By Terry Schrimscher, For the Tribune
CENTER POINT – The city of Center Point City Council met for the first regular meeting of July Thursday night, July 7. The Council began the agenda with two public hearings on rezoning requests.
The first hearing was a request to change the zoning of property at 100 20th Street NW from C-1 to Institutional 2. The owners of the property hope to turn the property into a shelter for homeless seniors who have been released from local hospitals needing additional recovery time.
Council President DM Collins read a letter of objection to the zoning request. Collins noted the Planning and Zoning Board has endorsed the zoning change. The Council tabled the discussion to the July 20, 2023, meeting to allow time to gather more information about the operation of the proposed shelter.
The Council also heard a request to rezone property at 2233 Old Springville Road from Agriculture to C1. The Planning and Zoning Board endorsed the zoning change. The request to rezone the vacant lot was approved with plans to develop it into a car lot.
The Council also approved an agreement to provide CDL training for city employees. Mayor Bobby Scott explained the need for the training.
“For the debris program, one of our goals was to hire diverse,” Scott said. “We’ve had a bit of a challenge in getting dependable drivers to come in and stay, so we have some employees that are interested in helping us with this program as well as their careers by obtaining a CDL license.nWe searched and found a program that allows them to go during the evenings after work two days a week.”
Scott said the city has created an agreement to hire the city employees to serve as drivers and reward them for their loyalty to the city.
“They would have to stay with us for three years after that particular training,” he said. The motion passed unanimously.
In addition to the CDL training for city employees to help with the debris program, the Council approved the reappropriation of $291,000 in additional funds to the budgets of public safety and the debris program. The funds will be taken from American Rescue Plan funds which were previously allocated for parks.
The Center Point City Council meets on the first and third Thursdays of the month at City Hall located at 2209 Center Point Parkway. The next meeting will be held Thursday, July 20, at 6:30 p.m.