Yeah, I have fewer off yeah, so we have sure to get that.

Oh yeah, so it should be okay though.

Yeah.

Let me know, so I can call PC if you actually said it's cracked.

Yeah, I'll just find some right.

Oh yeah.

It's challenging.

I think they are speaking.

Light out somewhere.

But mainly the right information.

They work later.

I I don't know.

Some it doesn't seem like the dog.

I had no idea.

No.

That's the lighting for a bit.

Usually they have a lot of people.

It just looked like this on the screen.

I mean, I know it's the possible word.

Yeah, we want me to write out the I think we'll go to that draw off.

I think we have a pretty much always all the rounds.

I think I think that we have to have really zinc up, but I have to get from here.

If I think the uh see that we all have a key option, uh we looked at that.

Yeah, all is it right.

Yes, I'll map.

It's just your one of the oh yeah, that's what you're doing.

Oh no.

Oh, yeah, that's all right.

It's weird to move on, right?

So we need to do this.

Okay, yeah, I saw it.

I think we've noticed it, so I have a very nice.

How about the person?

I don't know if we don't know.

That's what I was talking about.

Oh, I think that's true.

Yeah, I'll go to the show.

Yeah.

I did.

I don't have a smaller I thought software.

Oh, well, we could just stay away.

So I don't know if I have a lot of cool.

So we do have a season.

Sounds good.

Um yesterday.

Yeah.

So you can't do it.

Yeah.

So I think that's where it's called.

So I think that's kind of like the way I was not there, and I'm eating uh one here.

And I think it's wrong, so I'll have seven purpose.

Everybody's not eating turkey.

Oh no, this is just the most popular.

I'll keep it focused.

Good morning.

Are we ready?

Not gonna be able to do it.

Okay.

Good morning, everyone.

Welcome you to the City Council meeting.

Today is December 2, 2025.

The time is nine thirty-two A.M.

I call to order the regular meeting of the Birmingham City Council.

This morning, we will have our invocation led by Reverend Enus Gaddis, Junior, Associate Pastor of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Zion City, Birmingham, Alabama, and Councillor Josh Vassa will lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

If you'll please stand and join us.

Thank you.

Heavenly Father, I thank you for the grace of this day, Father.

And every neighborhood that's represented here, Father.

Teach us to love as you have loved us, Father.

Bless our city, our state, and our country with your protection.

It's my prayer in our son Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thank you very much, Reverend Gaddis, for that very thoughtful prayer.

Thank you, Councillor Vasa for leading us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Good morning, Mr.

Clerk, if you'll call the role.

Okay.

Uh Council Member Gunn.

Councilmember O'Quinn.

Morning.

Councilmember Smith.

Good morning.

Good morning.

Councilmember Smithman.

Councilmember Vasa.

Good morning.

Councilmember Williams.

Councilmember Woods.

Morning.

Council President Pro Tim T.

Good morning.

Council President Alexander.

Good morning, President.

At this time, Councilors, the minutes are not ready for July twentieth, twenty-five through November twenty-fifth, twenty twenty-five.

At this time we'll have communications from the mayor.

Good morning.

Good morning, Madam President.

Good morning, Madam Pro Tim.

Morning, members of the Council, members of the public, all those under the sound of my voice.

Very brief mayor's report today on Mayor Wood's behalf.

Certainly want to invite everybody to this year's holiday block party.

Families across Birmingham are invited to join us this Sunday, December the seventh, to kick off the holiday season with our annual holiday block party and tree lighting ceremony.

There will be food, trucks, music, face painting, a candy lane, and more.

Bring your lawn chairs and enjoy an evening of festive fun and community cheer.

This free event starts at 4 p.m.

The tree lighting is at 5 30 p.m.

Mayor Woodfriend hopes to see everyone there.

Madam President, Madam Pro Tem members of the council, that concludes the mayor's report.

Well, thank you very much, Chief.

At this time, before we entertain the consent agenda, I'd like to answer during announcements of boards and agencies' expirations in January 2026.

We didn't have any.

All right, thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

At this time, I'd please like to read the statement of conduct of business for the council before we entertain the consent agenda.

All items designated as consent are routine and non-controversial and will be approved by one motion.

All items on the consent agenda will be announced by reading the items numbers only.

No separate discussion of these items will be permitted unless a council member or the mayor requests the item to be removed from the consent agenda.

Additionally, a citizen interested in addressing the council with respect to an item on the consent agenda designated for public hearing.

May request the item be removed from the consent agenda to hold the hearing on the item.

Any items removed from the consent agenda will revert to its normal place on the agenda order business.

For remaining matters, all matters of permanent operation, they're indicated with a capital P will be read, and all public hearings, pH will be announced.

Mr.

Clerk, if you could give us the items that are being considered for consent.

Yes, ma'am.

Um today the consent agenda starts on page two with items two and three.

Um page three, we have items four, five, and six on consent.

Page four, we have items seven, eight, and nine.

Page five, we have items 10, 11, and 12.

Page 6, we have items 13, 14, and 15.

Uh page 7.

We have items 16, 17, and 18.

Page 8, we have items 19 and 20.

Um page nine.

We have items 23 and 24.

Page 10, we have items 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30.

Um page 11.

We have items 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36.

Page 12, we have items 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, and 42.

Page 13.

We have items 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, and 48.

Um, page 14, items 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, and 54.

Page 15, items 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, and 60.

And then page 16, items 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, and 66.

Page 17.

Items 67, 68, 69, 70, and 71.

And we conclude with items 72 and 73.

Thank you very much.

Counselors, are there any items you'd like to add or remove from the consent agenda?

Councilor Smitheman.

Thank you, Madam President.

I would like to take item 23 off consent on page nine.

All right, that's item 23 on page nine.

Any other items.

All right, counselors will entertain a motion and a second for approval of the consent agenda.

So move.

Second.

Okay.

That was councilor Smith.

And who was the second?

I'm sorry.

Yes.

All right, thank you.

Thanks.

Uh recording voting should start.

Now a second here.

All right.

Should be open now.

Yes.

Council Member Vassa.

Thanks, sir.

And Councilmember Woods got you.

Uh that vote should be up.

All right, thank you.

Those items are approved for consent.

If anyone was here for an item that was listed as consent, those items have been approved.

We will continue with the agenda.

Before we call up the first item, Mr.

Clerk, I'd like to ask if we could have a unanimous consent to allow for a special presentation.

If okay, at this time, we have a special presentation by Councillor Sonia Smith of District 8, and she's announcing something, some very great news.

Grand opening of a healthy grocery section.

Councillor Smith.

Okay, great.

Well, yes, good morning.

Um go down below.

Good morning, everyone.

Excited to have Miss Jackie Um Pasekus Varner here with us today from Bama Health Foods, and she's going to announce an exciting opportunity taking place.

Um kicking off this Saturday.

Great.

Thank you all.

Um we are excited as Bama Health Foods.

I was reflecting about seven years ago.

I stood in front of you all and said that we were going to continue to keep a health food store open for the community that was about to close.

So seven years later, through all the trials and tribulations on the west side, we are excited to announce that we are opening an urban micro grocer that is designed for convenience to make it easy for people to eat healthy in their neighborhood.

Nourish grocer is a concept that we want to um encourage all of you to come and experience.

And so it is with very much great purpose that we are excited to offer all of these clean and nutritious foods, grab and go foods, uh fresh produce local, and even more.

So we're kicking off the grand opening this Saturday with 25 health and wellness boxes, first come, first serve, 10 o'clock through 6 or through 5 o'clock, and then throughout the week, we will have other activities throughout the store.

So I just welcome you to come and spread the word.

I'm not asking anything other than we need the word out so that we can continue to nourish our lives and be healthier together across the Birmingham area.

So thank you for your support.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

This is very good.

I want to thank you.

Of course, I do remember when you first came and um you sort of gave new life to Bama uh foods and the um business that you have there and the investment in the Western side.

We're always very excited to see bringing nourishing good food opportunities for our residents.

So I really want to thank you.

Thank you, Counselor Smith, for making us aware of this, and we wish you make good luck on Saturday.

Thank you so much, Jack.

And just to say the address 1965, 1923.

1923, Bessmer Roads.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right, this time, Mr.

Clerk, we'll go back to our agenda.

Thank you.

Oh no, I'm sorry.

In ordinance to amend the zoning district map of the city of Birmingham, case number ZAC, 2025-10 to change zone district boundaries of QMUD.

And QD4, density residential district two, QD5.

Um qualified multiple dwelling districts filed by North Side Development LLC, property owner and Brian Wolf, CR endeavors.

Properties generally located around the former Caraway Hospital campus, uh bounded by Careway Boulevard to the east 25th Street North to the West 20th Avenue North to the North and situated in section 36, quarter section 4 Township 816 range to West Birmingham, 35235 and hearing volume should parties.

Motion please move the order.

All right, thank you.

I'll turn this over to Dr.

O'Quinn.

Thank you.

Um president.

Um so the developers here, Mr.

Wolf.

If would you care to come and tell us about the project?

I'm sorry, um, excuse me.

Um Kim Spurl from staff is here to tell us about this rezoning case.

Good morning.

My name is Kim Spurl.

I serve as the city zoning administrator.

The item before you is case ZAC 2025-10.

Um, this is a rezoning request to change the zoning from qualified mixed use downtown and qualified medium density residential to QD5, which is our qualified multiple dwelling district.

Um, the applicant is CR endeavors on behalf of the owner, North Side Develop Redevelopment LLC.

Um, if you look in your packets, um we have a map that shows you the properties, it's blocks D2, E, F, and G in the map packet that are being rezoned with this application.

Um so the applicant is requesting to change the zoning in order to allow for a new development that will include townhomes, duplexes, and cottages on the site.

