Hello, Huntsville.

It's now 5 30 p.m.

on Thursday, August 14th, 2025.

I'd like to welcome you to this regular meeting of the Huntsville City Council for the record.

All council members are present.

And we will start today's meeting with an invocation led by the Huntsville Public Safety Chaplain and the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilmember David Little.

Please stand if you're willing and able.

Let's pray.

Our Father in Heaven Lord, we come today before you with joy and with praise for who you are and what you've done for us, Lord.

I do thank you so much for our city council members.

Thank you for our our mayor.

Thank you for our city attorney.

Thank you for the local churches that are represented here today.

Thank you for the various organizations that are going to be recognized today for the work that they've done in our city, uh, in our community.

Lord, I just thank you so much for those that have given years of their lives uh for the education uh of future generations.

I pray that we're just be a city of knowledge, a city of wisdom, and Lord, that we would not waste that gift that you have given to us, Lord, but we would use it for the betterment of those that are around us.

Uh would just be blessed by you, Lord, that you would oversee all these things and that you would receive all the glory in Jesus' name.

I pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Please face the flag.

I plagiarism.

Right.

Brings us to approval of the agenda.

Uh, my colleagues all have before us copies of today's agenda.

Are there any changes or suggestions?

Hearing none, the agenda is approved.

Brings us to approval of uh minutes of prior meetings.

4A is the are the minutes of the regular meeting of the city council held on July 24th, 2025.

All members should have a copy of those minutes before them.

Are there any changes or additions to be made?

Seeing none, the minutes of that meeting are also approved.

Brings us to uh uh special recognitions from the administration.

5A is a proclamation and recognition for the month of August as National Minority Donor Awareness Month.

Mr.

Barber, if you will keep calling you doctor, you uh mister, but you are doctor.

Okay, totally fine.

Totally fine.

I'm Randy to anyone, everyone out here.

Uh thank you all so much.

Um, Dr.

Randy Barber, um, Director of Multicultural Affairs City of Huntsville, um, presenting a proclamation recognizing um August 2025 as National Minority Donor Awareness Month, one voice, one vision to heal and save lives.

And I think this is extremely fitting because if you are not aware, um Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels had just received a kidney from his wife on June 20th.

And so this is a special occasion.

We thank um them from being here.

So I'll read a little bit about it and then I'll give uh uh opportunity for our guests to respond.

Um it says whereas National Minority Donor Awareness Month is a nationwide initiative led by the National Oregon, eye and tissue donation multicultural action group to create a positive culture for organ, eye, and tissue donation in diverse communities, and uh NMDAM was established to bring attention to the urgent need for organ donation to address health disparities to highlight the life-saving impact of transplantation in African American, Hispanic, Asian, specific islander, and Native American communities.

And uh NMDAM was established to bring attention to the urgent need for organ donation to address health disparities to highlight the life-saving impact of transplantation in African American, Hispanic, Asian, Specific Islander, and Native American communities.

Uh says Legacy of Hope, Alabama's Oregon and Tissue Donation Alliance is working throughout this month to share the stories of donor families and transplant recipients, highlight the impact of donation and multicultural communities, and encourage all Alabamians to register as donors.

Come forward to receive and accept the proclamation and give her an opportunity to say a few words.

Hello, everyone.

Um, thank you all so much for inviting me.

My name is Dr.

Latoya Bishop, and I serve as the multi-culture educator at Legacy of Hope.

And I do have um someone here with me, an ambassador, and he is a double long recipient.

And I also have someone that's coming in also that's a recipient as well.

But we want to talk about the reason why we're here.

Donation is important, so I'm excited to know that someone that was connected to the city of Huntsville actually received that transplant.

So that is an amazing thing.

Donation is very important throughout the year, but this particular month, we want to focus on the fact that we have minority communities that are very, very, very in need of a transplant.

For those that don't know, one person can save up to eight lives through Oregon and Tissue Donation, right?

But if you was to look at the list of the number of people that's on the wait list, let's say for an example, because I pulled this number yesterday, we have 1,205 people waiting for a transplant.

Kitney is the number one organ that is needed here in the United States.

I mean, here in Alabama and also in the United States, of those 1,205 people that are waiting, about a thousand people are waiting for a kidney.

Of that thousand people that are waiting for a kidney, you have about 65% of those individuals from the minority community that are in need of a transplant.

So we definitely want to uh recognize the fact donation is very important.

We encourage you to register when you go to the DMV.

In addition to that, have a conversation.

I should be talking back here as well, too.

I'm so sorry.

Have a conversation with those individuals to encourage them to register because you never know how impactful it can be.

So again, um, one person can save up to eight lives through donation.

We want you to register when you go to the DMV, but also have a conversation to let your family members know your decision.

If you have events throughout the city, although Legacy of Hope, we service the entire state of Alabama.

Please invite us to church, um, school events, um, community events.

I've been to health fairs, I've been to um family reunions, Bob Mitsbush, any type of opportunity for us to have a conversation for people to understand why donation is important.

I promise you, it's an opportunity that we would love to take on.

So invite us, and you have someone here that is actually um a recipient that can actually say thank you for giving the gift of life.

You want to say a word?

First off, Mayor Keltsman, I appreciate you letting us speak today.

Uh organ donation is very special, which Latoya was saying.

So today actually marks five and a half years.

I got my double loan transplant, so I found it very fitting.

Today makes two weeks of it in Huntsville.

So, you know, it's just a celebration uh of life, and you know, most people they don't really think about it until they're in that situation of knowing someone that needs it or needing it themselves.

It is very important.

It's an easy check, it's a personal decision.

AZ check to put it on your driver's license, go to donatelife.org, son of being organ member, uh, organ donor.

Uh you just don't know what it impacts.

So it's very much impacted me.

So thank you.

Thank you.

And I have some goodies for the um mayor and the council members.

So please, please share.

And if you need more, I'm only a phone call away, and I can put it in the mail, okay?

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

It's my pleasure to present this certificate to the Fountain of Life Church.

Dr.

Morris.

Dr.

Morris, if you would please come up forward.

Dr.

Morris is representing the church, and this uh church has done so much for the West Huntsville area.

You know, I'm excited just about every meeting.

I'm talking about new things, things are taking place in West Huntsville, how that whole area literally has been transferred, transformed from what it was at the beginning when I first came on the city council.

There's a lot of pride, there's great resources, uh a lot of private investments taking place.

Uh in fact, this morning I just had had breakfast at a restaurant that just uh came out of nowhere to pop in over uh on the western part of uh Governor's Drive.

But again, your church has done so much for the uh community, and this is just a small esteem as a certificate signed by myself as well as Mayor Battle and all the other members of the council, and we're just very appreciative and please express to the congregation uh our appreciation for uh what you mean to the community.

I know you guys are gonna have many, many great years to come.

And if you like, all right, I get a hug.

Okay.

I think we I think we need to do a replay on the hub.

But here, would you care to say some more seconds?

It's an honor to be here.

It's an honor to receive this surprise because we love what we do.

It's an honor to receive recognition for something we love to do.

Thank you so much.

It's an honor again, many blessings, and much more to come.

And thank you.

And I have one last uh memento for you.

Uh my okay.

Do I need tissue?

Okay.

This is a piece of marble from the old city hall, and uh we'd like to present it to you just as a memento of Huntsville City Government, your visit here.

Thank you.

I love City Hall.

Let's take a photo of that.

Okay, okay.

And I have a certificate for you and for our event that we just recently had.

Surprise.

I had to miss that presentation.

That's okay.

Oh, I understand.

Well, thank you so much for coming.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Item 6B is a resolution recognizing the 100th anniversary of the remarkable Saint Mark Baptist Church.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Good evening, everyone.

Can I get Pastor Jeremiah Chester and his lovely wife Brittany to come up, please?

So while they're coming up, let me tell you, Pastor Um Chester is the pastor of St.

Mark, the remarkable church, and I love that.

Remarkable.

And let me tell you, he has really grown the membership at that church.

And just to give you a little background on St.

Mark, it was established in September 1925 by Reverend Mingle Fletcher in a revival at the old Penny Storehouse, which is now Penny Cemetery.

And Penny Cemetery is right off of is it Morris Mill?

I know where the cemetery is.

I got a friend, a dear friend is buried in that cemetery.

So I passed by there.

I think about them all the time.

But uh under this leadership, he um established a church, and then Reverend Amos Donaldson.

He was the pastor for 33 years.

And I is this the second pastor Amos Donaldson that was the pastor of St.

James in Northwoods.

Yes, he so that was a big job.

Okay.

Then in 1979, Reverend John Clay was elected as the seventh pastor under his leadership.

The church expanded by purchasing land, acquiring church vans, and bringing in a hiring a church secretary at an education and fellowship wings.

Now, whereas in 2015 enters Reverend Jeremiah Chester.

He was called to serve as the eighth pastor.

His leadership has focused on holistic discipleship, encouraging individuals to discover their purpose, grow their relationship with God and others, and contribute their gifts to serve a greater good.

So under this leadership, they have full-time staff positions to support in the growing membership.

St.

Mark has launched a South Huntsville location.

So if you live in South Huntsville, you can go to St.

Mark.

You're not to drive all the way to Moore's Mill.

And the remarkable Espanol.

That's great.

That is great.

A Spanish-speaking count campus, region hospital's growing Hispanic and Latino communities, as well as the Centennial Legacy Project with the purchase of neighboring land for the expansion of the St.

Mark Moore's Mill campus.

So I just want to say they're doing some great things.

They have a child development center.

They're growing their membership, they're expanding out into the community.

