By Crystal McGough, Associate Editor
IRONDALE – Jefferson County Commissioner Joe Knight attended the Irondale City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, and presented the council with a check in the amount of $20,000 to be used toward the purchase of a new sign for the city of Irondale.
“We have an old, ugly sign down at the entrance of the city of Irondale,” Mayor James D. Stewart Jr. said. “I reached out to Commissioner Knight (and) told him what we were trying to do here in the city of Irondale. I requested $20,000 from him to go towards replacing the old sign with a new sign. The new sign is going to cost around $65,000.”
Stewart said the city has also reached out to another political figure requesting an additional $20,000 contribution, but will still need a final $25,000 after that to reach their $65,000 goal.
“I wanted to thank (Commissioner Knight) publicly,” Stewart said. “For him to do what he’s doing for the city of Irondale – and he’s always been a friend for Irondale, he’s always been very supportive of Irondale – I wanted him to come out in front of the people of Irondale to celebrate him.”
In return, Knight said he wanted to thank Mayor Stewart and the Irondale City Council for all that they do.
“Irondale is one of my 14 cities in the district, but we’ve always worked closely with our cities,” Knight said. “… When Mayor Stewart made that request, I went to the commission and we had some infrastructure funds available, and so tonight, I would like to present the city of Irondale a check in the amount of $20,000 to go toward their new sign.”
In other business, the council approved the following:
- Resolution 2022-R-209, authorizing the mayor to execute a pole attachment agreement with Alabama Power Company for holiday decorations
- Resolution 2022-R-210, authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with BMSS Inc. to perform the annual audit for $70,000
- Resolution 2022-R-211, authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Deckard Technologies to monitor short-term rental activity in the city for a sum of $3,000/year
- Resolution 2022-R-212, authorizing Irondale Police Department to apply for Law Enforcement Assistance Grand Funding with ADECA
- Resolution 2022-R-213, approving a contribution to the Freshwater Land Trust and Vulcan Trails Foundation Inc in the amount of $83,333.33 towards the purchase of real property within the city of Irondale
- Resolution 2022-R-214, authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with OCV, LLC for the production of a mobile app to allow the city to effectively engage with residents in the amount of $14,985 for the first year and $7,990 beginning the second year
- Resolution 2022-R-215, authorizing the execution of a service agreement with Irondale Community Foundation in an amount not to exceed $3,500 to provide services to the city of Irondale to provide Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams for those in the community with food insecurities
- Resolution 2022-R-216, authorizing the mayor to execute an agreement with Warren Averett, LLC for a proactive IT risk review
- Resolution 2022-R-217, authorizing the allocation of public funds to Shades Valley High School to be exclusively used by the Shades Valley Basketball Team in a total amount of $500, including $250 each from the discretionary funds of Councilor John London and Councilor Robert Box
- Resolution 2022-R-218, authorizing the allocation of public funds to Irondale Middle School to be used exclusively for the IMS Robotics Team in a total amount of $950, which includes $500 from the discretionary fund of Councilor John London, $250 from the discretionary fund of Councilor Aaron Sims and $200 from the discretionary fund of Councilor Robert Box
- Ordinance 2022-29, which modifies Chapter 10 (Offenses and Miscellaneous Provisions) to add Article VIII, entitled “Regulation of Fireworks”
- Ordinance 2022-30, which modifies Chapter 4 (Building and Building Regulations) to add Article VIII, entitled “Registration of Vacant Properties”
The next meeting of the Irondale City Council will be Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, beginning at 6 p.m.
Crystal McGough can be contacted at mcgoughcrystal@gmail.com