Um, this property is approximately eight and a half acres.

Property to the north is zoned multiple dwelling district, property to the south is general business district and mixed use downtown, and property to the east is also zoned general business district.

The city's long-range land use plan identifies blocks F and G as residential low, and blocks D2 and E are identified as mixed use low.

All of the proposed uses that the applicant intends to do on this site fit into the D5 zoning district, including townhouses, duplexes, cottages, and even single family if they choose to do single family.

Umce the rezoning is approved, the applicant would have to comply with all of the city's stormwater ordinances for new development.

Um this property is located in the north side-south side framework plan area.

Because this property is in the middle of three different neighborhoods.

We've asked the applicant to attend the Evergreen Druid Hills and Norwood neighborhood meetings for a vote.

Um, and the vote, if you look in your packets, it's a little confusing.

The original rezoning request included a commercial rezoning component in addition to the residential, and so that commercial component was withdrawn.

So all we're considering today is the residential rezoning.

Um so the Druid Hills, Evergreen, and Norwood neighborhoods all supported the residential rezoning request.

Um, this item went before the zoning advisory committee on August 5th on 2025, and they voted to recommend the rezoning request.

And the request then went before the planning and zoning committee on October 8th, and they recommended approval subject to one condition that the height of all structures be limited to 35 feet.

So the item before you today is the request to rezone to qualified multiple dwelling with that Q condition that the height of all structures would be limited to 35 feet, and the applicant is here if you have any additional questions.

Thank you, Mr.

Wolf.

Good morning, Brian Wolf.

We are at uh 6014th Street South here in Birmingham.

Um good to be before you.

I don't really have much to add to what Kim had mentioned, but I'm happy to answer any questions.

We're very excited about this project.

It'll be the first project of new construction on the Caraway site post-demolition that we're wrapping up right now.

Happy to answer any questions you may have.

Sure.

I've got a question.

Um so the Norwood neighborhood uh specifically, they uh uh recommended uh approval, um, but they had a number of additional queue conditions that are included in the in the packet.

Um that would exclude um a variety of uses.

So um I think the the item that's before us contains one Q condition that limits the height to 35 feet.

So the the Norwood neighborhood uh specifically they uh uh recommended uh approval um but they had a number of additional cue conditions that are included in the in the packet um you know that would exclude um a variety of uses so um I think the the item that's before us contains one cue condition that limits the height to 35 feet um just wanted to ask you um regarding these you know this recommendation from the Norwood neighborhood for these other acute conditions um and some of these are you know completely or all of them are completely unrelated to the proposed use of residential things like a cemetery or um outdoor farmers market you know that sort of thing um would you be amenable to the inclusion of those suggested Q conditions as well?

Yeah I don't believe I'm going for memory here because it's been a while since I read their Q conditions, but I believe you're accurate.

I think they kind of went through the zoning and okay here we go.

Um they applied to the commercial rezoning.

Oh, these applied to the commercial rezoning.

Okay, I'm sorry.

Um so we have removed that portion of the of the application.

So these were specifically for the commercial part of the rezoning, and as Kim mentioned, we removed that because we had some work to do based on some comments we got back.

Thank you.

Appreciate the clarity.

Yeah.

Do any members of the council the counselor uh gun?

Yes, just uh one question, I I guess it's a point of clarity.

Um, what is the thought behind the cue condition that limits the height to 35 feet?

I think I may be able to offer some insight uh on that.

So um the planning and zoning committee has been working with planning staff um regarding the height limitations for the D5 zoning, and um one of the issues that um has brought this about was um the framework rezoning plans and um you know what has happened in some neighborhoods uh throughout Birmingham is that um previously the height limitation on D5 I think was 65 feet, 60 feet.

Um so you had D5 zoning in um neighborhoods where you had you know um single family residential properties and the then a D5 lot right next to it, and so the idea was um or the idea going forward is to limit to to revise our zoning code and limit the height in D5 um to 35 feet.

So this would align with that proposal going forward.

Um so um that's something that the planning commission still needs to consider and the planning and zoning committee needs to consider with respect to the zoning code.

Um, but seeing that that is moving forward through that process, uh I believe the idea is to make this align with what we're proposing to do.

Other questions?

All right.

Okay, this is a public hearing, and so are there any members of the public that wish to speak for or against this rezoning?

Yes, sir.

Come to the mic and state your name and address, and you'll have three minutes.

Good morning.

I am Ronald Williams.

I live at 1611, Caraway Boulevard, right across from where the star was on the hospital.

So my question has to do with quality of life issues in this area.

Uh I get to attend a lot of the concerts by default because I live across the street, not that I want to attend them.

So I'm concerned about extra traffic in the neighborhood and also noise.

Uh so I don't know if those things have been addressed.

Uh how that affects the people that live right across from there.

Yes, sir.

Um, so I appreciate you stating your concern that the issue really before us right now is the proposed rezoning of this property.

So um understand where you're coming from with respect to the additional traffic, and maybe Mr.

Wolf can speak to um you know whether or not a traffic study is can be been conducted with respect to you know having additional residential properties there.

Um but in in respect to you know the potential noise concerns related to the amphitheater, you know, that's a completely separate issue.

Well, my question also will this add to the noise because you've got extra people there.

I enjoy living there.

I enjoy the peace and quiet of my neighborhood, and I'm I'm concerned about that disturbing most of us are over 70, and uh that live that strip right across from the hospital there, and I don't think uh that our concerns have been heard through the Norwood meeting because most of us don't know when it meets, and so those are my concerns.

All right, thank you.

Yeah, um, I'll address the traffic first.

Um we did do a traffic study, and we also did a parking study as well.

Um the parking study was approved by um city staff.

Uh we were one of the actually, I know we were the first to do a transportation demand management plan, which is a new um item in our zoning code that just recently got added when we changed our parking requirements.

So we definitely meet all the needs in terms of parking for this facility long term at come at full build-out.

Um, as you remember, there are four parking garages on this site that we plan to rehabilitate and bring back into production.

Uh two of those have already been rehabilitated.

Um, the second and the third one will be rehabilitated in the next few years as we begin some of that vertical development that comes back.

In terms of just quality of life issues, we have been very deliberate about complete streets coming back in this neighborhood.

So making sure that we have adequate pedestrian facilities in place, crosswalks, sidewalks.

We do not want folks to feel like they have to get in their car and drive two blocks.

We want them to feel like they have a safe place to cross, whether that's at Caraway coming from Norwood or from Druid Hills, to get over and use this facility long term where there's going to be other entertainment options as well as restaurants being built out over time in addition to grocery stores in the future.

So we're trying to be very deliberate about that because we want people that live in this neighborhood that we're talking about today to be able to walk out their front door and feel comfortable walking their kids down to City Walk, for example, and using those facilities.

Umfortunately, the cities have made those investments both in City Walk and in the infrastructure in that area surrounding the BJCC, and so we do have a good head start on that, but we are committed to doing that as we move forward too.

Council Tate, you have a comment.

Thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um I appreciate the gentleman that came to the mic.

I see Miss Edna Freeman want to acknowledge Miss Freeman and Ms.

Mason also and appreciate you, Brian.

Mr.

Wolf, for your, you know, just breaking it down, explaining.

But I grew up, you know, on 25th Street North, went to Mac Arthur School.

My grandmother and has a home on 20th Avenue North with my aunts both still reside, you know, remembering um the many families that the Careway hospital employed and saw people that I grew up with raised families, so it's it's you know, it's always been you know, a busy corridor, the char house.

I can remember running you know up the street, going in and back up careway, going to the tenth floor to the you know, to the uh dietary, getting me some ice cream, but I'm happy and excited.

I never in my wildest dream did I imagine that I would see Caraway transform the way that it is is going to transform.

You know, I'm super excited for the residents and the constituents and the people that we attract, you know, to move back, you know, to that area.

Um highway 31 is a very busy corridor.

Um, and I can appreciate my elder, you know, being living there, you know, in his seventh.

We really really appreciate you staying, you know, in the district.

So I hear your concerns.

Um, and um, you know, I think that the developer would do a great job to control, you know, you know, the noise and the and the flow.

But I think in the in the the long range of all of these, I think we all appreciate uh what we'll see, you know, coming in the transformative um effort that's gonna take place in these neighborhoods.

Okay.

Um Mr.

Wolf, if you would just you know, give us a broad overview of the type of plan development for these um parcels.

Yeah, sure.

So our first phase will consist of 64 uh homes.

So it'll be a mixture of townhomes, uh, cottages, duplex triplex.

They will be positioned along an internal street, if that makes sense.

Along with that, we will be building out some areas to be able to walk pets, but put playground equipment, things of that nature to make it more of a community feel.

So there's kind of an internal zone for people to feel safe and congregate around.

One of the things we always try to do in communities, whether they be apartments or lower slung communities like this is to try to have those opportunities for people to have accidental run-ins with our neighbors.

So, you know, when you're out walking your dog, hey, I see Mr.

O'Quinn walking his dog, and we talk and we you know we're able to socialize a little bit, which is a little bit kind of missing in our culture today.

We try to be very intentional about those design elements because we want to kind of promote what's already in Druid Hills and neighborhood, which is a neighborhood, and try to make sure we have sidewalks and things of that nature in place.

But um the first phase will be 64 units.

I think we have planned up a little over 120 in total.

So the balance of that will be in phase two, which we plan to build um later on as soon as we get these um out of the ground and and and we start to move forward on those.

We have to kind of break it down into smaller tranches.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Dr.

O'Quinn.

At this time, we'll call for the vote.

Voting should be okay.

Council.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Dr.

Quinn, do we before we start the vote?

Did we have another person that wanted to speak for or against?

I'll be said it.

If you'll state your name and address, please.

Thank you.