And we just want to recognize them and they're bringing my absolute favorite gospel singer in the whole wide world.

I know every one of his songs.

I can sing them, but I don't sing on cue.

So I'm gonna leave that alone, but I know the song.

He is a is he a Grammy Award winning artist?

Yeah, phenomenal man from North Carolina.

Yes, I follow him.

But we want to present this to you, Pastor Jeremiah and Brittany Chester.

And do you want to say anything?

Well, first of all, uh to Mayor Battle and to you, uh, Ms.

Watkins.

We we're just appreciative of the time, the recognition uh that you've given us and on my part.

I represent wonderful people all over the city, uh, members of St.

Mark Baptist Church, both in English and Spanish, and it is my honor uh to represent them here today.

Uh so thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Can we give them all a hand?

I would love to let us see.

I would love if they were one of us.

Nell Lane Bradford could not attend tonight.

Um, the next um item will effectively be for um approval only, and that is 6C, which is a resolution honoring Ms.

Nell Lane Bradford for her service to the community, demonstrated by a dedication to furthering musical education by teaching college students and utilizing her talents to unite members of the community.

Chair makes the motion, second, second by Dr.

Robinson.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 6D, which is a resolution to recognize and congratulate United Women of Color on the occasion of their seventh anniversary celebration in honor of their unwavering commitment to empowering women, girls, and communities throughout Madison County.

Chair makes the motion.

Second by Mr.

Little.

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you.

Brings us to public hearings to be held.

9A is a public hearing on the vacation of a portion of a right of way at 612 McKinley Avenue Northeast, lots two through 13, block 7.

Mr.

Nunes.

Good evening, Council members, Mayor Battle, Thomas Nunez, manager of planning and zoning services.

This item is located uh west of Andrew Jackson Way and south of Oakwood Avenue.

Uh what we have before you is a request to vacate unimproved alleyway and right-of-way that was uh part of the park um parking lot of for uh Jackson Way Baptist Church.

Uh this alleyway was platted in 19 April of 1945 and has never been improved.

The entity is seeking to vacate the right of way for consolidation of lot.

Thank you, Mr.

Nenez.

At this time, I'd like to open the public hearing.

Is there anyone that wishes to speak to this issue?

Yes.

Hey, Joy Johnson, I am uh West Arbor Drive in Huntsville.

Um are they going to cut down all those trees that have been there since 1945?

I hope not, is my point.

Thank you.

They're right by the uh highway there, so that's a nice sound break, you know, among other things.

Thank you, ma'am.

Would anybody else like to speak to this issue?

Seeing none, the public hearing is now closed.

We will uh take action on this under items 18A and 18B, and we'll address that question at that time.

Yes, sir.

Thank you.

Brings us to public hearings to be set.

10 A is a resolution to declare a public nuisance located at 2209 Apache Road Northwest Huntsville, Alabama, and to set the date for when objections will be heard.

Move to set the hearing for August 28, 2025, regular council meeting.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Clang.

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries uh 10B is a resolution to declare a public nuisance located at 2407 Oakwood Avenue, Northwest Huntsville, Alabama, and to set the date for when objections will be heard.

Move to set the hearing for August 28, 2025, regular council meeting.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Klang.

All in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries 6C is a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 0.33 acres of land lying on the north of Zert Road and west of Arnett Street 2, residents 1B district, and the introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Move to set the hearing for the September 25, 2025 regular council meeting.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries 10 D is a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 121.73 acres of land lying on the north and south side of Little Cove Road and west of U.S.

Highway 72 East 2 residents 1 and residence 2 districts and the introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Move to set the hearing for September September 25, 2025 regular council meeting.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Clang.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

10 E is a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 6.40 acres of land lying on the west side of Seegers Road and north of Hardman Road 2 Planned Industrial District and the introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Move to set the hearing for September 25, 2025 regular council meeting.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Kling.

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries brings us to 10 F, which is a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 1,013 acres, point 96 acres.

Again, that's 1,013.96 acres of land lying on the south of River Loop Road and east and west of Vaughn Road 2, residence 1 district and industrial park district, and the introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Move to set the hearing for the September 25, 2025 regular council meetings.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Clang.

All in favor say aye.

All opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to agenda-related public comments.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the council on matters relating to the specific content of items on the meeting agenda.

You may sign up to speak on the public comments roster prior to the meeting.

When called, approach the microphone and state your name, home address, and city of residence.

Each speaker may address the council for three minutes.

Speakers shall refrain from entering into a dialogue with council members or city staff and from making comments regarding the good name and character of any individual.

This person had has not indicated which uh agenda item they would like to speak on.

So we'll call them up and then ask them to identify which uh agenda item they wish to speak.

If they can't identify one, then you'll be the first on the second roster of public comments.

And the speaker is Mr.

David Snyder.

I was going to the second round here.

Fair enough.

You'll be the first on it.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

That brings us to comments from our mayor.

Mr.

Mayor.

Um I'll be passing tonight.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Uh that brings us to comments from council members, and we will begin with council member Jenny Robinson.

Last week, um, our community experienced a tragic accident that took the life of an eighth grade student at Mountain Gap Middle School.

By all accounts, Cal Fox was a really outstanding young man, and the entire community has felt that loss.

In um, I think in an effort to make sense out of a situation that makes no sense to anyone.

I have received a lot of um suggestions from the community about how we might avoid future tragic accidents like this.

They include putting speed bumps on Bailey Cove Road, uh, traffic circles on Bailey Cove, um, flashing signs, uh, and moving the University Drive pedestrian bridge to Bailey Cove Road.

Again, uh, these are proposed solutions.

We listen to all of them, but in the end, we will make any decisions based on good data.

That data will include information and recommendations that might come from the traffic investigation of the accident because it is currently still with HPD's um traffic homicide division, and and um and and we and we also caution everyone that it still is under investigation.

And in addition to that, we've asked for our traffic engineering department to do a traffic study of uh that section of Bailey Cove.

We will look forward to seeing recommendations that come from that.

We've listened to citizen concerns in the past and have followed up with traffic engineering on those recommendations.

The best example actually is the traffic signal at Green Mountain Road and Bailey Cove, where young Mr.

Fox was killed.

In 2017, members of the community expressed concern about people from Camelot Pool crossing Bailey Cove and also the increasing traffic uh coming down from Green Mountain.

So our traffic engineer studied that site and decided that a traffic signal was needed, and there's no telling how many accidents have been avoided as a result of that track traffic signal.

Unfortunately, in the case of Cal Fox, um it didn't it didn't save his life.

But we will continue to look at what we can do in the future to protect pedestrians, bikers, and other drivers.

Ultimately, though, it comes down to driver action and driver awareness.

If there's any good that can come from a tragedy like this, it is that it will make drivers more aware of those who are sharing the road with them so that they will watch their speeds and follow the rules of the road.

And again, condolences to the Fox family and to all those who knew and loved Cal.

Um, while that was very sad news for the community today, we had good news, and that is that the Eldritch Creek Greenway is now open, and uh the area where the the trestle the train trestle collapsed has been repaired.

Um, and Mr.

Davis and I were having a conversation earlier that it actually looks better than it did before.

So uh I know everybody has been very anxious to have that that part of the greenway open, and um and it will be open at least for for a while until the repair on the trestle bridge uh takes place.

But for now, we're excited that it's open, and many thanks to everyone who worked, the our public works folks and engineering folks who worked with the railroad authority to to clean up the cars, the debris, and then repair that 70 feet of roadway that was damaged.

So we look forward to everybody um taking advantage of the greenway once more.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Next is Councilmember Watkins.

Good evening.

Um last week I was able to meet with Congressman Dell Strong to talk about him, talk with him about some concerns I had.

I want to thank him for taking time out of his extremely busy schedule to meet with me to address my concerns.

Um D1 had a town hall to discuss the greenway.

I want to thank Dennis Madsen and his staff for coming out.

Uh the community came out, they were enthusiastic and very happy to hear about the greenway.

They enjoyed seeing the renderings, and um let's just say they're looking forward to this.

I met with the library director in North Houseville last week to talk about the many um activities they have going on.

Let me just say if you have not been to the library lately, you need to go.

There is something for everyone at the library, and I'm going so I can learn how to use campus.

I met with the museum director and was excited to find out they're getting ready to open back up.

And uh he was telling me some of the things that they have coming, and he told me that um coming soon is the Andy Warhol exhibit.

Now you know I am an Andy Warhol fan, so I will be there.

Uh the parade is this Nick the week from this Saturday, 823.

It's gonna start at 8 o'clock.

The mayor and all the council members have been invited.

I don't know if you all have accepted, but if you hadn't, they asked me to please ask you if you're coming to let them know so they can make accommodations.

I did my job.

D1 drop-in is on 819.

Uh, it's gonna be at Cavery Hill from 5:30 to 7.

The D1 drop-in is an opportunity for constituents to come and talk to me one-on-one about issues and concerns in the district.

Um, last week I had the um opportunity to meet with the VP of Martin Marietta, which is one of the um Rock Quarries on Stringfield, and uh just have an open dialogue with the um companies on Stringfield to ask them to be uh nice neighbors, responsive, and to clean up their mess when it's dropped on the road.

It was a very good meeting.

I appreciate him coming up, and I have more meetings scheduled.

Um this Saturday I'm invited to read at the downtown library.

I'm gonna read to some brilliant minds.

They already have a book picked out.

Anybody that knows me know I love to read the kids, so I get to put on my super reader t-shirt and my gloves because I'm super reader.

Um AAMU is having fan day on Saturday at 12 o'clock.

So if you're not doing anything, come on out, enjoy the maroon and white scrimmage game that will start at noon.

