The Huntsville City Council convened on Thursday, December 1, 2022, at 5:30 PM in the City Council Chambers. All five council members were present. The meeting included proclamations, public hearings, numerous consent agenda items, a lengthy public comment period in support of the police chief nomination, and a contentious discussion on the process for appointing department heads. The council voted to confirm three department heads: Tara Sloan (Cemetery), Nick Nane (Traffic Engineer), and Kirk Giles (Police Chief).
Well, it's 5 30 p.m. on December the first of 2022, and we are meeting in the City Council Chambers of Huntsville, Alabama. Thanks to all of you who are with us and also to those who are watching online. Please note for the record that all council members are in attendance. We are convening this session of the Huntsville City Council, and the meeting will be called to order. We will begin our meeting tonight with an invocation led by Dr. Sprite E. Simpson the third, who serves as the Huntsville Public Safety Chaplain's Director and is affiliated with the West Maston Lake Baptist Church. That will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilmember Little. Please stand for the invocation and pledge. As our city grows in populace and we welcome new citizens into the fold. Dear God, you know how hard our city council has worked to ensure our safety, our comfort, the education of our children, and our general welfare. We thank you, Lord, for their diligence, and we thank you for the excellent results of their efforts. As tonight's meeting progresses, we ask that the agenda be accomplished, that all discussions continue to be civil and considerate, and that the outcome of this meeting benefits the City of Huntsville and its citizens. Heavenly Father, we ask your blessing on each council member and their families, and on each citizen that is in attendance this evening. And Project Share is um has affected 29,435 families and contributed 5.2 million dollars in helping pay their utilities for people who can't pay their utilities. And it's a great program that is has been used for a number of years here in this city to make sure that we take care of everybody. And uh Wes, we want to say thank you to Huntsville Utilities. Thank y'all for uh for the you know kind of be taking the lead in this along with the Salvation Army and making sure that people are taken care of. And tell us a little bit more about the program. Well, thank you very much and appreciate this proclamation and opportunity to talk about Project Share because it is really an an untapped resource for many that don't realize that you can help customers that are elderly on fixed incomes that are struggling to pay those utility bills, especially in these cold winter months. It we make it real easy. You can just add a dollar, five dollars, twenty dollars, as many dollars as you want. We can automatically tack that onto your utility bill, and that money doesn't stay at Huntsville Utilities, it gets put in a separate account. It's administered by the Salvation Army to help those low-income, fixed income elderly folks that are having trouble paying their utility bill. Makes it a piece of cake. As you mentioned, Mayor, a lot of money has been given over time. But to put it in more tangible this year numbers, uh about 150, 160,000 usually comes out of this program each year. That helps six, seven hundred families. That's pretty direct. It could be more. We could help more families. And um, we want to do what we can at Huntsville Utilities to make people aware of this program. This proclamation helps. We're reaching out to various churches, and we've got a great website, Project Share HSV.org. It makes it real easy for you to sign up, do a one-time donation, sign up on your utility bill. It's a great opportunity. We have the privilege at Huntsville Utilities to serve everyone in Huntsville Madison County. And not all those customers are as well off as they might like, especially during this time of year. So anything we can do to help relieve that burden will be a blessing. Thank you, Wes, and thank you for all y'all doing. Thank you, sir. We're on budget. Thank you, Ms. President. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The council has no recognitions or resolutions for approval this evening. There are no announcements or presentations tonight, nor do we have any matters with outside legal representatives to be considered. That brings us to public hearings to be held.