My name is Denise Mason.

I'm at 1527 Druid Hill Drive.

And I am very happy about CR endeavors coming in to make Careway be all that it can be.

I'm very happy about that.

But I'm very concerned that all of the rental property, all I hear them talk about is rental property.

Um when CR Endeavors first came to our neighborhood, they told us that they would have some of their things that they were going to build was going to be ownership.

I do not want my neighborhood to become just over with rental property.

We already have a lot of apartments there.

And the first time they came for us to even put them in our neighborhood to start Careway, they said that they would put some things for ownership.

If they're gonna do the town homes and the cottages and the single homes, I would like for them to place ownership on some of the things that they're doing besides just rental property.

The other things that I was concerned about was where was all the rental property going to park?

Because it's still gonna be around the amphitheater and the BJCC.

And so those are my concerns.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Dr.

McQuinn.

Mr.

Wolf, we care to address those comments.

Yes.

Very good questions, by the way.

Um, on the ownership front, we have if you remember back when Caraway was you know blowing and going and it's in its heyday, they had acquired a little over almost 50 residential properties that are scattered throughout Norwood and Druid Hills.

And I think back in during that time, they used those properties for resident doctors and even nurses that were that were um working at Caraway for housing.

Um most of those houses, well, actually, all those houses have been demolished before we purchase them.

So we we own probably close to 50 lots that are scattered throughout Druid Hills and Norwood right now.

Our intention and what we're working on right now as part of a larger housing strategy at Careway is to make those for sale.

So rebuilding single family homes on those lots in those neighborhoods and selling them to folks that and doing it in a fashion that allows people that are make them attainable.

Um and then also with the housing authority as well to try to create um some different or really utilize some of the existing programs that are in place for first-time home buyers and folks that are trying to get out of rental housing and get into for sale housing, and that's something that is going on right now.

We're in the throes of doing that.

So that is not something we have walked away from.

It's something we've really engaged with because we do feel like you know, great neighborhoods like Druid Hills and Norwood.

We need to continue down that that cycle of home ownership to make sure those neighborhoods are stabilized and remain stabilized over time.

In terms of parking, again, we've done a traffic uh transportation demand management study.

We will self-park this this facility that we're talking about today inside the property that we're rezoning.

Um it will not be utilizing street parking, um, although there is plenty of street parking around there on Am Theater event days.

Um the amphiber events utilize the parking garages and some other vacant lots that are around the property that we're not currently redeveloping, and they also, as y'all know, they use a lot of the BJCC parking assets, and there's a shuttle system that they utilize to get people up.

Um, and as we develop out over time, we work with the BJCC every year to um basically revise that plan based on our development needs during the season.

So that plan changes from year to year as we develop out over time, but we we are confident we have plenty of parking for everybody that's proximate and and close to their home.

Okay.

Um just a question.

So in our packet, you the proposed town homes and cottages are believed are on lots D2E and F.

Um, and then uh parcel G is our block G is marked for future development.

Um, remembering back to the conversation early on, sort of what you know the the concept for um the redevelopment of the caraway properties, you know, the northern end block G was you know, lower density um type properties that would you know resemble um single family or duplexes, quadplexes, that that sort of thing.

So is that still the intention?

It is that would be probably our third phase of development.

Um we don't own that entire block.

If if if you're familiar with that area, there's a gas station on the corner of I believe that's um that's 19th, and in Caraway right there.

There's a gas station on that corner.

We own probably two-thirds of the block behind it.

There's still some single family homes.

So our job in that in that third phase would be to make sure we put Nuplex Triplex cottages in that zone that fits in with everything else that's going on there and would basically be a complement to what we've done on the remainder of phase one and phase two, so they all work together.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Thank you very much.

At this time, if we don't have any other questions, we'll return to the vote.

Council President Alexander.

Aye.

All right, yes.

Is that everybody?

Yes, thank you.

Item number one passes.

Thank you very much.

Next item.

Should be item 21, which is on page eight.

Excuse me.

In ordinance approving a broadband service franchise agreement with uh farmers telecommunications corporation, under which the city of Birmingham will grant to farmers telecommunications corporation the right to install and operate in city right-of-way, a middle mouth or fiber optic infrastructure network for the purpose of providing telecommunication and communications services for a term of 20 years, renewable for up to two successive terms of five years each, and farmers telecommunications corporation will pay to the city a franchise fee equal to five percent of gross revenue received by farmers telecommunications corporation and authorized the mayor to execute the agreement, and this is an item of permanent operation.

I need you see to pass it today.

Motion for unanimous consent.

Second, Councilmember Gunn.

Councilmember O'Quinn.

Aye.

Councilmember Smith.

Aye, Councilmember Smithman.

Aye.

Councilmember Vice.

Aye.

Uh Council Member Woods.

Aye.

Council President Pro Tim Tate.

Aye.

Uh Council President Alexander.

Aye.

I motion on the item, please.

Move the on.

Second.

Item is before you.

All right, counselors.

This item has been recommended by the chair of transportation and infrastructure, and it is an opportunity to grant um service broadband services franchise agreement.

Any questions, Dr.

O'Quinn?

Did you have any comments?

Um I don't I don't.

Um, these franchise agreements are pretty standard contract language, and um, so you didn't have any recommendations.

Any questions?

Right, we're ready for the vote.

Voting should be open.

That vote should be up, Madam President.

All right, the item number 21 passes.

Next item.

Item 22.

In order to approving a fiber optic franchise agreement with MCI Communication Services LLC, which the city of Birmingham will grant MCI Communication Services LLC the right of way to install and operate in city rights away, a fiber-based communication system for a term of 20 years, renewable up to two successive terms of five years each, and MCI Communication Services LLC will pay to the city a franchise fee equal to 5% of gross revenue received by MCI Communication Services LLC and authorizing the mayor to execute the agreement again.

Motion for unanimous consent.

Thank you.

Councilmember Gunn.

Aye.

Councilmember O'Quinn.

Councilmember Smith.

Aye.

Councilmember Smithman.

Aye.

Councilmember Vasa.

Aye.

Councilmember Woods.

Council President Pro Tim Tate.

Aye.

Council President Alexander.

Aye.

Motion on the item.

Move the item.

Thank you.

Items before you.

All right.

Thank you, Councillors.

This is another renewal for fiber optic franchise agreement.

It was recommended.

Does come from the recommendations from the transportation infrastructure chair?

Any questions regarding this item?

All right, thank you, Mr.

Clerk.

We're ready for the vote.

Council Member Vassa.

All right.

That vote should be up, Madam.

All right, thank you, Councillors.

This item 22 passes.

Next item, Mr.

Clerk.

The item should be item 23.

Yes.

A resolution approving and authorized the mayor to execute for and as the active said city a project agreement with Carver Jones Market LLC.

It's substantially the same form as on file in the office of the city clerk and as before this council, under which CJM will release and upfit existing retail space located at 833 Dennison Avenue Southwest Birmingham, Alabama, 35210, containing approximately 10,000 square feet, formerly occupied by Save a Lot Food Stores and the Heritage Park Town Center that will deliver everyday low prices on items such as meats, fruits, vegetables, dairy, beverages, snacks, and health and beauty aids to meet the needs and desires of shoppers in local neighborhoods in an amount up to but not to exceed 850,000 pursuant to the amendment number 772.

Second.

All right, thank you, Councillors.

This is an item that has um is being recommended by the mayor.

It did go before the budget and finance and the economic development and tourism committee.

Councilor Smithman, you ask this item be moved.

I know you probably want to get more information.

Yes, ma'am.

Go ahead.

Thank you.

Uh well, Madam President, do you mind if we call you know IEO and the developer to come up?

Yes, yes, very much.

Um, if we could have IO.

I know this has been presented to us, but we'd like to get more information full discussion of the item, please.

Good morning.

Um Coreyate Houser, uh Director of Economic Development Innovation Economic Opportunity, and also have uh Irene O'Johnson project manager with the department as well.

Um so before you today is an incentive agreement that will backfill the old save a lot, grocery store, which is a critical corridor, ensuring a central grocery uh anchor will serve as a foundational element of the neighborhood stabilization.

This proposed uh proposal represents more than an incentive.

Is it a strategic investment explicitly designed to meet a market opportunity?

By offering a target performance-based incentive, the city helps mitigate the initial risk of the initial operating cost, building a I mean bridging the financial gap.

This model is not theoretical, it aligns with successful incentive structures previously approved by the council uh for grocery stores in Birmingham.

The council may recall earlier this year.

We entertained DG Market in this same space.

Unfortunately, that uh opportunity did not materialize, so we're excited to bring this opportunity back before you uh today to backfill the space.

The the severity of food access in Birmingham is a real challenge, uh, and that it spreads across the entire city.

The majority of Birmingham's population is in a census track food desert, and that is not statistical uh metric, but it is defined daily reality for our residents here in Birmingham.

This universal impact transformed the grocery attraction strategy from localized district to an essential city infrastructure planning, necessitating support from the city.

Additional issues persist around the nation.

For example, in markets like Chicago facing challenges as well in 2024, Whole Foods Save A lot and all these all shuttered locations, uh, six of them in within two years.

The sheer scale of underserved population validates the inherent demand for the stores, proving uh challenges and structural access rather than market viability.

We understand pricing matters as such as uh proximity, and in Carver Jones Market, they have a three-tier structure and pricing model that serves all income levels.

The incentive serves as a critical bridge to unlock the demands to ensure business succeeds through equitable infrastructure provision.

Food insecurity has uh immense serious consequences that lead to greater chronic disease, poor mental health among children and ch uh adults.

Additionally, the lack of nutritious food not only damages physical health, but impairs human capital development, chronical illness, and undermines the ability for people to finish schooling and also maintain consistent employment.