I'm telling you, it's nothing like AM fan day.

You will have a lot of fun.

So come on out.

The band will be there.

Unfortunately, they won't be at the parade because they're gonna be at the Battle of the Bands in Houston, Texas.

And then on Saturday night, AM is going to host uh freshman convocation.

They have so many students they had to move it to the evening.

So that's gonna be exciting.

I'm going to attend that as well.

And um, I think my plate was full, so I'm done.

Sounds good.

Thank you, councilwoman.

Next is Mr.

Kling.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I'm gonna need that microphone after all.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

I believe Warren Joaquin is in the back.

He is uh Mr.

President uh Warren is uh celebrating his third birthday, and I wanted to invite him to come down from Sherwood Park so we could all say happy birthday to him.

So everybody, happy birthday.

Happy birthday.

All right, and also I have a little present to give him, and we appreciate you coming down.

Yeah, thank you for coming.

And hope you have a great birthday.

And uh uh let me say to uh council member Watkins, I might be tempted to come to your parade if I don't have to ride a bicycle in it.

Uh I um got my um baptism under fire riding with the bicycle advocacy group uh Friday.

It was just it was just nine miles.

I mean, I walked nine miles in neighborhoods several times a week.

That was that was my look.

I was using muscles I'd never used before, and all I could say is I walked around like I was a Texas cowboy all weekend afterward.

I used muscles I hadn't used.

But mayor, my hat's off to you because you bicycle and I did not know that you had an electric bicycle, but still I appreciate the fact that you're able to get around on a bicycle.

But uh it was a good learning experience for me.

The um uh planning department staff and the bicycle advocates took me around.

I got a chance to get that first hand experience about those big wide bicycle lanes.

I was surprised how narrow they are when you're behind a bicycle and you're kind of wiggling and weaving a little bit.

But it was a good experience, and uh I look forward to uh doing it uh in the future.

And um I think I got a good hand on it, but I think it it does give us a good perspective about uh where Huntsville is as far as being accessible to bicyclists.

So I appreciate that experience, and again, my hat's off to those who can bicycle all the time and the distance that they do.

Having uh uh partially recovered from that overnight the next day, uh still was so sore muscles.

I went out to the Merrimack community to participate in the uh Merrimack neighborhood uh cleanup that we had.

So uh last weekend was definitely an eventful weekend for me, but uh uh I think it uh was good to uh participate in the bicycle ride as well as always liking to be there in the in the neighborhood cleanup.

Last night I went out to West Precinct to participate in a uh meeting uh Southwest Huntsville community uh uh community watch chapters, and of course, we appreciate the great work all these community watch members do throughout the community, cooperating with the police department, the thousands of uh man hours that they put in every year to help keep our community a little bit safer.

And uh it is worth pointing out that uh while Huntsville continues to grow and we land wise, we are one of the largest cities in the entire country.

In fact, I believe we're in the top 35, if I read a recent story correctly, and yet our police department, according to the FBI statistics, does a very good job as far as our crime rates that we have.

So uh hats off to all the great work that goes on in the police department and uh the partnership that they have with uh community watch.

Uh a couple of things I wanted to ask, uh Mr.

Davis, can you give us a brief overview of the governor's drive road widening project?

And uh I think y'all are gonna look at some concerns that the neighborhood had concerning seeing if an alleyway or something could be constructed.

And I realize this is just got this today, and it's sort of a work in progress, but can you kind of tell us what could be done or where you're at on this?

If I can interrupt, is that on the agenda tonight?

No.

Okay.

Okay.

Go for it.

Okay.

Good evening, St.

Davis Director Urban Economic Guns.

So uh, as many are aware, it's been uh publicized through the media and some town hall meetings and different things that um Alabama Park Transportation is working on a small widening project uh from California up over the mountain uh to allow more traffic when we widen governor's drive from uh through the medical district US 231 Memorial Parkway.

Uh it terminated at California, so that creates a bottleneck in rush hour, trying to get people back into Southeast Huntsville.

So Aldot has recognized that, so they're adding a merge lane or an acceleration lane through that section.

Uh there's certainly been a lot of concern with residents along Governor's Drive of adding an additional lane, being able to get out of their driveways, and we're working through that with Aldot and trying to support our residents as much as possible.

Uh but uh councilman clean's uh point, uh the corner of Bassett and Governors, uh, those residents through there.

There used to be a public back alley uh there.

And uh so we've received uh questions from some uh residents with the city to look at reopening that uh down the road.

So we're we're gonna start looking at that, having conversations with residents see you know, it will take uh some rear yard properties because that the alley has been vacated because it's no longer a public alley, and just see if there's overwhelming support with those residents.

If so, uh, we do think it would be a good improvement for those residents to be able to have an alternate access rather than the future widened governor's drive through that section.

Thank you for uh again for looking into that.

Yes, sir.

And also there's uh another issue, and I think Mr.

Riley also is looking into it, not a final uh product, so to speak.

But uh I'd gotten concerns, and perhaps other council members have, and I relate them to Mr.

Riley about uh a private company uh doing traffic or parking tickets in private lots, which is allowed, but then the fact that the uh parking lot has big signs that say public parking seems to be a little deceptive.

People get in, then they're not aware that uh there's paid parking on this lot, whereas downtown night nights and weekends, you know, there's no paid parking.

And anyway, it seemed kind of deceptive to me, and I know some people have been hit with $35 tick parking tickets, and I know you're just now beginning to look into it, but uh is there anything you can say at this point about it?

I'll be happy to.

Uh recently, of course, uh you have brought to our officers' attention uh and to the city as a whole that we received complaints from citizens about these so-called public parking areas that are being provided by private landowners in in and around the downtown area.

Uh those complaints are are are uh in a number of areas, for instance that the quote public parking signs are misleading, leading some to the conclusion that the parking areas are provided by the city, which they are not.

They're public landowners.

Uh the uh or that the parking was subject to the same regulations as city-owned and provided parking lots, for instance, that we don't charge for parking after five o'clock, or we don't charge on the weekends.

For instance, that we don't charge for parking after 5 o'clock, or we don't charge on the weekends.

Well, those are inapplicable to these lots because they're private.

And there's other signage, of course, in different areas of the lots, which might tend to lead one to a different conclusion.

But the problem is those signs again are in another part of the lot.

They are often complicated, rather verbose.

You would have to sit and pull up a chair to read all the information that's on them and somewhat unclear.

And then, of course, complaints about the fact that so-called violators in those lots receive uh tickets or notices on their cars, uh, alleging that they owe a fine or a fee uh for failing to pay for the parking, and uh many were under the conclusion that these uh things were being enforced by the municipal court, which they are not.

So there was a lot of confusion in the area.

So, based on that, and at your request and others, uh the city attorney's office is uh looking into drafting an ordinance to address the issue or issues arising out of this.

Of course, any time we do an ordinance, we engage in an analysis of the issues before you plunge in making the law or suggesting a law.

You ought to look at what you're trying to correct.

And so we've done that.

So we're considering an ordinance that would address a number of things, including the inadequate or misleading signage on some of these lots that uh that doesn't properly indicate that people have to pay to park there, uh methods of enforcement that might be used at those facilities, such as charging a penalty or a fine, uh the possibility of towing vehicles there that are not authorized, the possibility of vehicle and mobilization techniques like booting and things of that nature, and private enforcement of those fines.

Again, some of these things haven't occurred yet, but in an ordinance we want to try to get ahead of those things.

Uh we want to look at methods of payment and issues of security associated.

For instance, uh QR codes are on those signs, and there's you know some concern that people have expressed about uh particular uh scam things uh surrounding those sort of things.

So we'd look into that.

Uh and then we would uh want to look into the methods, methods of compliance monitoring for those lots and ticketing, in other words, using things like unlicensed independent contractors to patrol the lots, use of license plate readers, uh misleading invoicing, things of that nature, and then of course issues of permitting uh which might be required.

So all of this I know is a little bit lengthy, but it's to let you know that it's not it uh uh a simple matter.

It's one that we are looking at and we're checking in other jurisdictions to see what they're doing, uh, and we're trying to take a prompt uh response to this, but also we want to bring you a well-reasoned ordinance, one that doesn't create problems that need not exist that addresses the problems that we are.

Okay, thank you for your good work on this.

And Mr.

President, uh finally, uh I uh just want to re announce I have my monthly town meeting coming up this coming Monday night, six o'clock at the library, and it's in meeting room A, and everyone's invited.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling.

Uh, next is Mr.

Little.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh this past uh Tuesday on the 12th, we had a town hall out at uh Optimus Park to unveil some early design concepts for a major facelift and renovation at Goldsmith Shiftman.

Uh it was uh well attended and uh well well received.

You know, um this is an old facility is built in 1934 and it's pretty dated, and the new park will still allow for uh youth athletics, but also have an inclusive playground, a nice new pavilion with bathrooms, and two pickleball courts.

So uh hat tip to our general services and parks and rec and comms team for helping put all that together.

I appreciate it.

Um, and then on September 16th at 5:30, I'll be uh joining a joint town hall with Holly McCarty, my compatriot on the school board, along with Dr.

Sutton, and that'll be out at Lee High School in the auditorium.

We look forward to that.

And then lastly, uh some uh safety concerns popped up kind of out of nowhere with uh uh school traffic at Blossomwood, and I just want to thank um the police department, planning engineering, and our traffic teams for all being very responsive uh to get these uh concerns addressed.

We got uh with the parents we've been hearing from.

So thank you all for that.

That's all I have.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

For my comments, I just want to say that I had the opportunity to take a tour of the new West Huntsville recenter on Martin Road.

