By Terry Schrimscher
IRONDALE — The Irondale City Council met for the final regular meeting of the month on Wednesday, April 17. The meeting was originally scheduled for April 16 but was moved due to the runoff election.
In his report, Mayor James C. Stewart Jr. honored winners and participants from the recent entrepreneur competition which was held at Shades Valley High School on April 6. The third annual event for students earned $3,950 in cash prizes to continue to develop business ideas.
“Now, I’m going to go ahead and present some gifts to our winners that participated in the Young Entrepreneurs Day. It’s always a joy to be able to celebrate young people,” said Stewart. “I want to thank the parents for encouraging their kids to be creative and to be able to use their skills to develop a good that, one day, we hope they will be in the city of Irondale and they will pay a lot of sales tax,” he said.
Students sold flower arrangements, art, jewelry, craft items, lemonade, baked goods, pet treats and other items. Participants earned money from sales in addition to competing for prize money.
First place winners were Kimberly Villa Acosta and Navielle Woods in the high school division, Stella Gurganus in the middle school division and Ensley Tolbert in the elementary school division. First place winners each received $500.
Second place recipients were Rebecca Howard for high school, Carli Johnson for middle school and Skylar Gilleylen for elementary school. Second place finishes were awarded $300 each.
Third place recipients each received $100. Kenya Woods took third place in the high school category. Faith Joy Cohill and Peyton Skylar Croxton placed third, respectively, in the middle school and elementary school categories.
In addition to those prizes, Faith Cochran and Harleyana Wilson received $150 and $100 respectively as Mayor’s Choice winner and runner up.
The People’s Choice Winner, receiving $150, was Skylar Gilleylen and the runner up was Faith Joy Cohill who received an additional $100.
The Outstanding Branding Winner was Antonio Jones who received $150 and the runner up for branding was Charli Revill who received $100.
In the regular meeting, the Council approved budgets for FY2024. Until approval, the Council was operating on an extension of the FY2023 budgets.
The Council approved the General Fund budget, Capital budget, Water System budget, E-911 budget, Court budget, 7 Cent Gas Fund and 5 Cent Gas Fund budgets. Council member Cindy Cuellar abstained on each vote.
The Council also approved the following:
- Up to $479,450 with Morrow Water Technologies for the drilling of test wells.
- An agreement with J.D. Morris Construction to repair train viewing stations for an amount not to exceed $66,725.
- The purchase of two 2024 Ford trucks from Stivers Ford Lincoln not to exceed $50,198 per truck.
The next meeting of the Irondale City Council will be held at 6 p.m. on May 7 at Irondale City Hall. An agenda for the meeting can be found on the Irondale website prior to the meeting.