By approving this grocery investment, the city directly contributes to improving public health outcomes, fostering more productive and resilient workforce.

Grocery stores, in particular underserved areas, function as high utility community assets.

The structure of this proposed agreement adheres strictly to the successful implementation by the Birmingham City Council, which we have done in the past to sustain grocery access uh in our city.

The current climate of the retail market volatility places intense pressure on food systems locally, making it immediate intervention essential to prevent long-term decline, compounding uh blight.

Recent significant market changes, such as the announcement of when Dixie plans to sell off all Alabama stores by the end of 2025, demonstrates how quickly vital access can vanish from communities.

When a key retailer anchors vacant large spots, the ripple effect uh of blight and decline can quickly reverse incremental gains in community.

The existing space targeted for this replacement grocery stores, limit the window that we have.

Allowing a site to linger in dormant commercial assets creates a physical and social hazard, compounding uh abandonment and vacant buildings prevalent in low access areas.

This investment is an essential component to Birmingham, and it is increasingly available to diverse the groceries that we have here in Birmingham.

Um, obviously, with any new business, they're gonna hire new staff.

Uh so they've proposed to hire 30 new staff, and I'll let the uh developers talk about that hiring plan.

But this investment ensures the stability, opportunity, and enhanced quality of life.

The request before you today is is the necessary response to a market opportunity by delivering vital food infrastructure for the health, productivity of the population, and the stability of Birmingham's neighborhood.

Thank you very much.

Uh, at this time, I would like to go ahead and let the owners um make give us information and then we'll entertain questions from the council.

Okay.

Well, thank you.

Um my name is James Harris.

I am the CEO of Carver Jones Market LLC.

So uh this is a great privilege for me personally, because it's part of my heart of what I want to see take place in blighted communities which happen to be in a lot of African American communities.

Uh 3,500 across the South and Southeast.

This is a very difficult problem to solve.

But no mistake, it is a problem, and it's one that's birthed out of my experience that I'm going after after 30 years of experience in the grocery industry.

So I'm um passionate about this.

Um the very name Carver Jones speaks up much about what we want to be after and be about.

So I'll entertain any.

Thank you, Mr.

Harris.

I'll turn it back over and let Council Smith and start with questions first.

Okay.

Actually, my first question is about what's in the resolution contract.

I know the item 23 says is an amount up to but not to exceed 850,000, but in the attachment is only the number is 600,000.

Why is that?

So there's 600,000 that's upfront incentive.

Um and then the others are tax abatements in arrear.

So it's up to two years that they get to um claim for the sales tax abatement.

So the only upfront cash, and based on some of the feedback that we got from committees, I do want to note that we did add they get 300,000 within 90 days of full execution of the agreement, and then 300,000 after 30 days of grand opening to secure uh and limit that risk.

So that's a change that you see in the contract today uh that was not in the committee, but based on feedback that we received.

And thank you for that.

I really want to thank um, even though council Williams isn't here, Council Williams, uh, Councillor Smith, I forgot who's on the other committee, because I know they came out of that.

I I really do appreciate that.

Um can you talk about the staffing plan?

I know Coreyate mentioned that you had, and we talked about this 30 new staff, but what's the plan for that?

Yeah.

Well, in our key departments for management, produce, and meat will be experienced people.

That's very important.

The rest of the staff that will be laborers from the community, as a matter of fact, we really want to see about 50 percent of that staffing to be high school and first year college students.

That's very important for us.

Uh that's the way they grow the market, to grow their experience is get young people in to the workforce in this area.

So that's what that would look like.

Okay, and with those colleges, and we talked about this, um, include Lawson State, Jeff's Day, uh high school, I think it would colonier department.

Okay.

Yes, ma'am.

Um, can you talk about the three-tier pricing level that was mentioned?

Sure.

Well, one of the things that we came to understand is that not all the residents in a community want to buy what we call store brands.

So we brought in national brands and and the faster moving categories.

And then we also saw that we needed to, in this case, is very evident in this community because there's a dollar general and a family dollar just almost in rocks throw at that location.

And one of the things that they do uh in particular in Health and BDA, but in other areas as well that we can compete against is what we call value product.

That's that $1.25 item that you see.

It's sized that way and it's priced that way.

We integrate it into our mainstream of product.

So if you've got Oreo cookies, then you're gonna have a value item item right next to it.

And so it it allows that customer choices, and so that's that's the three-tier pricing program.

Okay.

Um and what forms of payment will you accept?

All but American Express.

That's the only one that we won't accept.

Okay.

Um have you spoken to the neighborhood about this project?

We have done some.

Um I don't want to um I didn't want to build hopes up until we got closer to the finish line to make that happen, but we will before we even start uh revamping the store.

It's very important.

In fact, without the neighborhood buy-in, this won't work.

And so what we have done, part of our scheme is always to get their way in, ask their opinion on the front end.

We can't always give them everything they want, but we can at least address why we can't do it, and economically it won't work for that particular model.

But um we want their buy-in, absolutely.

Okay.

Um how much capital is it going to take to renovate the space?

Yes.

Um, we have done our build-out costs with everything in terms of working capital, about 2.1 million.

So that's about 500,000 of working capital that we're setting aside.

We're also putting a pharmacy in this location as well.

And so there's a bill out cost for it of about 200,000 uh to make sure that it you know it's it's able to run as well in the bill out.

Um how do you plan to uh in addition to the 600,000, how are you planning to get to 2.1 million?

Yeah.

Some of it uh maybe 25 to 30 percent of it will be BART money.

That will be some of the money that we'll use to on our working capital, so we use it as we need it as opposed to having all that in the bank.

The other thing that we will do is our we have a charity that works with us and food insecurity, and so there's grants and other things that can apply for these.

It's gonna take a lot.

This is not traditional, a traditional uh market that you're going after.

So you have to be innovative with the way that you finance this fit you.

And so that's some of the things that we've learned that that's very important to do because if we back up, when we win, everybody wins.

Uh certainly the city of Birmingham wins, the community wins, the federal government wins, the state wins.

When we put people in jobs, when we provide fresh nutritious food for them, it's a win across the board.

And so, as most of you know, grocery margins are very small, and so it takes volume to build those type that type platform.

Okay, so how much money is there on hand now?

We are at different points of it at this point.

Again, it's on a maybe scale, uh, but we have donors that have committed to help us bring this across the finish line, as well as our lender here as well.

So there is a you don't have like a number right now, we're they've committed to a certain dollar figure up to two million on on the total on this particular project.

Okay.

Um just a couple more questions.

Uh so who is going to run it?

Is it technically you're gonna run it?

I I know you're the CEO, but who's gonna run it?

I'm always heavily involved, but we do have managers and operators involved, yes.

Okay, um can you talk about a little bit what happened to the first grocery store in Fairfield?

Sure.

Well, there's not a one answer to that, but I will give you a kind of a big picture of it.

Uh first of all, we went into that operation that was a prototype store.

In other words, you're testing your systems, you're trying to figure out what works and what doesn't work.

The second thing is the city could not help at all.

We asked for two percent tax abatement.

Uh they couldn't help us in any other way in startup funds.

So all of the money was donated money for that location.

All of it, if some of you have been in that store, I know Councilman Quinn, you were there, some of you ladies was there.

That store all together was 1.1 million.

Everything fixtures, software, registers, inventory, and working capital for a year.

Okay.

Um you assure this won't happen here.

Well, there's no guarantees at all.

Uh, any business uh person comes in here and tell you they can guarantee you success.

I would be very, very careful of that person.

But when you learn, you grow, and when you grow, you apply things that you thought you knew about this.

This is very difficult to do.

That's the reason why our food doesn't.

If if it was easy, somebody would have done it by now.

Right.

It's very difficult.

And so it takes a lot of people going in the same direction to push something like this across the finish line.

All of you represent different communities, thus you represent people.

And so without that, you know, everyone puts you here, they put trust in you, they put confidence in you.

That's what I'm doing.

Is it all about the people at the end of the day?

Okay.

I just have a couple more, but I don't want to three all the time.

I appreciate you all just something, and we talk about this near my heart because this is my home neighborhood.

Uh the house that my parents actually my great grandmother's house.

Um, and so I just remember growing up going to food world when it was there.

So something very personal to me because I just want to make sure that we give, and honestly, it's not even just this grocery store across Birmingham being more intentional and not just giving people something just to fill a space, but to give it good food quality.

You should be able to go to any corner of Birmingham and be able to get affordable food.

Um, like there's a Publix and Madam President's district, which is amazing.

There's the new Bama Health stores, we have farmers markets, pigley wiggleys, uh, other publishers everywhere.

So I just want to make sure we're very intentional before absolutely.

I mean, you don't do this if you don't care, okay?

And you obviously care about your district and your concern that you're bringing somebody in that can address the problem.

But let's be honest, we all have to be on the same page in terms of effort.

I can't do this without you.

I can't do it without the people.

Um otherwise, we're just throwing money out there.

There's not enough profit in this business to just do that if you don't care about people.

I mean, at the bottom, at the end of the day, you do these things so you can better lives and have a chance to do that.

And so it is hard.

It is very difficult.

We've asked, we're gonna be meeting with some of the pastors in the community already.

We've been to pastorial meetings, we've joined groups, those are some of the gatekeepers in the community.

Um, you know, so it it it's it's a multifacet steps that has to be taken to help ensure this to be successful.

Um it's difficult.

It's difficult to do.

Yeah, I understand.

I just want to make sure this grocery is around four years, 10 years, because what's starting to happen that location, we have save a lot, we lost it, we got it back, then we lost save a lot, and then we have Dollar General, and that fell through.

And so I just don't want to keep you know, building up this momentum to the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods, and then we're we're failing every time.

