By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
PINSON, Ala.–Councilor John Churchwell was recognized during Thursday’s Pinson City Council meeting for recently being honored at the annual meeting of the Alabama League of Municipalities (ALM) for serving two decades as an elected official.
During his report, Mayor Robbie Roberts talked about the council’s attendance at the gathering where Churchwell was among 35 others recognized. Roberts thanked him for his service and offered his congratulations.
“Well, it’s not necessarily about being recognized as being able to get that accomplishment,” Churchwell told the Trussville Tribune. “And it was great for me and hopefully it’s good for the city also. 20 years is a good thing to do just about anything.”
Churchwell was elected to his position in Place 4 not long after the city was incorporated in 2004.
“I’ve always liked politics,” he said. “And I worked for the federal government, Social Security Administration, and I spent 38 years with them and of course you can’t be involved in politics and work for the government, so it was just natural when we came up with getting everything organized and we became a city in [2004]. And so I just said ‘Okay. Been waiting for 38 years.’ So I decided to run for council.”
Churchwell said that during his tenure he ran opposed the first time he ran but the next four times he ran unopposed, calling it something of a “miracle”. He added that he will not be running for reelection.
“But I’ve enjoyed being here in the city,” Churchwell said. “And it was really enjoyable and good to have the opportunity to help set up the guidelines and the rules and regulations that the city is still going by. So that was my reason but now it’s time for me to move on.”
Roberts also announced that the splash pad will open on Saturday and will be operated on Tuesdays through Saturdays at 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sundays at 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. The splash pad will not be open on Mondays with the exception of the upcoming Memorial Day holiday.
Afterwards the council passed the items on its agenda, beginning with a resolution to approve an allocation from the Rebuild Alabama Act of approximately $140,000 to be used for street and road maintenance.
The resolution states that the city has received approximately $116,000 from a new 10 cent gas tax that was implemented by the act and will put towards a continuing plan to pave and construct industrial roadways in the Highway 79 corridor.
The council also approved purchasing a sousaphone for the Pinson Valley High School or PVHS Marching Chiefs and approved $5,000 to fund a composer to write a musical piece for the school’s mariachi program, which has been developing over the past several years and will soon have a full-time teacher.
The program at PVHS was said to be the first in Alabama. Mariachi is a genre of music native to Mexico, with its performers often remembered for their distinctive hats and outfits.
“It’s great to see that we’re a community that’s quite diverse,” Roberts said. “And that diversity shows even in a program like the mariachi, which is of course a more Hispanic-oriented type music if you’re familiar with it.”
Among other items to be passed was an ordinance that set the qualification fees for those who run for mayor or councilperson. The fee to run for mayor is $50 and $30 for anyone seeking a council position.
Payments are made to the city clerk and deposited into the general fund or prior to the time of taking out qualification papers by the candidate, says the ordinance.
The ordinance also specifies that if anyone who cannot pay the fee may furnish the city clerk with an affidavit stating that they cannot pay the qualification fee.
In other business the council:
- Approved a grant request for $1,341.27 from the Birmingham Regional Emergency Medical Services System (BREMSS),
- Approved a change order of $14,000 for clearing projects at Palmerdale Fire Station and the Palmerdale Homestead Community Center, and
- Granted $1,000 to the Pinson Valley High School business education teacher to attend a conference on the condition that she will have to pay it back if she does not return for the school year.
Pinson City Council meets on the first and third Thursdays of every month at City Hall on 4410 Main Street. Live-streamed meetings can be seen on the city’s Facebook page.
Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@gmail.com.
