street 30 days to have an architect provide a plan to bring the building up to code
Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@gmail.com.