So that's well, I'm I I don't want to do that either.

But I will tell you this.

Carver Jones and the legacy that those men brought changed America.

I am not just about changing a community.

I want to change the world, and so that's a whole different piece.

So to go in a community and make us a statement like this.

I look to do things with excellence, obviously you do too.

And so that's what you have to have people on the same page with the same goal.

And that's my goal is to do it with excellence.

I think you'll be proud of, I know you will be proud of your store.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Smithman.

Any other questions?

I know we have um Councillor Smith, and then I'll come to you, Dr.

O'Quin.

Counselor Smith.

All right.

Well, thanks again.

Um, so my um adding to what counselor Smitherman said, um, I do recognize that we need to have a grocery store in that space, and my concerns are related to quality and sustainability, um, as counselor Smitherman said, um, in terms of quality you know, we have this grocery store that's in five points west, and we've committed we've talked about this.

We have this grocery store in five points west.

The big biggest concern is around the quality of the produce and of the meat that's there, and having some kind of way that the neighbors and residents that are utilizing the grocery store can express those concerns and get some kind of relief.

And I know we have quality written into the resolution, but there's really not a way for the neighborhood to be able to address those, you know, to be able to get any kind of relief from those concerns.

Um, so that is a concern of mine.

Adding to what you said, you mentioned staffing issues were staffing issues were a problem in Fairfield.

Is that so that was not okay?

It's using the same staffing model of having students from that's right.

Okay, that's what you did.

Right.

Okay, and what hours are you considering for this location?

You know, we're going to uh look at that and uh ask the community what they would do.

Um in the Fairfield location, we closed at six and seven, you know, those were the time opening up at nine and then closing.

We adjusted hours as we went along based on the traffic flow of that day.

Six was the latest, or seven was the latest, excuse me, and nine, eight, we started with eight, and then we went to nine because it just didn't have enough foot traffic early morning to uh justify being open that so it cost more, it added to the cost of overhead by doing that.

So we reduced those hours.

So it was really all about the consumer, the people that we serve, what they wanted, you know, was responding to.

On the downside of that, what we learned was you have a school across the street, Restoration Academy is there, and every child is is carpooled in.

So there was a lot of traffic in that at those times, those early morning times.

So we were competing with that in the early mornings, and so we backed off to nine o'clock, which gave more opportunity for people to park in front of the store doing those hours.

So that's that's what we'll do.

And so whatever this neighborhood uh deems right now, I would say uh based on just what I see in traffic flow.

You know, it'll probably be eight o'clock, uh eight to eight or eight to seven in those neighborhoods, that neighborhood of Titan right now.

I know that that was a big concern for a lot of people going to the Fairfoot location, closing really early like that because we can listen uh to and people we were always listening to that uh, but we never heard that that was an issue.

Uh, because again, we were open during that time for uh most of the first year we were open, and so we had to pare it down because we just didn't have the foot traffic.

Gotcha.

And what timeline do you have for everything?

Well, as we are sitting here today, I would think it'll be the latter part of Q1 or the first part of Q2.

Okay.

So you'll okay.

Yeah.

So in that time you'll be working on the financing and have everything together and open by the end of the first quarter.

Yes.

That's correct.

That's right.

All right.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Dr.

O'Quinn.

Um thank you.

Um so Mr.

Harris, I I really enjoyed the opportunity to um visit the store in Fairfield, and especially getting the opportunity to speak to you.

Um you've been extremely modest and talking about your your background.

Um you come to this, you know, with a wealth of experience.

Um, so that's one of the things that you know, I think um for folks, and I I do want you to talk more about your background, but um, you know, one of the things that gives me confidence in this is that you know, you're not a novice uh at this.

And so um, but like my colleagues uh have expressed, um, you know, we we haven't exactly been uh we haven't had the best track record in terms of you know getting grocery stores established in our community, and in you go to any community meeting and ask people what what they want for their community, and grocery store is likely going to be the number one um item.

So um, you know, as I've expressed to our uh Arenio and Coriante, um you know, we want to approach this with a uh perspective of we want carbon's there, you know, for the foreseeable future.

So you know, I know one of the things that we we talked about um is that this is an extremely competitive market.

Um you know, and but I know that that you know this is not a um based on your and my conversation with some of the comments that you made here this morning, you know, this is not a uh situation that you're going into where profit is you know pure profit motive.

Um, you know, one of the things that I love, and I think this is a momentous occasion for the city, quite frankly, that you know, we're able to get a entity like Carver Jones invested in coming in the community because um it's a business model that incorporates the community and uh is you know tries to address the cute community's interests.

So um, you know, talk to me first.

I want you to for the for the sake of everyone hearing it.

I want you to tell us a little bit more about your background and your experience and you know what the future might look like beyond the store.

Um that's kind of dates me a little bit.

Casper McQuin.

Um I opened my first grocery store in Louisiana in a little town called Minden at 20 years old.

And um I was foolish at that time, as most young people are, and um uh but I just uh I'm not a person that likes to sit on the sideline and point fingers.

If you can do something about the problem, do it, address it, care enough about it, or find somebody who does and partner with them.

So um I started at 15 years old in the grocery business.

I started my career with Safeway, which was one of the largest retailers in the country.

To date myself a little bit.

So when I put my uh worked on my grocery store for the first time, I just wanted to do something, try it out.

I had many years of experience, and it wasn't like I didn't know what I was doing, and uh we ran it for a number of years and it supported our family.

Later on, I wanted to move and do something uh on a larger scale.

I was getting opportunities to grow with the company and move, and so I we did.

We um I learned every aspect of the business from you know, every department worked every every place, and then I went into safe waste management uh portal, and um that's where I really gained a lot of knowledge of the inner workings of every department being a profit center.

Um but as time progressed, you've seen that some of you talked about Food World.

Um the Brunos group that owned Food World was part of a company that I worked with in Kansas City and in the sense that we were we participated in share groups, in other words, they were not in our market and we were not in their market, so we shared breast practices.

Um the stores that I helped oversee um was over a million dollars a week volume, uh many of them.

So uh the retailer was privately owned, and so um we got I've got a lot of experience.

I had the opportunity to develop new concepts.

Um he was a very, very challenging individual.

He demanded excellence, and so uh he didn't want to be another me too grocers.

So uh that's how we got in in relationship with the Brunos group, and when that plane crash happened in the 90s, that devastated that company, and they never recovered.

And uh, but the market had already started to shift to suburban areas with grocery stores, meaning they were coming out of inner you know, inner cities and that particular thing.

It had nothing to do with race, it had all to do with the dollars.

That's where the growth in housing was happening is in suburban areas and people are moving out of inner cities, thus, those small retailers left because they couldn't compete with the Walmarks and those others.

Walmart has a very robust system of supplying themselves, and uh we couldn't compete with that.

So we developed some of our own internal systems to be better in some other areas and particularly in perishables.

We had our own USDA smokehouse.

We we processed all our own pork, we all of our poultry was less than two kill days before it hit our markets, never frozen uh produce.

We literally had people on the ground picking product that would go to our stores.

It never went to a warehouse.

And so these are some of the concepts and ideas that we brought.

Now, a lot of these things I obviously I cannot do, but we want Carver Jones Birmingham to be the if you would the home office for all Carbur Jones markets.

We have an opportunity in Birmingham to be a catalyst for all stores around the country, and we already have been approached by 12 other cities to bring Carbon Jones there because they love the concept.

So it is very difficult, Smithman, to do this, and we need everybody's support to make it happen.

Money is part of it, but money is in itself is not the only answer.

It's people, it's all about people.

And um I know that's what you want as well.

And so we want to champion you to help do it, it's not about us, it's about the people.

And we all have to keep that.

If I wanted to be a millionaire, if that was important to me, this is not what you do.

It's just not what you do.

So I didn't have any problems with some of the things that was asked of me, Ms.

Smith.

Um, in view of the you know, the the way the money was distributed or any of those things.

I didn't touch one penny that was spent.

That was done by another group of people that paid those invoices because I did not want my name attached to it.

That's just so I have no problem with accountability at all.

Either are what you are or you're not.

It's just that simple.

So coming in the store, I'll tell you our systems and how we plan on delivering fresh product to the market every day.

We're not using a lot of the large distributors here, only because they're not hungry enough for these markets.

They got stores within a five-mile radius, and quite frankly, they don't want to sell to us.

That's the reality of it.

And that's their choice.

So we went outside and brought in one of the largest wholesalers in the country.

It requires us to be members.

We have to buy stock in that company so that we can buy from that warehouse.

And so we pull most of our product out of Nashville.

But they got warehouses all over the country, including New Orleans and Memphis.

Nashville just happens to be the closest one for us to pull from.

So we can get anything that I mentioned on the variety of product and quality.

Thank you.

Councilor Pro Tim.

Council Gunnya.

Council Guns.

And then Councilman President.

I I echo everything that my colleagues say, and I know Council O'Queen and myself share some portions of our district, and we do have a farm, Fountain Heights farm, like how likely is it to partner?

You know, with Foundation.

I'm serious.

We had talked about it for Fairfield.

We have some local growers, black owned grocers and uh or farmers in the black belt area that we just was trying to build this.

You can only do so much in 12 months.

You can only do so much in one store.

And this was a smaller store.

So it didn't have the volume that the store is going to have.

And that's just my only question.

We you know, love to connect you with you know, Dominique um, who does a fantastic job.

Would love to you know in the fountain in Fountain Heights.

Her she's deeply invested in you know, making sure the community receives um healthy uh product, and so I think she would be a catalyst, you know, to what you're doing.

So we'd be happy to connect you, you know, with Dominique as well.

Let me just mention one thing because I um I I can't remember which one of you ladies asked me this, but we were talking about an opportunity to help the poor in the community, okay.