Um, and things are going along very nicely.

Um and we are looking for a mid to late October uh ribbon cutting if things stay on schedule.

That is very loose, but at this point in time, that's uh what we're looking at.

So hopefully, just as the weather starts to turn and people are going to start looking for indoor opportunities for uh exercise, the uh recenter should be coming directly online for you.

So really look forward to that and what it means to the community out there.

Um that's it for my comments.

That will bring us to 14A, which is a resolution.

Well, I will let um this Watkins handle that.

President Mayor, I move that we approve the expenses of the City of Huntsville in the amount of 38,264,861.85 cents.

Chairman second that um all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries, brings us to 14b, which is an ordinance approving appropriations, goods or services for district one council improvement funds.

Um, yes.

Before we vote on approved, second motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Clay.

Motion my own, but that's okay.

Thank you all for being so excited.

Um South Houseville Business Association is the model for what North Hountsville Business Association was going to do, but now Invest Northwest will do.

Um, because I believe in the future of District One, and you have to have uh organization that's going to be a go-between between Shane and developers and just talking to the business owners in District One to get them excited about growth in District One and how they can help them develop their businesses, how they can help them market their businesses.

I'm making this appropriation to them, as well as North Alabama elite football, which the city of Huntsville does not have tackle football, which is really sad because it puts us at a handicap.

And that's one of the sports that the city does not fund.

They fund soccer, they fund volleyball, they fund everything else except tackle football.

And I don't know what the problem is with tackle football, but the city is at a disadvantage right now because the county has tackle football at a young age.

They're ready to play.

That's why when you see the county teams running over city teams, they're at an advantage.

Because I believe tackle football needs to be back into the city.

I'm investing some of my appropriation money to help these organizations get equipment that they need as well as to get uh uniforms.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries brings us to 14C, which is a resolution authorizing travel for council member John Merrick Meredith to Tampa, Florida on October 25th through the 29th, 2025 for the 2025 ICMA annual conference.

Move to approve.

Motion by uh Ms.

Watkins, second by Mr.

Kling.

Um, pretty self-explanatory.

It's the cost associated with my attending that conference, um, which is one I've been to several times before, which I find um pretty pretty educational and informative, and have in the past utilized things that um were talked about and discussed at this event to better serve my constituents.

So I think it's a good use of of funds.

Uh any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to board appointments to be voted on.

15A is a resolution to appoint Rimmelis Bowden to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council, place four to the seat previously held by Willie Love for a four-year term to expire August 1st, 2029.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

Watt, uh Ms.

Watkins, and second by the chair.

I have questions.

Yes, ma'am.

Floor is yours.

Um as I look out in this audience, I see different races, different socioeconomic backgrounds.

I see individuals who are here because you are concerned and you care about your city.

Because you are concerned and you care about your city, you have a right to serve on boards.

What we don't have a right to do is pick and choose who we don't want on boards because of a difference of opinions.

And for that matter, I have a prepared statement.

Colleagues, the First Amendment doesn't protect only polite speech or popular opinions.

It protects all speeches, including the views we may strongly disagree with.

We are not here to judge whether we like a nominee's opinion.

We are here to decide whether they are qualified to serve.

Disqualifying someone because of their strong views is not only unfair, it's a form of viewpoint discrimination, which runs directly against the principles we swore to uphold.

If we start blocking people simply because they speak their minds, we set a dangerous precedent that only those who agree with us get a seat at the table, and that is not democracy.

Respect or perceived or conjured lack thereof is not a requirement or bar for a citizen of any background to have all five-fifths of their rights and to be eligible to represent his or her community on city appointed boards.

Let's make this decision based on merit, qualifications, and experience, and not on whether their opinions make us comfortable.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Yes, absolutely, Dr.

I would remind this council that this is not about disagreeing with an individual's opinions or statements made, but this is an individual that had to be forcibly removed from the council chamber for disruptive behavior.

And that is, I think what is giving me the greatest concern.

Should you have been removed when you talked about African Americans being arrested by police more often than Caucasian Americans Any further discussion?

Mr.

Kling, how do you vote?

Abstain.

Dr.

Robinson, how do you vote?

Mr.

Little?

No.

Ms.

Watkins.

Yay.

And the chair votes I as well, which means that the resolution to appoint Mr.

Bowden does not pass.

Brings us to 15B, which is a resolution to reappoint Pamela Caruso to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council place 10, her current seat for a four-year term to expire August 1st, 2029.

So moved.

Motion by Mr.

Kling, second by uh Dr.

Robinson.

I have comments.

Yes, ma'am.

Mr.

Kling.

Um I'm not gonna be a hypocrite like you tonight, because you texted me and told me several weeks ago you couldn't vote for him.

And one of the reasons was he's um serving on the board already, but we're not we're not gonna mention the fact that there's several Caucasian males that serve on two and three boards, and he's serving on one.

Also, I'm not gonna be a hypocrite and try and pick your representative for your district, like you tried to do with me when you emailed an individual and put me on the email and said, Oh, I'll I'll support you for the police advisory council if Michelle Watkins would nominate you.

I'm not gonna be a hypocrite and deny this individual a right to serve on the board because my council member is hypocrite.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Mr.

President, yes, Mr.

Klain.

Well, I guess sometimes we have a short memory because I recall uh a few months ago, uh, this gentleman was up for a different board, a different board, which I thought allowed for his opinions to be expressed in a more of a positive way, and I was the third in deciding vote to put that person on the board.

Uh the person who uh I have got on this board, everybody can look at her past record on that board.

She is outspoken, uh, but she has never been forcibly removed from either a city council or any other meeting.

But uh anyone that knows Pam Caruso, and Pam was sitting uh at some of the same meetings uh in the past uh that Mr.

Bowden was removed from, she was speaking her piece, and she was speaking it with great conviction, but again, nothing that would cause her to be removed.

So everyone vote for whoever they think is best our job.

But if you were there concerned, you shouldn't have voted for him.

Mr.

President, I believe I still have the floor.

You do got it.

You do, Mr.

Clay.

Speak your piece.

I appreciate that.

But again, uh, it should be pointed out.

Uh some boards people fit in better than others.

Uh, but again, when a person is removed, uh, I believe on at least two occasions from a council meeting.

To me, that's not the person who I want to be involved in a police advisory committee where we're supposed to be talking about things like law enforcement and following the rules and following the laws.

But again, uh I saw another board and that you'd asked me to support them on, which I did, and again, I think that's a better fit.

And again, on all these boards, forget about race, whatever, it's all about merit, and there have been numerous Americans that I have nominated.

It is not I would have to ask Councilmember Watkins to Well, I'm gonna speak when he grough.

Yes, ma'am, you will have that privilege.

Go ahead, Mr.

Kling.

Well, anyway, I think I've stated it.

I look at uh board appointees, board people who I nominate, uh can they serve the community?

That's what we're supposed to be up here.

Can we can they do some good?

It's not about gender, it's not about age, it's not about race.

And again, uh I can think there have been people who I have uh nominated, and they were African American.

Uh there were uh were people who in the community I've recognized, and they were African American, and that's that's the way it should be.

So that's my piece, and uh that's what we're supposed to be looking at, the big picture.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling, Miss Watkins.

So I've been told by this council it takes a certain skill set because they don't think district one has a skill set.

And when you meet the skill set, and when you meet the qualifications and you meet the requirements, you still have an excuse.

Because an individual is compassionate and speaks up, you get offended.

And I see it all the time because an African American female, I'm told that I'm the angry black woman when I'm compassionate about something.

But Pam Caruso was compassionate, and she did it with such eloquence.

I'm just saying, let's weigh the scales.

But thank you so much for your consideration, Mr.

King.

Uh Mr.

Kling.

Mr.

President, anybody can pull any votes out on anything that they want.

Uh, if anybody wants to look at the big picture, there's a fellow named uh Richard Chowers who served greatly in District One for numerous years, and the agenda would show that there's a record of Councilman Kling voting with him on numerous people from District One.

District one has a great amount of resource.

I went to school at Alabama AM.

I know the community up there, uh familiar with many of the people in the neighborhood associations, the the churches, the leadership that they have, the members of the church who want to get involved.

There were numerous opportunities, and uh I think during those years, anyone who wanted to run the numbers would see district one had numerous people more than any other district with uh appointees that were brought in, especially when we first went to districts because frankly there's a lot of catch up to do, and I was proud to contribute and be part of uh of that process.

So, councilwoman, I'm glad to look at your appointees that you have, the nominees that you have.

Uh some of them I'll support, as I told you when you first got on.

We're gonna agree to disagree.

And uh ironically, there was a problem that you had pointed out concerning the health care authority board several months ago because they were excluded, and if you were restricted basically by three candidates that we had to choose from, and I understand the circumstance, and you were not happy about it.

The following week I had a chance at uh to talk with the CEO of the health care authority about the fact that myself and uh councilwoman Robinson also at that meeting voiced support about more district one people being on boards, including the health care authority, and uh he took that very seriously when he uh when he heard what I had to say.

So I'm expecting that uh that problem that you had.

I'd like to think I contributed to uh process to get that issue taken care of.

So I'm open for positive solutions.

Um we're not gonna agree on everything, we're gonna agree to disagree.

I told you that when you first came on, you're equal.

We're gonna scrap on some issues, we're gonna hug on some issues, but that's that's part of the process that all of us go through on the city council.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Mr.

Klay.

Ms.

Watkins.

If you truly meant that about district one, you wouldn't have voted for an individual that does not live in district one on that hospital board.

