By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
MOODY – The Moody City Council heard concerns from citizens regarding a request to rezone 27 acres of land for home development that they said may cause potential traffic and flooding issues as a result of the construction.
The meeting began with reports from department heads for the month of August, with Police Chief Reece Smith saying that there were 1,179 calls for service, 25 traffic accidents, 116 citations, 119 reports completed, 91 misdemeanors, 36 felonies, and 12,986 miles driven by police vehicles. Expenses for vehicle maintenance were $1,607.95.
Fire Chief Larry Horton said that there were 154 responses, seven fires (two residential, one business, three vehicles, one woods, grass or rubbish), 87 emergency medical calls, nine vehicle wrecks, 16 public service, 17 lift assists, 18 false alarms, and three mutual aids given. There were 42 annual inspections, five re-inspections and one pump inspection.
The council then held several public hearings, beginning with using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding for improvements at the Dave Treadwell Waste Water Treatment facility. The improvements include modernization, capacity expansion and treatment process upgrades.
Afterwards, the council held a public hearing for the rezoning of the 27 acres located off of Moody Parkway and Highway 411 from AG-1 Agricultural to R-2 Single Family Residential, allowing for 100 by 150-foot lots. The request was made by Wellington Development Company.
A citizen, Judy Monroe, asked about the potential for water runoff, a possible issue that was addressed by City Engineer Keith Hager.
“The actual question of rezoning talks about use, density, size of those lots that the planning commission recommended to you,” he explained to the council. “If you guys would like to act on that and actually rezone that property we would begin the process of compiling all those engineering reports, those would all come to the city to (David) Crowe and to myself. At that time, we would evaluate all those things. We would have to follow regulation in the city and we’ll watch it closely.”
Several other residents expressed concerns about the amount of traffic that could bring to nearby subdivisions, especially for first responders when traveling through them if the request is approved. Mayor Joe Lee said that there would be drawings of construction plans that would be presented at the next meeting.
Joe LeBlanc brought up the potential for rain to create flooding in the area, to which Hager said that there would be a study to address preexisting conditions and find ways to mitigate it.
The council took no action on this item, which will be brought up again at the Oct. 9 meeting for consideration.
Some time afterwards, the council passed its 2023-2024 budget. Councilman Lynn Taylor pointed out the highlights, beginning with the total revenue, which was $33,105,105,182. The total expense was $15,019,295. There was a 10.9% surplus on the budget and the council was able to give a 3% pay raise for all city employees, he said.
Capital projects were $793,000. Department requests came at $323,991, the largest being the police department and new cars. Taylor said that the budget will be available on the following day and citizens can request it through the city clerk.
The council later recognized a local officer, Brian Smith for his promotion to the rank of sergeant in the School Resource Officer or SRO division.
“Everybody knows that he’ll be taking over the SRO program, so I’m really proud of him,” said Chief Smith. “And I’m looking forward to what that program can do.”
Smith also introduced a new officer, Wesley Chapel, who joined the department recently.
Lastly, Moody will be getting a new seafood restaurant after the council approved a development agreement with Wharf Casual Seafood. The defunct Ruby Tuesday building will be the location for the new restaurant.
In other business, the council:
- Recognized Nov. 17 to Nov. 23 as 2023 Alabama Farm City Week,
- Approved repairing athletic field lighting for $1,773.43,
- Approved repairing a Public Works Bobcat vehicle for $2,400,
- Renewed the fire department’s yearly contract with Automatic Fire Systems for the alarm monitoring at the fire pumps for $540, and
- Hired Whitt O’Brian as a grant writer for the city.
Meetings are held on the second and fourth Monday of every month at 6 p.m. at Moody City Hall on 670 Park Ave.
Nathan Prewett can be reached at Nthomasp6@gmail.com.