And one of those things that we developed in Fairfield is what we call a uh Food Drive 365, because homework takes no days off.

And so what we were able to do, the people in that community round up their dollar on their register receipt, and that money was given to the charity that bought gift cards back to the grocery store, so those people are able to buy fresh nutritious food as opposed to they all out-of-date, short-dated product, and so it was a way to just express dignity, and a lot of those cards uh was given to churches that have pantries or individuals that knows people, and there was a lot of um elderly people that receive those because either they get no food stamps or very little food stamp monies, and so it's another way to get back and replenish the money within the community.

Thank you.

Councillor Gunn.

Thank you, madam president.

Uh I just have a a few questions.

Well, one question in particular.

Um, but before I quit get into my question, I know this is going to take a collective effort between the city and you all to make sure that we eradicate food deserts uh in our communities.

Um, because if it's left to private developers, they won't eradicate food deserts because if it doesn't make dollars, it doesn't make sense for them.

So I definitely applaud you for taking on this uh mantle.

Uh my question is mostly for the city for us.

Uh are there any safeguards in place to protect our investment?

Um, especially if in the first 90 days the project doesn't come into fruition.

And I think Mr.

Hauser is gonna answer that for us.

So the initial um investment after the full um execution of the agreement, there are clawbacks in the agreement that if they don't open, then we can reclaim that funding.

The separate side of that, the yearly tax abatements are in arrears and performance base.

So there's very there's no risk to the city because if they don't perform, they don't get uh an incentive.

So those are the two separate ones.

And then the the other part of that is we add it to the agreement quarterly reporting, and so we'll be able to see how they're performing by the quarter, and if we need to mitigate, we can, but we'll be able to see that a little closer uh than we've been able to see in the past.

All right, those are all of my questions, and thank you so much, Mr.

Harris.

I'm very familiar with uh Mendon Louisiana.

Uh I went to Louisiana Tech University.

Okay.

And again, like I stated in the committee meeting, I'm looking forward to having Carver Jones in District 4 at some point.

Yeah.

There you go.

Thank you very much.

I want to thank each of you.

I do um mainly have more statements than questions.

I do want to thank the city for looking for another opportunity to bring us a viable food option for the residents in district six.

Although I don't live in District Six, that is our cousin district over there.

And um, so we do have quite a number of residents in district seven that I feel would love to come and um also uh have an opportunity to um and buy there.

Um the word choices really stuck in my mind.

I just want to be sure.

I know when we hear from both Councillor Smithman and Counselor Smith, um, and really speaking of for counselor Smith, you know, we've had someone that come and gave us a lot of um options that we thought would be placed into the business, and those have not come to fruition.

And I just want to be sure because we're bringing something to our neighborhoods.

I just want to be sure that the choices are there, and we have a high range of needs for people, and we talk about publics, but I know you know public has a certain market and that type thing, but I want something similar to that that we can be sure that our residents are going to be able to get.

So when you talk about choices, that really stuck in my mind, and also when you're talking about the value product.

So tell me a little bit more about that mix and how you're gonna how's that come to fruition because there's also the question that came up from Fairfield were you able to keep your products at the right level of quality because it may be the low foot traffic or the distribution where you're bringing products in and out.

So I am happy to hear you've got a distributor in Nashville, so at least we're two hours away.

But tell us a little bit more about that project plan, how you ensure that for our residents.

Yeah, uh, really the particular two things uh really constitute a food desert, and that's really fresh meats and fresh produce.

Those are those are the two key items.

So to mitigate the problems, let's go with produce because we start first in line with produce in our in our operations.

That's what we want people to do.

It gives an impression of freshness when you walk in the store as opposed to candy or you know, uh sweet goods, those kinds of things.

So uh one of the things that we do on our group uh in our management team at a high level is that we can source from a lot of local growers, different things.

One of the things we were known for there was our collard greens.

I mean they're huge.

So if you can identify with that, um collard greens, mustard greens, those kinds of things.

Well, they were just within two days out of the field and into the store because they came out of the Georgia uh so that's that's three hours, four hours away.

And so um the same thing happened to sweet potatoes um coming from Mississippi or some of those markets, they don't have to go into a big warehouse to be sorted first, and then five, six a week later arrive at the store.

The moment that product is picked, it starts, the timer starts, and so it starts to deteriorate.

And so um local grown produce is a huge, huge piece.

But you're right.

Um one of the things that um bigger retailers face in a food desert is what we call high shrink.

And shrink is simply the a term we use to measure what doesn't go through the register.

You threw it away, somebody stole it.

Uh you know, it's it's along those lines.

And so what happens to a lot of growers is that commitment to stay the course at a high level of quality.

In other words, if it's beer bruised, throw it away.

If it's if you wouldn't buy it, don't leave it out there for the customer.

Those kinds of things are or attitudes that have to be drilled into the people.

That's the reason why we want to experience people in those departments and that commitment that we have.

And so early on, the first hundred days are going to be very critical for the store to really perform to set the mindset of the people that come there, expectations of what they're going to find.

Secondly, is meats.

One of the things that uh was a problem for us is that the store in Fairfield was less than 8,000 square feet.

So we could not put a cutting room in that store.

So we had to rely on pre-cuts.

And that's nothing new.

Um Walmart is all pre-cut, you know, they don't cut anything back there.

They unbox it.

At very best, they might wrap it over at some of them.

But uh that's a whole different level.

The store has a cutting room already.

So we will cut our own means.

That'll make us much more competitive and also give us a lot more variety of what we can do at a very affordable price.

And so those were a couple of the things that we learned that we don't want to do again going forward.

Thank you very much.

I appreciate that.

I'm uh looking forward to this venture.

I just wanted to say two things.

We do want to hold you accountable, Mr.

Houser.

You did say that you were gonna be giving us quarterly reports, so we'd like to see those in our uh committee of the whole meeting.

So that first quarter report, we'll be looking for that.

And so um thank you, appreciate that.

Also, Mr.

Harris, I would like to hold you accountable to please go back to the neighborhoods.

It is very important that we hear their voice and that they feel they have an input in this because they will help that foot traffic and there'll be some of the best advertisement that you can ever have, okay?

And uh while we're shouting out people, you all talk about you got this uh farmers market.

What you got?

Found some high school.

We got the best man over there in Hillman Gardens, he has the best bunch of collage you ever wanted, and so he has a whole farm over there, so I'll hook you up with him, okay.

Thank you.

And we also have um thinking about pharmacy.

I don't know how you plan to base that, but we do have local people here that I'm sure would um have that we can bring them in.

I'm hopefully got the right way.

Right.

All right, thank you.

Any other thing?

Yes, I did want to mention that, and that just got me thinking when my three colleagues mentioned that.

Uh roots to harvest, they're looking, I think they already implemented a community garden in Tennisville.

So I think that would be another location.

Um we have uh over there in West End by Urban Ministry.

They grew so many sweet potatoes that for their collagen green cook off, every attendee got a huge box of sweet potatoes.

And you know, I really love you mentioned they mentioned about local farmers because I was at Pepper Place Farmers Market, and one of the farmers, it really actually disturbed me what she said.

She said, Oh, I distribute to Pigley Wiggily.

And so she I mentioned, oh, the West End Pigley Wiggly, and she was like, No, I do every pigloo wiggly but West End.

So I will it's this true statement.

But I that's needless to say, I would love to hear, you know, farmers coming from every side to have like, oh, these are the greens that I picked, oh, these are the sweet potatoes I picked, and even working with the kids with the community garden.

I I I really would love to see that honestly happen.

Well, and one of the things I'm gonna ask of you, all of you, please send those people to us.

You know them or they've contacted you, send them to us.

Um I'm sure I don't know every program out there or all the people that run them, but if you hear from them, send them to us.

The other thing that we did in the Fairfield store and we'll do again, is really uh merchandising locally produced product.

We had barbecue sauces, we had um everything from you know, whatever there was, pizzas, whatever there was in the community, because it gives an opportunity for African Americans with a product because I know the industry sometimes we can connect them to help them get their product costs down because a lot of it is just strictly in the manufacturing side.

And so there's what we call um you know, companies that will produce their product for them that already have a facility, and that way they're not doing the manufacturing of it, but they are holding them accountable for the recipe, and there are legal things that have to be done, but it's being done all over the country.

So connecting those lines to get that product, even we've had uh a local producer uh that produces a lot of facial creams and makeups and those kind of things are just for African American ladies.

Okay, and then how many employees will there be per shift?

Yeah, we'll have to work through that.

That you know um depends on foot traffic.

Of course, early on will over staff, you know, just to see, and you then you make adjustments as you go along.

Um so we don't want to have people standing in line.

We have a motto, three in line is too much time.

So we want to make sure that we have enough registers open and keep people flowing through there.

Yeah.

I will make this comment about the store hours.

I will say that um that neighborhood is a different makeup.

It's a lot of uh senior citizens.

They like to go grocery shopping early.

Okay.

Um I don't remember how over the times, but I do remember it being dark and shopping at previous grocery stores over there.

So I'm excited for this.

Um, if this passes, um, I look forward to the grand opening.

I'll be there with my wallet and my shopping buggy.

But look, I'm telling you, this has to happen because I have three voting members I live with, my mom, dad, and sister that this doesn't happen.

I'm gonna have to answer to them.

So I uh really appreciate it, and like my colleagues are saying, I hope the quality of the food continues to be just as good as the first time.

Well, I'm just committed, as committed to it as you are, the wine, because it represents me.

And so I and I represent him, and I want to represent him awai.

And so that's my thank you, thank you very much.

Any other questions or comments?

Thank you so much, gentlemen.

Mr.

Clerk, we're ready for the vote.

Council members Smith and President Elliott.

Aye.

Councilmember Schmidt.