And I plainly remember I tried to talk to you about it before the council meeting, and I had been told several times the last person that talks to Bill King Kling, that's how he votes.

I just wasn't the last person that day.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Councilwoman, I remember you had I was in council um Meredith's office.

You said you want to talk to me.

I said, Great, I'll be around.

And it was about an hour and a half before the meeting.

And I'm afraid nobody talked to me, or you would have you were basically the last person to sort of talk to me.

No, sir, I did not.

Let them have the floor.

I didn't you'll respond.

Go ahead, Mr.

Klain.

Uh you did say at uh when I was in council meredis office, I want to talk to you.

I think the two of you were going to talk into something so I stepped out, but you never came to talk to me between that hour and 15 minutes before the meeting.

Okay, well, anyway, I think we've all expressed our opinion, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Mr.

Klain, Ms.

Watkins.

I have nothing to say.

He's got selective amnesia.

Fair enough.

Any further discussion?

Um Mr.

Little, how do you vote?

On Ms.

Caruso.

Aye.

Uh Ms.

Watkins.

Aye.

Um, Mr.

Clang.

Aye.

Ms.

Uh Robinson.

Aye.

And chair votes aye as well.

Uh so Ms.

Caruso is uh approved, or reappointed, rather.

Uh brings us to 15C, which will require four-fifths vote for approval.

It is a resolution to reappoint Vicki Guerreri to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council place eight, her current seat for a four-year term to expire August 1st, 2029.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Little.

May I make a comment?

Absolutely, Miss Dr.

Robinson.

I would just like to express my support of uh reappointing Miss Guerreri.

She was one of the founding members of the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council.

She's probably the one that has served on there, the one of the ones that has served on there the longest, and that's why her vote is tonight will require four-fifths of the the council's vote.

Uh she served in 2020 and 2021 as the chair of the police advisory council and led the internal review of the protests that took place.

It was a very challenging time, and but she was a calming influence.

She was very fair, and she earned the respect of everyone on the council as well as the command staff for the work that she did.

And that respect continues to this day, particularly for the last couple of years when there has again been some challenges on the advisory council.

She was the one that was able to be there and calm things down when they got a little bit heated.

That measure of respect that she has uh for everyone on the council, and again the command staff, I think is one reason why she deserves to be reappointed, but also because this will probably be her last term, and she is willing to serve again, and we appreciate her offering herself for service because the council is gonna have a lot of new people on it, and there will need to be someone there who has institutional knowledge to be able to help those new people uh become acclimated.

Uh the work on the council is guided very much by ordinance, and she knows that she knows what that is and knows how it needs to be done because she's been there and she's done it.

And uh for that alone, I would suggest that she be given another term, one final term to serve thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Ms.

Watkins.

Let's focus on accountability, not blind loyalty.

This time I won't be a hypocrite again because I have received calls about your nominee and that they are not um they're not fair.

That's what I've been told.

And for those reasons, Dr.

Robinson, I would not be supporting your candidate tonight.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Any further discussion?

Mr.

Klang, how do you vote?

Aye.

Miss uh Dr.

Robinson, how do you vote?

Aye, uh Mr.

Little, how do you vote?

Aye.

Uh Ms.

Watkins.

No.

And the chair votes nay as well.

So Miss Guerrero is not reappointed as well.

Brings us to 15D, which is a resolution to appoint Don Odom to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council, place six to the seat previously held by Akeem Davis for a four-year term to expire August 1st, 2029.

Move to approve.

Motion by Mr.

Little, second by the chair.

Any discussion on Mr.

Odom.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 15E, which is a resolution to appoint Tracy Lamb to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council place 12 to the seat previously held by Wiley Day for a four-year term to expire August 1st, 2029.

Uh Chair makes the motion.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Little.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 15F, which is a resolution to excuse me, to appoint Robin Wolf to the Madison County Department of Human Resources Board.

Place five to the seat previously held by Sonoya Williams for a six-year term to expire August 1st, 2031.

Chair makes the motion.

Second by Ms.

Watkins.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 15G, which is a resolution to appoint Holly Barker to the Madison County Department of Human Resources Board, place six to the seat previously held by Barrington Dames for a six-year term to expire August 1st, 2031.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

I'm sorry, Ms.

Watkins, second by Mr.

Little.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to board appointment nominations.

16A is the nomination to appoint Sasha Irby to the community development citizens advisory council place three to the seat previously held by Billy Lennox for a three-year term to expire April 14th, 2028.

16B is a nomination to reappoint Claude Moore to the Board of Examinations and Appeals for Construction Industries Place 6, his current seat for a three-year term to expire September 13th, 2028.

Are there any nominations from the floor at this time?

Yes, ma'am.

I would nominate uh place in nomination to appoint David Blair to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council place eight to the seat previously held by Vicky Guerrero for a four-year term to expire, August 1, 2029.

And could you if thank you?

Thank you.

Are there any further nominations from the floor tonight?

Yes.

Ms.

Watkins.

I nominate Linda Holmes to serve on the citizen police citizens advisory council.

Um and could I get that in writing at your earliest opportunity?

Thank you.

Uh okay, so nominations from the floor.

That will bring us to council utility item 17A is an ordinance authorizing the issuance of a 7 million five hundred and fifteen thousand dollar initial principal amount subordinate subordinate subordinated water revenue warrant series 2025-dwrf-dL and special authority loan conditions agreement with the Alabama Drinking Water Finance Authority to finance capital improvements to the safe drinking water system of the city.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair.

Um Mr.

Whitley.

Good evening, Council members and mayor.

This item before you tonight is a issuance of 7.5 million dollars to complete additional work at our South uh West Water Treatment Plant as well as South Parkway and additional infrastructure improvements in Limestone County.

Thank you, sir.

Any uh discussion on this one?

All those in favor say aye.

I'm sorry, sorry.

Good evening, Miss Tweed.

Good evening.

Um how long is this gonna take?

Is Dan anticipation completion day?

Yes, so this is a continuation of the work that has been extended.

So this work will continue and will be finalized.

Some of it's actually already complete and over the next two years.

Thank you.

And I would assume the part that's gonna take around two years is out west.

Yes, yes, okay.

Fair enough.

At least it's happening, it's on the books.

We appreciate that.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Mr.

Whitley.

Brings us to 18 legal department items and transactions.

18A is a resolution consenting to the vacation of a portion of a right of way at 612 McKinley Avenue Northeast, lots 2 through 13, block 7.

Moved approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by uh Mr.

Little.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

18B is an ordinance vacating a portion of the right of way at 612 McKinley Avenue Northeast, lots 2 through 13, block 7.

Moved approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair.

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries brings us to unfinished business items for action.

19A is the uh is an ordinance annexing 572.48 acres of land lying on the north of Bob Wade Road and east and west of Mount Lebanon Road.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair, Mr.

Nunez.

Thank you, Council Members.

Uh Thomas Nunez, manager of planning and zoning services.

This item is located north of Bob Wade Road and east and west of Mount Lebanon Road.

Uh the property is overall 572.48 acres.

Uh I do want to bring um cadence to the fact that the Harris family uh who is seeking to annex this property has been working significantly with the city of Huntsville through acquisition through right-of-way acquisition as we have uh expansion of uh northern bypass.

Uh but seeing further that they are excited about the opportunity to petition uh our council to annex into the city limits.

Thank you, Mr.

Nunez.

Any uh discussion.

Yes, Shane, do you mind coming up, please, Mr.

Davis?

Um when Mr.

Davis talked to me about this, we had a conversation about schools.

We did.

See, everybody knows I'm gonna ask questions about schools, and uh we had a really good conversation.

I feel comfortable with what you share with me.

So I wanted that to be on the record because I know people are gonna call me nights like why'd you vote for that annexation?

But rest assured the schools will be good.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis.

You're welcome.

If I could just publicly add to our conversation a little bit for the public on on behalf of Councilman uh Lady Watkins, Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

Uh so uh this is a legacy farm uh the northern part of the city, and I think if we zoom out just a little bit, uh you can see the massive growth that's happening, district one and continues with North Huntsville Industrial Park, the jobs, uh the activity we're having at the New Northern Bypass and Memorial Parkway intersection.

Uh so the Harris family has been uh speaking with both Mr.

Nunaz and myself uh to bring this into the city and um you know should you approve this tonight?

Mr.

Nunes will bring you some planned zoning that will come, and that's where the conversation about schools and and and the how this property be used.

Um what we're planning on, and I don't want to steal Mr.

Thomas's thunder as he usually says this to you, but the frontage will be commercial and the back will be residential.

Um should you uh approve this, they'll start some planning with our planning staff of master playing this in a way to where the build out will be multi-phase to uh not place a negative impact on our city services or the school system in the way that it will be developed.

Thank you.

Appreciate that.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Councilmembers.

The following items and 20 are new business items for consideration or action or action.

Are there any items any council member wishes to hold for separate consideration?

C and Q, please.

F and G, please F and G, did you say?

Yes, ma'am.

Mr.

Little, Mr.

Claying.

I'm sorry.

Say again.

Did you have any you wanted to help?

Okay, Mr.

Klain.

Okay.

So then the chair moves for consolidation and approval of items 20A through B, 20 D through E, 20H through I.

Nope.

H through through P 20R through A E.

Right.

Can I get a second on that?

Um those opposed uh all those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries, and those items are approved, which brings us to 20C, which is a resolution calling for redemption of certain outstanding general obligation warrants of the city.

Chair will make the motion.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Little.

Ms.

Smith.

Good evening.

Penny Smith, Director of Finance.

Um, before you this evening is a resolution calling for the redemption of outstanding general obligation warrants for the city that is associated with the TIFF districts two, four, and six.

