All right, it's four PM on Wednesday, July nineteenth of twenty twenty-three, and we are meeting in the City Council Chambers, the Punchful of Alabama for a work session on the fiscal twenty-year, I'm sorry, fiscal year twenty twenty-four budget.

Um for the record um all council members with the exception of Devin Keith are present.

Um we will open our discussion.

Mr.

Clang, would you like to lead us off?

Okay.

Um I know we're putting our ideas out on the table in a public manner.

Um council members have heard me talk about street sweeping, if I can mention I guess our budget time last year and every day.

Uh the hill bit of research, and they're not buying the turn over finance department for purchasing there.

Uh is I'm just going to pass this out.

This is a self-contained smaller unit.

Microphone.

Yeah, your mic will.

I never do there's a problem here in me.

Uh, but anyway, this is a self-contained unit.

Uh, not necessarily this model, this brand or anything, but this would give something that the um uh purchasing people could look at.

Uh but anyway, from what I had researched, this type of model, it's self-contained, and then it even has a way where the sweeping equipment brushes are lifted, and then it drives on the street at a normal rate just like a regular pickup truck.

Uh, but very roughly this would be uh about two million dollars to get a fleet of two of ten, excuse me, ten, and that would mean that we could break it into two for each of the five council districts.

Uh I know there's some differences about which district is the biggest, which ones has the most population, which one has the most traffic on it.

But again, it's uh it's all kind of like uh a win-win either way, but this would be something we could do back to the uh the residents of the of our neighborhoods in the city, the people who pay for the the growth related issues that we do to attract new industry, uh new things that we're doing on the outlying area as we continue to grow.

on it but again it's uh it's all kind of like uh a win-win either way but this would be something we could do back to the uh the residents of of our neighborhoods in the city the people who pay for the the growth related issues that we do to attract new industry uh new things that we're doing on the outlying area as we continue to grow and as a kind of a quasi little byproduct it's not all things of course but it would even have some residual benefit toward uh leaf collecting uh or getting you know leaves and um um pine straw stuff like that off the streets and again these are this would be a good thing for neighborhoods you wouldn't have the sliding around that you would have uh sometimes when it's wet and rainy and we know about wet and rainy weather and what that can sometimes do to streets but anyway that's something I think it would be a good uh return for the investment and we do have some street sweepers and this would kind of augment that and uh I guess I would see that uh the uh purchasing department handles all the logistics going out for bid coming up with uh who it would be selected and then uh landscape management would be the department that this would go to uh to overseas since that's where they have other uh street sweepers there already uh in addition to that and I I think uh I've heard uh some good things mentioned about you know road resurfacing I think we'd like to keep that going at the level that we have it uh the sidewalk repair and maintenance and again uh I I had talked to another council member so I don't want to dwell too much on what that other council member may say but I would certainly say that I support you know that person's ideas of in in those areas um the um oh one other thing that I think at least would be you know it would be good to look into or find out what the cost would be would be to see if there's a way we could provide a uh special uh subsidy for the arts council that would be used basically for providing uh free admission to the public for Panoply uh when the uh um junior league originally started uh Panoply that was done as a free event for the public and that uh is a way to kind of bring the arts to many people who cannot afford it who uh who do not have really have access to it and again we like the arts to be for everybody and I think there's been some great outreach by by many agencies uh but I think it's gotten to point it's it's a great event uh but it's an admission event uh and I know there's fences but the the fences uh would probably still be needed in the future but that would be more or less for crowd control to keep cars and people from bumping into each other so to speak but I don't know the dollar amount uh and uh I know the director's been kind of laid up but I would just kind of throw that as something at least to look into to see how much they've taken in as far as revenue and what what that amount would be and if that's something we could do again I think that would have benefit for people in all districts possibly more for lower income areas possibly for other nationalities that don't really come out but uh uh you know I think that would certainly be something worth seeing um but anyway these are just a couple things that uh uh I've got in mind and uh you know other I'm open to other ideas that other council members have thank you Mr.