Yes.

Okay.

Oh, I did it for you, I'm sorry.

That vote should be up.

All right, thank you very much.

Item 23 passes.

Thank you, Louis.

So forward to that endeavor taking place.

All right, counselors at this time, Mr.

Clark, do we have any other items?

All right, thank you.

At this time, we're ready to entertain updates from our districts, and who's ready to start?

Councillor Vasa, are you ready?

All right, thank you.

Thank you, madam president.

So uh the neighborhood turnout for holiday gatherings uh have been outstanding.

Um, District 3, we've had Creswood South, Friends of Avondale Park, Glen Iris, the sister houses on Highland, and Common Ground uh had record turnouts.

So the sense of community and holiday spirit in district three is strong.

Uh secondly, we have a survey online for Highland Park and Redmond Park residents related to the Southern Framework Plan.

If you have not filled it out, we want to hear from you.

Please visit our Facebook page for more information.

Counselor Josh Fossa.

Uh and then two very exciting announcements.

The Birmingham Zoo is thrilled to announce the return of its dazzling holiday tradition, glow wild and animal lantern celebration.

Uh it's going to continue select nights through January 4th.

Um this is um uh a wonderful exhibit that Birmingham Homes and Garden named as one of the top holiday escapes across the Southeast.

So highly recommend um all of us uh uh enjoy that as we can.

And then lastly, uh we have a wonderful new tradition at Vulcan's Holidays on the Mountain that's debuting this Saturday, December 6th from 4 p.m.

to 8 p.m.

Uh we will have uh an evening filled with pictures with Santa, uh dances uh with the DJ, uh hot cocoa, etc.

Um, and not to mention uh an opportunity for photos with the beloved mascot V.

Uh more information is at VisitVulkan.com.

That concludes announcements for district three.

Thank you very much, Councillor Smithman.

Thank you, madam president.

As far as neighborhood meetings, we got two today.

Oakwood Place will have theirs at 4 p.m.

at Harrison Park Recreation Center.

Mason City will meet at 4:30 today via teleconference.

The Dallas number is 712 778017, and the code is 843 426.

Then tomorrow, the North to this field neighborhood will meet at 5 p.m.

at Memorial Park Recreation Center.

Then at 4 30 that same day, um, the Cultural Arts Center will be having their grand opening for their event space called the Grove.

Um that's very exciting.

I put some of my ARPA funding into building too, but it's just for event space for parties, seminars, etc.

So I'm really excited about that space.

Um West End Manor has their neighborhood meeting on Monday, December 8th at 5 p.m.

at New Hope Baptist Church.

And then the UAB Mobile Market Tour will take place on Monday, December 8th from 1 30 to 2 p.m.

I think they're unveiling something.

And it's at the UAB National Alumni Society House.

Then the Birmingham Mobile Library Book Mobile will be at Row Park.

Oh, that was yesterday.

Um I think that's it, ma'am president.

I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving.

Um I really enjoy seeing everybody's Thanksgiving giveaways.

I know we have a joint service project, so thank you to Council Deership for that.

I think that'll be really good.

So thank you.

Thank you very much.

Councillor Smith.

All right.

So we have several neighborhood holiday events coming up over the next week.

The Fairview neighborhood is having their holiday event right now, 11 o'clock at the Opportunity Center.

Um Thomas Neighborhood is meeting this evening at Greater St.

Thomas, 6 o'clock.

Central Park is having their holiday um activity at the West Precinct this upcoming Saturday, December 6th at 5 o'clock.

Also on Saturday, um, just as a reminder that we have the Bama Health Foods Nourish um Grosser opening up from 10 to 5.

Other activities taking place.

The All City Christmas music festival at the will be at the bout well this Thursday at 4 p.m.

I'm sorry, Thursday, December 4th at 7 p.m.

Um that's gonna be all of our students coming together to share their um musical talents.

And Birmingham Sister Cities is hosting their idea Ghana cohort graduation this Saturday.

So hopefully everyone received an invitation.

That's the Saturday, December 6th at Miles College at 10 a.m.

Um and that is everything.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Councillor Dunn.

Thank you, Madam President.

Uh Tis the season for our holiday cheer.

Uh and with that, we have a few holiday events coming up in District 4.

Uh the Robo Neighborhood Association will have their neighborhood meeting on December the 15th, and their holiday social will be on Sunday, December the 14th from 3 30 to 6 p.m.

at the Gabriella Manor.

Uh the Zion City neighborhood will host their neighborhood Christmas party on December the 11th at the Birmingham East Precinct at 12 p.m.

And then the Kelo Springs neighborhood will be hosting a cult drive for the students at Smith Middle School on December the 10th.

So if anyone is interested, please reach out to our office if you would like to help donate coats, and we will coordinate with the the neighborhood association.

Uh as far as neighborhood associations come meetings coming up, we have the Ingle Note Neighborhood Association that takes place next Monday at 5 30 p.m.

at the Ingle Noak Recreation Center.

We have the Woodlawn Neighborhood Association meeting, which takes place next Monday as well at 6 p.m.

at the Willow Wood Recreation Center.

And then we have the Northeast Lake Neighborhood Association, which takes place next Tuesday at 6 p.m.

at the Southern Museum of Flight.

And lastly, we have Pennfield Park, which is next Tuesday at 6 p.m.

at the Browns Brownsville Heights Community Center.

And those that concludes my announcements.

Thank you very much.

Councilor Woods.

Thank you, Madam President.

Quickly, the uh Apple Valley and Spring Lake Neighborhood Association meetings have been canceled this month.

Uh the Echo Highlands neighborhood will meet this Thursday, December 4th at 7 p.m.

That meeting is still being held via Zoom.

Also uh Robok Neighborhood Meeting will meet on December 8th at 6 30 p.m.

at the East Police Precinct.

Uh Budget and Finance Committee will be held Monday, December 8th at 3 30 p.m.

in conference rooms D and E.

Agenda submissions are due tomorrow, Wednesday, December 3rd at noon.

Well anybody, everybody out.

Uh did something pretty cool last year.

Uh partner with the library to bring uh holiday photos with Santa.

And so that that really came off really well, and so we're gonna do that again this year.

Uh the library has a uh really great array of events and arts and crafts and just holiday things to do.

And we'll be having uh Santa visit again, and you can get your picture taken with Santa.

They will print it for you right there on the spot and uh make sure you get in the holiday spirit.

And so we want to invite everybody out to that on Tuesday, December 9th.

That's gonna be from 5 p.m.

to 7 p.m.

at the Springville Road Library.

And uh just got word yesterday about a really cool hot chocolate station.

So uh make sure you get there.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you so much, Dr.

O'Connor.

Thank you, Madam President.

I want to start off by thanking the the Mayor Woodman and the mayor's office, and especially uh Elena Melton for um the state of homelessness uh event that occurred at Regents Field yesterday.

And you know, set an ambitious goal of reducing homelessness by 40% in the city of Birmingham over the you know the next year or so.

So look forward to working with the mayor's office to help achieve that and all of our uh partners.

I mean, one of the things that really came through in that event is that you know, this is not something that the city by itself or you know any particular organization can solve on its own.

It really takes the entire community to come together, and you know, that was one of the things that um was great about the event was that you had all of these uh community partners that work in that space and and uh folks from the private sector who were help helping to sponsor the event.

Um so um it was really the you know type of coordination and folks working together that we have you know we talk about frequently about breaking down the silos.

Um so um it was sort of like a dawning of a new day in Birmingham with respect to that event and um again just really well put together uh in other announcements.

We have the Wahoma Neighborhood Association meeting this Thursday, uh December 4th at 6 p.m.

at the East Lake Public Library and Oak Ridge Park Neighborhood Association will meet on Monday at 6 p.m.

at the Harris Holmes Recreation Center.

Um we also want to remind folks that we have a uh district five residents.

Um we want to remind folks that the District Five uh holiday brunch and resource fair is coming up on Friday, December 12th from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at the Harris Homes uh gym located at 600 Brussels Brussels Circle.

Um we're really excited about this event because we are going to be um recognizing our seniors.

So we have uh identified seniors from throughout District 5 and uh asking them to come dressed in their finest, and we're gonna have uh a senior pageant.

So really looking forward to to that.

Um if you would like to get involved and need more information, please contact my office at 205-254-2679.

And then always uh want to remind folks about um the pepper place farmers market.

Um got a couple of weekends left.

Uh it runs till December 13th, and that'll be the last uh market for the season.

So that concludes the announcements for District 5.

Thank you so much, Madam Pro Tim.

Thank you, Madam President.

There are no neighborhood association meetings, but they are neighborhood holiday socials.

So the Wylam Neighborhood Association is having their Christmas holiday social tonight at 6 p.m.

at the Wylam Library.

And a Cipicot Finley Neighborhood Association will be having their Christmas dinner on Wednesday, December the 3rd at the Sipico Plant Community Room in North Birmingham.

Neighborhood association will have their Christmas party on Monday, December the 8th at the North Birmingham Library.

The next public safety meeting will be held on Tuesday, December the 9th at 1 p.m.

in the council chamber.

Please submit all your agenda items by email no later than Wednesday, December the 3rd, no later than 12 noon to Gregory.stanley at Birmingham A L dot Gov and Ashances dot CFUS at Birmingham A L dot gov.

Um we didn't get a chance.

I didn't get a chance to attend the the um house summit on yesterday, but I know that my colleagues got some great information that they will share out.

And again, I echo what councillor Quinn said.

Um thank the mayor, thank Elena for all the hard work that she has given, you know, to this project.

And it does take a collective effort to solve unhouse issues in a holistic way.

So looking forward to working with Elena and all of the partners as we uh eradicate you know an issue that's happening all across America.

So two more announcements, Madam President.

