By Terry Schrimscher, For the Tribune
ARGO – The City of Argo will soon have a system in place when faced with plans for future growth. The Argo City Council passed an ordinance at the Feb. 27 meeting creating a Planning and Zoning Commission for the city.
“I’m glad we’re moving forward with it and hoping at our next meeting we’ll be able to appoint our commission and get started,” said Mayor Betty Bradley.
The Council is expected to pass a resolution at the March 13 meeting to begin appointing members to the commission. Representatives from Goodwin Mills Cawood in Birmingham are expected to be at the meeting to assist with the selection process.
City Attorney Michael Brymer explained to the Council the qualifications for membership on the Planning and Zoning Commission.
According to the ordinance he presented, all members of the commission, except for the administrative official, must be residents of the city of Argo. There was some confusion about allowing nonresident business owners to serve.
The commission will consist of nine members including the mayor or a designee of the mayor, and one administrative official appointed by the mayor. One city council member will be elected by the Council to serve as an ex officio member. The terms for these members will coincide with their terms of office.
The remaining six members will be nominated and elected by a meeting of the Council. These members will serve six year terms.
The ordinance gives the Commission jurisdiction over all land in the city limits and property within the city’s police jurisdiction. The role of the Commission will be to codify zoning ordinances within the city.
After the Feb. 13 meeting, Bradley told The Trussville Tribune the benefits of having a Planning and Zoning Commission including protecting property values.
“Zoning is broken down into multiple categories to help balance a city to ensure proper land use and provide value to citizens that own property,” she said.
“There will be a certain place for each thing,” Bradley said, speaking about the locations of business and residential districts. “We’ll plan for the future of Argo,” she added.
Brymer advised the Council to appoint a broad group of citizens to serve as the six appointed members of the Commission.
In other business, the Council appointed councilmember Danny McCarley as a voting delegate to the upcoming Alabama League of Municipalities Convention in Birmingham. Councilmember Dennis Griffin will serve as his alternate.
The Council did not act on a request to buy a smoker for city fundraisers. The grill was expected to cost $5200 but members of the Council asked for a committee to be in place for fundraising events before spending the funds on a smoker.
The Council approved Noah Plumbing to install a water heater in City Hall. The plumber in turn offered to donate his $500 fee back to the city to apply toward the smoker purchase.
The Council also approved the following items:
– $4957 to paint the interior of Argo fire station located at City Hall.
– Up to $10,000 to repair a washed-out section of Roulain Road.
St. Clair County is transitioning to digital radios for first responders by the end of the year. The Council is expected to discuss pricing for new police and fire radios for the city at the next meeting on March 13.