Um, with your um your permission, I would like to kind of show a very short slideshow that talks both to a little bit about TIFF districts because people kind of forget what they are, and then also just about two, four, and six, the TIFFs that we are closing this evening.

So tax increment financing districts or TIFFs are a financial tool that leverages existing property taxes to benefit the citizens of Huntsville.

TIFFs are geographically designed, and you'll see on each of the slot each of the different TIFF slides that geographic boundary that that happens to formulate that.

And then everything happens within the boundary of the TIFF.

Although complicated in formula, I want to refer you to the graphic above for the basic illustration of how a TIFF functions.

A TIFF, the research once complete, the geographic area is defined.

Existing property taxes and the taxes currently remitted are considered the base.

They're here in gray, and they continue to be remitted to the appropriate entities.

Once the TIFF is established, projects, be it roads or schools, are constructed, and financing is acquired to pay for those those different different projects.

As the development or redevelopment occurs within the district, market values of the properties rise, and so does the revenue collection for the ad valorum.

That is what's in blue there.

Once the new revenue here in blue goes to pay for the debt service on the projects, once the projects are paid for and the debt service is paid, the TIFF is closed.

That's what we're doing now.

And the new increase for the revenue generation of the TIFF is remitted to the various entities.

So that's what's in brown above.

Once it's up there, it's up there, and everything starts dispersing back to the entity.

That's includes these TIFFs are both in Madison County and in Limestone County.

So they're gonna see both of those counties are gonna are gonna see benefit.

We are gonna see benefit, but especially the school systems will see their benefit as it rises.

I'm gonna present that this evening.

They are limited by geography, caps on borrowings, how much the TIFF can finance, the time to actually build the infrastructure, and the time to reimburse the financing.

So the structure is set in law, and that's under code section 99.

So TIF 2.

TIF 2 was established, was it runs along, sorry, runs along Bob Wallace and Parkway south of Governor's Drive.

It was established in 2000, and the finance 10 million dollars in school infrastructure.

This was used to further high for Huntsville High, and it built a parking garage around the Parkway City Mall.

Besides the Parkway Mall, this TIFF create contains Whole Foods and the retail and restaurants around that grocery store.

The closure of the TIFF will pay the outstanding warrants at $820,000, and the remaining funds at a little over $250,000 will be available to be dispersed to the current entity.

Last year, this TIFF produced $2.3 million.

So we collected for the TIFF, and it was a little over $500,000.

We'll get would had the TIFF been closed go to go to Madison County, Huntsville City Schools, a little over a million, and the city of Huntsville would have received a little over 600,000.

A third of that is for schools also.

TIF 4.

So I don't know exactly what those let me let me say this because a couple of people have asked, well, what'll what will it produce this year?

Now that the TIFF is closed for FY26 as we go into that year, those property taxes that'll be paid, they'll just be dispersed to those entities along with everything else.

It won't be isolated.

hundred thousand a third of that is for schools also I don't know exactly what those let me let me say this because a couple of people have asked well what'll what will it produce this year now that the TIFF is closed for FY26 as we go into that year those property taxes that'll be paid they'll just be dispersed to those entities along with everything else it won't be isolated here's your TIFF two or TIFF four revenue it just comes in like it normally comes in across those months TIF four covers the core of downtown and winds east along 72 and north along 231 it is an odd shape but it is contiguous and so remember we need to encompass both the projects that we want to complete inside the TIF and the land suitable for development and redevelopment at the same time this was established in 2006 to revitalize the aging court of the city I think it's done really nice job the investment stimulated downtown redevelopment and commercial development the projects totaled 30 million including 13 million to renovate both Lee and Butler High School so that's why it wound out that way and um and to build or expand on the art museum and the VBC.

Infrastructure around the Twickingham Square resid which included residential retail and the office complex uh an urban grocery store etc has spurred redevelopment new hotels we've seen other commercial ventures that have come into downtown since that time the closure of the TIFF will pay the remaining outstanding warrants at 17 at a little over 17 million and the remaining funds in the current fund at a little over 600 thousand will be dispersed back last year this TIFF produced nine a little over nine million dollars of which Madison County would receive would have received 2.1 million Huntsville City Schools 4.3 million and the city of Huntsville 2.5 million again a third of that goes back into the city's the high school's capital projects funds or the city schools capital project fund six is in Madison is in limestone county and it runs north from 565 along the Greenby Parkway it started in 2015 so it's one of our more recent ones and it focused on economic development is strengthened the arteries and main routes accessing 565 the city was able to sign Polaris which invested 127 million dollars in the Huntsville plant and then it's manufacturing time the listed prop the listed different industries that are listed there also came around the Polaris plant and um and came to the Huntsville Mark bringing jobs in their own facilities the closure of this TIF will pay the remaining outstanding warrants at $13 million and actually the remaining funds of around 10 million this was a because of the way that the it paid off so early the structure of the debt and everything we ended up with a lot of extra funds but we had to get that extra year in to get that to get there.

So the 10 million will be able to be dispersed back to the current entities last year in 2025 it collected 8 point 8.1 million limestone has a very different advalorum taxes is not quite as as easy to delineate what goes where and so we're still working on that but a large portion again will go back to the Huntsville city schools so that'll be that'll be once we complete that we'll work with limestone county to get those dispersed other TIFs are performing or outperforming their their forecast we are currently working with PFM and um and our bond counsel Rod Cantor in order to set up everything what you have before you tonight approves us to do some various things in order to set up the escrow's for the for the funds so that we can have them to call for all the bonds because the bonds actually go or the or excuse me the warrants actually run through 30 39 should we have have continued to just collect on the TIFFs and pay off so we're gonna pay those at call dates which means we'll pay those in 29 so everything will be completely paid off in 29 and um and so that is what's before you this evening that's why it's very long and kind of laborus in the narrative that's in the resolution.

Is there any questions?

Thank you Ms Smith are there any questions Ms.

Watkins Ms.

Smith do you mind sending me a copy of that presentation you just did not get you all the time thank you we'll do that.

Thank you.

No further discussion all those in favor say aye aye all those opposed say nay motion carries thank you Ms Smith brings us to 20 F which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a project development agreement among the city of Huntsville Parsons Corporation Parsons Government Services Incorporated and Parsons services company move to approve the resolution motion by Dr.

Robinson second by Mr Kling Mr.

Davis, have added.

Thank you, Council President.

Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

So council members, this is one of the good news stories we like.

Certainly we do a lot of work in recruiting new corporations to Huntsville, but we'd love to see the ones that have been here a long time take the opportunity to choose to expand in our city, and that's what you have here tonight.

So Parsons Corporation has been here for quite a while.

But in the different sectors of business that they do, but they have to do that in a way in a competitive environment to make sure that they're doing the best in their growth in locations, whether it be existing locations or looking into a new market.

So this was a competitive project through the chamber in the state of Alabama to bring 200 additional uh jobs in a new program of work here.

So what this would do, should you approve Parsons Corporation make a $5 million capital investment to existing facility and bring 200 jobs.

That annual average minimum wage requirement is 100,000 five hundred and fifty dollars per job.

There's a five-year maintenance requirement on that once they uh reach that 198 additional employees.

They currently have about 600 at the Huntsville campus, so this would take them close to 800 jobs.

So during that five-year performance period, uh we do it in a way such that there's not a badge swap.

So we they have to maintain the 600 plus the 198, is how we test after after they ramp up.

So what we were providing uh for that uh is a $1,200 per job uh job recruitment, job relocation in conjunction with AIDT, which is our statewide training and workforce development program.

So these are very technical jobs and some specialized skills that are needed that uh it's going to take some recruitment both locally and abroad and possibly some relocation.

So in partnership with the state, we typically provide uh a very low entry of anywhere from a thousand to twenty five hundred, depending on the wages and jobs.

So this one would be twelve hundred.

It's a reimbursement, so we make no payment to the jobs have been put in place and they're here.

They must be working and employed in Huntsville, and then once that job is created, uh it must be maintained for a minimum of five years, or there's a recapture payment.

So we would get our money back for helping lure that workforce to Huntsville, Alabama.

Um, certainly that those new employees will buy home or or find some form of living and interact into our community and and spend money and create a growing tax base.

Just the direct from Parson, uh, it will have a 91 million dollar annual impact to our community.

Our our total uh investment through it is only 237,000 over a five-year period as they do a job ramp up.

It's pretty good deal for the city for sure.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis.

Dr.

Robinson.

Um you're right.

This is a really really good news story, and that was one of the reasons I I held it.

But I also held it because of the way it's structured.

This we this is not the first time we've seen this.

We've done this previously.

It's absolutely brilliant.

When we have done this before, where we've um looked at the employees that come in and then paying per employee.

How has that worked for us in the past?

It's really good.

So, you know, one thing our office does is certainly we want to promote uh new retail.

We've had a great announcement with the retail.

My phone is blown up all week.

Uh about the IKEA is coming to Huntsville, just in case you didn't know.

But but our our our main focus, not that we don't care about retail.

We spend a lot of hours doing that, but our focus in our office is to create jobs, create opportunity for our citizens here and those that choose Huntsville to live.

Uh that opportunity uh for firm and believe if we are successful in that and giving people upper mobility, retail and everything else take care of itself, right?

Because you're growing, the job market's growing.

But when we do that, um I like to say with the mayor's administration, we never go buy project, you know, saying how much cash will it take for you to come to Huntsville.

We invest in quality of life, workforce development with our school system and our two-year and four-year colleges, and then we do it in a way to protect the taxpayer.