Kling Dr.

Robinson so when I um was first considering running for city council I kept thinking back on what um my great mentor and predecessor Sandra Moon used to say and she'd say council city council basically work basically uh boils down to roads ditches and garbage and so that's that's I think where I would start also I have been very impressed with the work that has been done by public works this year on paving roads I it is evident to me that we have increased that budget and we're seeing more and more roads being paved and um any additional money that we can possibly put to roads I think road paving would would be good because the roads are those are the frames for our neighborhoods somebody said and and the frames are starting to look really good and that may helps the neighborhoods look good.

So road paving would be a priority and in addition to that while those roads are being paved I'm also seeing us put more and more sidewalks in or connect sidewalks and so that sidewalk money would I think be very valuable the sidewalk on Green Mountain is something we have talked about for a while.

So getting that green that sidewalk up there completed to Dale Road would be terrific.

So again, focusing on those drainage projects.

While uh while um five points is not in my district, uh I I am over there frequently and that looks to me like a place that is ripe for a drainage, really good drainage project.

And I know we've talked about that before, and so I hope that can certainly be done.

And then so that's roads ditches, and as far as garbage collection goes, it's evident to me as the city grows we need more trucks, we need more drivers, and I think in conversations I've had with administration and administration straff that's going to happen, so I hope we can certainly expand our capacity to as the city grows to grow our garbage collection infrastructure.

Within district three, um, I would like to see us work toward completion of the moon auditorium performing arts complex.

I know we have run into hiccups there, and uh Mr.

Hamilton and I will be meeting with Allison Dillon Jockin to talk that through, but we really need to figure out how to get that project completed and make it a good project.

Uh I had a call this morning with uh a briefing with Diddle Landing and the Diddle Master Plan continues to move forward and we have work to do there.

Uh the river the river line project has resulted in a plan for the East Harbor and uh that and and some of the other things that are going on, I think it would would could really make Ditto um reach its potential.

I have uh we have put money in the budget last year for McGuckin Park and uh would like to see that work continue to go forward and also to start some work at Bell Mountain Park to look at some particular requests that they have there.

There's actually more activity I found out going on at Bell Mountain Park at that than there is at McGucken, but McGuckin still gets a lot of activity, but both parks are aging and uh need some work.

Uh there I know there are plans to connect greenways, particularly to connect the River Greenway to LG's walk, and hope we can continue that work and then also finally figure out a way to connect the Aldridge Creek Greenway at Bailey Cove to Weatherly.

And I know that that's there's I don't know, there's a good answer there, but if we can continue to explore that and put some funding in for that, that would be terrific.

And then last of all, certainly not least, is public safety to make sure that again as the city grows that we are supporting it with adequate um an adequate number of public safety officers, particularly also with the mental health program and co-responders.

I think that that program has been very successful, and it would be great to be able to build on that success and um and fund that as needed.

I think that's all I have.

Thank you.

Um before we delve deeper into any individual council members' uh thoughts.

Um would anyone like to discuss what we've heard from Mr.

Kling or Dr.

Robinson.

I was gonna bring up uh five points and drainage the big part of that project along Pratt.

I don't know if you knew it was a relocation of a culvert because the one that goes under the new apartment complex was I think of like a hundred years old and made of brick.

So that's part of that.

But I know the five points area is a lot bigger than just that one road.

Um five five points area just is flat and it doesn't has no curb and gutter, and I think not adequate drainage.

That's your area.

I will let you fight that battle.

Glad to do it.

All of us forward emails to Shane.

And for the record, Councilman Keith has joined us as well.

It's a party now.

I apologize for being late.

Um actually I'm late because of some of the things I want to talk about.

But speaking of drainage, um, I don't know if y'all heard there was a storm couple day ago, and um the trees and the amount of just foliage damage that is caused.