Mental health training is sponsored by District 9 and Black Women's Mental Health Institute.

Um it's gonna be on Friday, December the 5th from 9 a.m.

to 4 p.m.

and it's virtual.

So you can actually register at WWW dot B M H I dot org forward slash dot community, or you can call 20540 2837.

So it is a mental health first day training.

So I would highly recommend people to um take this course is identifying and understanding response to signs of mental illness and substance use disorders and black women mental health institute um is um ran by Dr.

Nauty Richardson Johnson.

So excited to be in partnership, you know, with her that she does offer free mental health through um throughout District 9.

Okay, and the final announcement is our Merry Kixmas.

It's not Christmas, but KIXMUS, like we are so I am in partnership with Be Kind Birmingham, and uh we are doing a merry kick kick's mus.

Well, we will we'll be providing 200 pairs of brand new kicks to young people, ages infant to 18, sizes 2C to 15.

So the registration dates is North Birmingham Library, December the 10th.

Uh he said North Birmingham Library on December the 10th.

Um from this is okay.

Um the registration days, North Birmingham Library, December 10th at 3 p.m.

Let me correct that.

And East Ansley Library, December the 17th at 11 a.m.

So this event will take place on December the 20th from 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

at the Fountain Heights Recreation Center.

So you will, once you register, you will get a time slot and you come to the event according to your time slot.

So we're giving away kicks for Christmas, making sure people are feast they wore.

Thank you, madam president.

Thank you so much.

These are announcements for District 7.

Most of our neighborhood association meetings are canceled for the month in December in lieu of the following uh holiday events.

On Friday, December 5th, the Jones Valley Neighborhood Association will hold their holiday social.

We'll uh they'll kick that off at 3 p.m.

at the Power Lee Library.

That's 3301 Jefferson Avenue Southwest.

Then after we get through celebrating the holiday over at Jones, the Jones Valley neighborhood, we're inviting all of District 7 to come out to our Christmas gathering.

That's from 6 to 8 p.m.

on Friday, December 5th, and we'll hold it at Lawson State Community College.

And so we're just asking everyone to come out, have a great time.

We will be honoring some of our residents in District 7.

We're also asking each resident to come and bring an unre unwrapped toy, and we'll be giving away some toys to um children in our district.

And we're just gonna have a lot of fun, food and festivities.

So again, that's 6 to 8 p.m.

February 5th, that's Friday, at Lawson State Community College.

Then on Saturday, we're gonna mosey on down to the Germania Park neighborhood.

They're gonna be having a Christmas toy drive.

That'll be at 9 a.m.

at South Park Baptist Church, and that's at 2341 Pearson Avenue Southwest.

And we'll conclude the week at Monday.

We'll be with the Powderly neighborhood uh for their holiday social.

That'll be at 5:30 on Monday, December 8th at the Henry Clumpton Rec Center, and that's 346 Gloria Road.

We have more that we'll be announcing next week, but we're just in a partying spirit in District 7.

So come on out and join us.

Um I'd also like at this time to thank uh these particular neighborhood officers for their service.

They've announced that they will be uh retiring from their office and they're um no longer serving in the Riley neighborhood.

That's President Beverly O'Tuba and the Vice President Linda Wilder.

So we thank them for their years of service.

And um, so we'll be looking for um our um neighborhood services offices will be helping to assist them in the management of those neighborhoods while um until we have an opportunity to have new officers.

Uh at this time that concludes all of our announcements.

And Mr.

Clerk, could you let us know we have signed up for community voices?

Joseph Hope.

Mr.

Holt, as you come forward.

We have three minutes, and if you'll just um give us your name and address again, thank you.

Um my name is Joseph Holt.

My address is uh 717 11th Street, Southwest uh Birmingham, Alabama, 35211.

Uh I'm here to uh just reiterate I came here two weeks ago uh about the police officer threatening me, um, threatening to kill me at my building, told me if he kissed me again, he's gonna uh kill me.

Uh I filed a complaint July 3rd, uh July 7th, Mr.

Gold um Internal Affairs.

I sat with him.

Uh he never called me back.

I gave emails to the chief of staff last two weeks ago about another internal affairs person, never contacted me still.

The mayor office hadn't contacted me still.

The chief of police hadn't contacted me still when I came here.

I'm coming here because this is recorded, so nobody can say I didn't tell y'all.

Part of the reason why I'm here is um the city council is part of public safety.

Okay.

And so I came here and reported it, and I gave the emails to Mr.

Sparks, and the chief of staff didn't call me.

The man still is threatening my life, and nobody's doing nothing about it.

So I'm just want to make sure all the stuff is recorded.

And I'm telling y'all again, uh couple police officers are concerned about me.

They said they saw Miss Alexander and Mr.

Woods at the police station yesterday, asking me that y'all follow up on what happened to me.

And so um we're gonna read this at the end, the Burma Police Department mission.

Our mission is to provide the highest quality police service to impact crime, build community trust, and improve quality of life.

Highest quality.

I've heard from them.

The incident happened July 3rd.

This is December the second.

I haven't heard from Internal Affairs, Chief Police, the mayor, or nothing.

And so I'm making sure.

I'm gonna let y'all know again.

I came here two weeks ago.

I still haven't heard from nobody.

It says the highest quality, operating integrity, vision.

This is on the website.

I follow every procedure as a citizen.

Community complaint, internal affairs complaint, two of them.

Nothing.

This is all I have.

Thank you.

That's came here because this is being recorded.

I want to make sure nobody said they didn't know that this is happening.

Thank you for your time.

And um, we do appreciate you.

Uh we do have a public safety advisory committee where we also have an opportunity to voice those complaints with them.

But um, we appreciate you bringing us this update.

And again, we've turned that over to the um administrative offices, and so we appreciate you coming back again today.

Thank you.

Next Willie Jenkins.

Good afternoon.

Uh City Council, 1105 Southwood Drive.

Will it?

I come to let y'all know that we is having uh annual Christmas.

I'll be Santa Claus.

This is our annual Christmas luncheon.

All the men of prayer we have in this uh gonna be at the in-core theater.

Theater 1604 2nd Avenue North.

It's gonna start at 6 o'clock.

And I will be Santa Claus.

And we're gonna have food and everything.

So I would invite all the city count to come to come to Hello Celebrate.

And also I want you uh to uh don't forget um and uh and um what else?

Uh I was here, something else I had also prayed for one of my church members, Clemensine Murdoch, and um, and also one of my classmates lost her daughter.

I want y'all to pray for her.

She was real sick, and I just want to ask y'all to pray for um Melinda Bryan, you know.

It's gonna be a change her from about a chamber film.

And I want to let you know that I I might go to the parade this coming um Sunday, and I heard about the Megum like the tree, and I will be Santa Claus here.

I don't know when, but y'all let me know.

I I am ready.

I'm ready to be Santa Claus.

Also, my birthday coming up December 20, 1954.

I'll be 71 years old.

And also, we had homecoming church anniversary.

Miss Eddie Zalon, I want to let the community come.

We're gonna have overhaul call our opinions on, and we're gonna we're gonna cook and we got our own Reverend Marvin Connor from O Street, our favorite pastor.

Used to be the pastor of the street, and he's gonna be the guest speaker for our annual um homecoming church anniversary.

This coming this coming Sunday.

And uh, yeah, I've been listening to nobody everybody had a nice Thanksgiving.

We have a nice Thanksgiving too.

But we did work in the church.

We put new coffee down in our church, and we worked, the men's always helped the uh us, O Street to look out for our church, and we that's what we did.

We look out and it was it was real nice.

You know, it they picked it up real nice, the coffee and stuff.

And also this praying for the people lost one and a family, you know, that so much has happened to our little children now.

I kept for our children, you know.

We got to look for our children, loved one, you know, loved one.

So much is going on.

We just have to pray for our uh current and Anston Henderson.

This is the guy got killed my nephew, um, Tina Bud Chi, uh her nephew that killed over, but I just want to ask you, Lord, this y'all just pray for the whole entire world because this is a mess.

These young folks is they they something there, they they they going wild.

Just have to sit up and pray for them.

But I'm um I just want y'all know y'all let me know when y'all are ready to come down here to be Santa Claus.

I'll be re I'm uh I am ready to be Santa Claus for the Christian, you know, Christmas, celebrate Christmas.

I am ready.

And um, like I said, y'all invited to our homecoming church anniversary, our own mob and con street gonna get us a good speaker.

And you invited too, Mr.

Gunn.

You're invited to my church.

You know, you get a chance to see us saying, you know, me and we we we gotta combine choir, means and choir, all us together the same, you know.

But I'm I've been with Lamila Pray for a long time, you know, and uh hope y'all get here to come see us saying we're gonna sing Christmas song and um and uh called my president Cam and said, Come on, bring you Santa Claus to be you're gonna be Santa Claus.

Yeah, Santa Claus gonna be there.

Thank you, Mr.

Jenkins.

So that's all I appreciate those updates.

Thank you so much.

Okay, thank you.

I believe, Councillor Smith, you wanted to acknowledge someone.

I wanted to acknowledge Mr.

Johnny Gunn, president of the Baby Heights Neighborhood Association that's here this morning.

Thank you.

We appreciate seeing you out in the audience.

Thank you.

And we do know we have some family members out there too, but we'll say hi.

I'll put it on the spot.

My aunt from Cleveland here is here.

Um Sheila Smith.

Shaking her hat.

There we go.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

At this time, we would like to thank our officers on duty, Officer Pinkett, Officer Square.

We thank you for your service today.

Well we're so I'm happy to have you with us.

At this time, counselors, that's the end of our agenda.

I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

Second.

Uh all those in favor, please say aye.

Thank you.

Meeting adjourned.

Thank you all.

Council saying