We don't ever hand out cash and hope to get it back.

So everything we do and bring you as a performance base, you go perform, and and we'll reimburse you for some of those efforts of uh mainly job recruitment or workforce development.

Uh if they've got to work with our two-year colleges and four-year colleges to get uh some staff trained, we we do a reimbursement with the state.

So it's performance based, it's taxpayer uh guarantee protection, and then once we've done that, those jobs are in place.

We say, look, we want to make sure the taxpayer gets a return on investment.

So typically it's a five or ten year uh performance.

So annually they'll submit to us.

Uh we don't know the names of the people that are at these corporations.

We just know the employee number, their wage, their start date, and they're still employed, and we count those to make sure they're meeting uh the contractual obligations in a development agreement.

Thank you for the work you're doing on this.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis.

Yes, sir.

Brings us to 20 G, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a project development agreement between the City of Huntsville and Performance Drones Works LLC.

Move to approve the resolution.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Little, Mr.

Davis.

Thank you, Council President.

So very similar to what we just uh discussed.

This is an additional project uh development agreement to be to bring 525 new jobs to our community.

Uh this is a great story.

Uh so this is a company that opened an office in Huntsville uh a few years ago uh just due to quality of life and and the availability of high tech and and very smart people in our community.

Um they started with about seven people and now they have 90 and have fallen in love with the community, want to continue to grow here.

Uh again, this was a competitive market uh against a couple of our peer cities, uh, and they are outgrowing their space, so they had to pivot.

It's either um you know, try to grow, find space here, so we help identify some space for them.

And again, we're doing the same thing as the previous, just providing some workforce uh development uh proceeds along with the state of Alabama.

Um these were will be a thousand per job, and we'll pay this out again, 525 jobs.

We will pay these out at 100 job increments.

So the first 100, once they're on staff, uh that reimbursement will occur.

They'll start that five-year window with those guys.

Once the whole 525 job ramp up period is complete, which will take about four and a half years, we'll have an additional two years on the back.

So the first hundred, that's a seven-year job performance.

So this one's a has a little longer uh recapture period due to the ramp up.

Uh but the average minimum minimum wage required for these 525 jobs is 105,800, 580 dollars annually, exclusive of benefit.

So very high paying jobs.

Um, these are not just engineering jobs, some of them are engineering and technician research and development, but they're also manufacturing jobs.

So they're really high hourly wage jobs that a lot of people that's going through Drake and Calhoun and and even our new tech school will be able to apply for these in a couple of years.

So it's a really good story of it's a testament to you letting us invest in roads and quality of life, because that's was the key in this company expanding here.

Mr.

President, if I could mention uh at the SMDC conference, space missile defense conference uh this past week.

Um the companies that were to unmanned aerial vehicles, uh UAVs or drones as others will people would call it.

Um of the um most um most exciting, um I wouldn't say exciting, but one of the one of the busiest areas that we found of uh in the market, especially in that space of missile defense conference uh market, uh was the uh unmanned aerials in the drone drone area.

Um this is the type of jobs that one can start now and will be generational, give us jobs for years and years to come.

Um that um and these these kind of companies are are um very much sought after uh and uh they really sought out Huntsville because they felt like this was a good place to be.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Mr.

Little.

Thanks, Mr.

President.

Uh Mr.

Davis, is this the place that's out by the airport on county line?

So it's not that that's a different different uh company that we brought in a couple years ago.

So this group actually started uh in the very small office space there at Stovehouse.

Oh so started very, very small, looking for small office space, uh has outgrown that actually taken over a lot of space in Stove House, up to nine employees busting out the seams.

They're actually moving into a hundred thousand square foot facility uh on Diamond Drive and in uh Porton Research Park on the south side of Old Massive Pike.

It's a great success story of someone buying a little bit of office space.

I think they started in 200 square feet and fell in love with the community, fell in love with the workforce, continue to believe in what what we're doing to attract people here and continue to grow in a couple years be over 500 people.

So thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

Dr.

Robinson.

I would just say that that what you just talked about is also a conversation I had at SMD with a company from Dallas, who said um, you know, we opened a little office here three years ago, and he pointed look kind of looked around and he said, after seeing all this, I think we might need to do more.

So I it's again another example of this and another success story that you may be sharing with us.

Doesn't happen while it's for the council.

So thank you.

Thank you for your work.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis.

Brings us to 20 Q, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a memorandum of understanding between the City of Huntsville and the U.S.

Army Garrison Redstone Arsenal for stray animal control.

Move to approve the resolution.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair.

Any discussion on this one?

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Abstain.

Okay.

Um the steward roll call.

Um Ms.

Watkins.

I'm abstaining because I work for Garrison.

Don't want to have a conflict of interest.

That would be recusal, not abstain.

Abstain is the same thing.

I can abstain.

I don't have to recuse.

We had this conversation before when I was at Houseville City Schools and Attorney Chris Papervised that you could do either.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Klain.

Dr.

Robinson and the chair is I as well.

So that passes.

And that brings us to new business.

Sorry.

Yes.

New business items for introduction.

21A is the introduction of an ordinance to amend Chapter 5, Division 2 of Article 2 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville.

21B is the ordin introduction of an ordinance declaring certain property surplus and to be disposed of per agreement with managed asset recycling solutions LLC.

That brings us to this uh the second roster of public comments.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to address the council on matters relating to city business, whether or not such items are on the meeting agenda.

You may sign up to speak on the second public comments roster prior to or during the meeting.

When called, approach the microphone and state your name, home address, and city of residence.

Each speaker may address the council for three minutes.

Speakers shall refrain from entering into a dialogue with council members or certain staff and from making comments regarding the good name and character of any individual.

We will start uh with Mr.

David Snyder.

Hello, my name is David Snyder.

Uh my information is written correctly on the sheet.

I live in Huntsville.

Thank you very much.

Um I'd like to start by talking about Derrick Street.

Um, Michelle Watkins and I had gone to uh see the conditions at the camp a couple of weeks back.

Um and to start with, uh, as I've always said, this uh new program has taken away a fundamental ability for people to be able to go somewhere and pitch a tent on their own of their own accord, with there being no paperwork and be able to exist as you know, a violently unhoused person and not be criminalized for it.

There's now paperwork, and as I've advocated for a program like this, it is still taking something away that should be put back, right?

Um that being said, there were a few things with the camp that I'd like to point out.

One is uh that the where we now have water, which is great, excellent that we have water, where we now have water, it is encompassed by rocks and gravel, and so people that have accessibility and mobility aids um may have a harder time getting to that.

Also, uh from that water spigot, it's probably a 15-foot long hose that's just laying on the ground.

And so there may be standing water uh in that that may uh pose a danger.

Um I'll get with Scott about it.

I'm not sure where Scott went, but I'll get with Scott about it at some point.

Um I'd also like to talk about the city detect program.

Uh we don't want to be to uh detecting uh our city doing surveillance program, taking pictures of people's homes.

What we'd like to detect is a black history museum, uh, if we could have it, please.

Um I'd also like to bring up the uh ceasefire resolution.

I know there's been renewed efforts and a petition that I've signed recently for a ceasefire in Gaza resolution.

I would really like to see this council and our mayor, uh Tommy, uh uh you know, proceed with that.

Um I'd also like to talk a little bit about the uh HPCAC.

There was one just the other day, um uh and it has come up.

Um they brought up the hands-free ordinance that's been around for about a year now, and it was an interesting presentation to watch, but one thing that was happening is there was no actual data, and I asked them about that in that meeting.

There was not data for us to actually be able to pick apart what's really going on here.

So it was an interesting presentation without being able to have that type of data.

Without being able to have that type of data, um, I would charge the city with being transparent with that as well.

It should be in the community resources section of the police section on our city website.

Um and on that topic, um there is also, I know that historically the jail, which is a separate entity from HPD has had uh issues with being transparent.

One thing HPD said is they are transparent with the FBI, for instance, right?

So they share information with the FBI like they're supposed to, and I believe our jail does not do that, has historically not done that.

I'd like to uh look into that a little bit more and uh get a more cohesive report, but that's something that um I'm charging the city with you know presenting that type of information and and and getting the jail in line with that, right?

That's something that we should be doing.

There have been multiple recent deaths kind of back to back in the jail, and it's something that we absolutely cannot be allowing for what is happening because they're not sharing information there.

Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is James Francini.

Hello, my name is James Francini, and the uh address is accurate as shown on your sheet.

Uh I'm speaking on behalf of a group of concerns.

The uh city.

Pardon?

Your city of residence.

Huntsville.

Thank you, sir.

Um I'm speaking on behalf of a group of concerned residents regarding the health and safety impacts of smart meters that are being installed as part of Huntsville Utilities Advanced Metering Infrastructure Program, also known as AMI.

Um I'm gonna keep this really short and just give you an update on what we've been up to so far as you're aware we've been meeting with Huntsville Utilities.

Uh representatives of our group met with both the utility boards in July and shared our personal and collective concerns regarding smart meters.

Each board directed the president of the utilities to stop smart meter installations until options addressing the residents' concerns could be developed.

The board also requested they be provided with a proposed opt-out policy that would that they would vote on at their respective board meetings in August, which is in less than two weeks.

A week later, we submitted a summary of our concerns to the Huntsville Utility for their consideration.

We then met with Mr.

Chris Jones, the uh chief operations officer, and Mr.

Ron Mazzardi, the vice president of operations and support on August 6th, where we also provided a proposed draft opt-out plan addressing those concerns.

The Huntsville representatives provided us with their draft opt-out policy, which had been presented to the boards in 2022, but had not been acted upon at that time.

The meeting we had was productive, and we are expecting to meet with them again to review their draft opt-out plan, their policy, and a supporting cost-benefit analysis results before they are presented to the boards.

So we have very short period of time here.

We respectfully ask that you review our proposed opt-out plan to make yourselves aware of our concerns and thereby help guide the utility board's decisions regarding a smart meter opt-out policy that will directly impact current and future constituents.

I have a package that I will I'll give to you at the end of uh meeting.

Thank you for your time.

And thank you, sir.

Mr.

Francini, do you mind waiting to after the meeting so I can speak with you, please?

Thank you.

Our next speaker is David Calderwood.

Uh City Council, I too am uh speaking with respect to the opt-out that we would like to see happen.

I would um like to thank members of the council.

If I can interrupt you, yes, uh David Calder would 1313 Shadow Ridge Drive, Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you, sir.

Um I'd like to thank especially um uh President Meredith for helping us uh set up our um meetings with Huntsville Utilities and things they seem to be genuinely interested in trying to come up with a solution, and we appreciate that.

But this can be a learning process for all involved, and that's um and one of the things I want to point out is not everything that has c that um that the uh Huntsville utilities, the information they received from the industry is correct.

And I want to correct a couple of things in the March 31, 2021 letter from Huntsville Utilities.

They said the meters transmit in short bursts throughout the day, and given the short intervals, there is limited radio frequency exposure.

And a test conducted by an advanced meter manufacturer by the manufacturer showed that the amount RF emitted by a baby monitor is estimated to be seven times that of an AMI meter, and a cell phone a thousand to a hundred thousand or a thousand to ten thousand times more RF than an advanced meter.

It is true.

This data is in direct conflict with independent studies.

Dr.

Daniel Hirsch, professor of nuclear policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz analyzed smart meters and found that instead of being a thousand times less than a than a cell phone, it's a hundred to a hundred and fifty times more than a cell phone.

They don't they don't, they may transmit to the Huntsville utilities rarely, only a few times a day, but they are emitting RF constantly.

And you can prove this to yourself by just getting an AMI meter, which I did.

I went to my neighbor's house with his permission and measured what was coming off of his AMI meter.

Um I did it myself, and then I did it with Mr.

Franchini, and we found very high levels, very disturbingly high levels.

Let me put this in context.

Um a level of a thousand microwatts per centimeter, uh, or excuse me.

Um of two thousand microwatts per centimeter is has been shown to be linked to childhood leukemia.

Um measurement of 10,000 um sperm damage and decreased motility, um 25,000 altered calcium metabolism and heart cells.

60,000 damages DNA in cells.

So what did we measure?

That was 60,000.

We were getting measurements as high as 300 to 500,000 uh microwatts per meter squared.

This is not an insignificant amount that these things are putting off.

Thank you.

And this council needs to know.

Thank you, Mr.

Calderwood.

Our next speaker is Julie Calderwood.

Julie Calderwood, 1313 Shadow Ridge, Huntsville.

Um I am sensitive to wireless devices, and it's challenging for me to go places outside of my home without causing headaches, brain fog, and physical weakness.

This is the safe and sound meter that my husband used to meter our neighbor's um house, and it's a quality meter, and I have found it very helpful for these last many years.

This book, The Invincible Rainbow by Arthur Furstenberg, explores the history of electricity and its profound effects on living beings and the environment.

It connects the dots between technological advancements and their unintended consequences of causing ill health.

There are risks with each new technology and the risks we take embracing them, starting with the telegraph, electricity, computers, cell phones, cell towers, satellites, and all wireless devices.

The wireless devices are sending chaotic energy to our body, and our body doesn't know what to do with it.

Them all, and because they're not native to our tissues and cells.

We have put ourselves in an electromagnetic cages.

We are turning the planet into a big microwave oven, and we wonder why cancer, neurological, inflammatory, and all kinds of diseases are rampant.

It lowers our immune system.

One study showed that it causes mold to grow 600 percent faster, which creates many, many illnesses.

These electropollutions are environmental toxins being piped into our homes, offices, schools, and everywhere, 24-7.

We are slowly being cooked to death by technological poisons that are being forced on us.

This is cruel and inhumane treatment of fellow humans.

Please do some serious research and don't trust what the FCC and the telecommunication companies tell you.

Their testing was done on a 200-pound dummy.

They have not done serious and adequate testing.

The Fox is guarding the hen house, and it's all about money and business to them.

We have less leaders with ethics and integrity in our world.

This is a very serious and real problem.

Huntsville has a lot of intelligent people, but they've not done their own research.

Let's think for ourselves and do our own critical thinking and research and not blindly follow.

Thank you for your time.

And thank you.

Mr.

President?

Yes, sir.

If I could, uh we've been listening to these folks.

Now I know all council members are interested.

Uh I have made contact, I think other council members also have made contact with Wes Kelly of the CEO of Huntsville Utilities, and he is told me he is working on a process where individuals who want to will be able to opt out.

There would be a manual meter reader, there would be some sort of a fee attached, but he is heard your concerns.

We all have heard your concerns, and he is working on something right now.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling.

Ms.

Watkins.

I have sent Mr.

Kelly an email tonight and asked him to have a meeting.

We all need to sit down.

It's time to quit going back and forth between emails, you coming up here speaking at the council.

It's time for us to sit down with Mr.

Kelly, and he give you those options.

It shouldn't be that difficult.

So I'm looking for him to email back and we'll get a meeting set up.

I believe thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Dr.

Robinson.

I believe the board is meeting.

My understanding of conversations with Huntsville Utilities.

The board will meet on August 27th.

As Dr.

Calderwood and Mr.

Franchini indicated, they've already met with uh with representatives from Huntsville Utilities.

They have submitted a plan.

Um Huntsville Utility is coming back with an alternate plan, and then they will all vote on it at the August 27th board meeting.

Also, the the members, some of the folks have spoken here have spoken very highly of that communication that they've had with Huntsville Utilities.

So I know it's ongoing, and a resolution should be agreed on at that August 27th board meeting.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Our next speaker is Mr.

Sam Ajury.

Next is Howard Rose.

Ross, Mr.

Ross.

Okay.

Next is Mr.

Michael Jones.

Uh Michael Jones, 102 Pitch Grove Lane, Meridianville, Alabama, 35759.

Council members, good to be here again.

It's good to see you all again.

Uh we've been having some good conversations with some of the members.

Uh four out of the five.

Um we're ready to talk some meaningful right now about our family, meaningful conversations.

We want to know when where to for these meetings to take place.

Uh we're we're we're just, you know, tired of all the delays.

We've given you documents after documents.

Uh we've been transparent.

Uh we've uh emailed documents and we've emailed each other.

So I want to know where are we in this conversation?

And are you taking our documentations uh credible?

And what do we need to do to to address this situation?

Right now in Santa Monica, there are families that are are in compensation talks with their local governments about their their properties that were condemned.

The Bruce family in Los Angeles has made a deal with the Los Angeles County uh municipal legislatures.

So we're here in Huntsville, the biggest city in Alabama, and you cannot start a conversation about this.

Our documents is undisputed, guys.

I mean, all we got to do is roll up our sleeves and work together.

We don't need outsiders to help us.

We can do this in-house.

We're not asking to break the city, we're just asking for our inheritance that did not come.

It was taken away from us by our handwriting, excluded my father out of a great well that he had that fits right into the infrastructure of Huntsville Utilities.

Ten acres of land that they let people that didn't even have uh airship to the property uh get the money.

So it's time for us to roll up our sleeves and get the work, guys.

We've been we you I know it I know the rule three to two rule or whatever.

Guys, you all need to work together.

This this is not right, what I'm seeing here.

You all are are adults and and we all we are adults.

We we have to work together on certain items.

And this, if if your inheritance was taken from you as a child, what would you be trying to do right now?

Right now.

Inheritance means everything for a family.

And and our family has been uh struggling ever since that inheritance never came.

So we're we need our inheritance the same as you all need yours.

So it's time to it's time to fight with us or fight against us.

And and you, y'all got y'all got to make that judge because our family is still struggling from from that 1960 era, which was you all know, Jim Crow era.

You all know they were doing things to black folks that wasn't right.

Now you all got the got the got the got you you got it here to make it right.

You can make this city great, greater, but you're you're you're you you're passing it up.

But you're you you you passing it up.

Thank you, Councilman.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Tanya Stolting.

Um, Tanya Stolting, I live out in Madison County.

My mailing address is Madison.

Thank you.

Um, this is what happened to my daughter, Katie, at a recent Huntsville library board meeting.

Katie is 30, a high school English teacher, a liberal, a bisexual, and a huge gay and trans sympathizer.

And this was the first time she spoke at a library board meeting.

She hates politics and only spoke at this meeting because even she was shocked when I showed her some of the things in the kids' books in our public libraries.

And also because she was convinced that if we could only understand each other, our two groups could agree.

So three of us on our side spoke at this meeting, and we were vastly outnumbered.

I've heard some political groups are paying a lot of these activists to show up and cause trouble.

The board pretty much let the people on the other side of the debate control the meeting, and they were a rowdy crowd.

They clapped long and loud after every one of their speakers, even though the board had asked us at previous meetings not to do this, and they laughed and heckled us during our comments.

After everyone was done speaking, one of them went to the front of the room and screamed funk fascist a few times, and his followers screamed screamed it back.

In the lobby outside the meeting room, once the meeting was over, Katie spotted a trans woman who had also spoken to the board and approached her, smiling to introduce herself.

The trans woman spit on her and then walked really fast out of the lobby, and I presume out of the library.

While Katie cleaned herself up, I called the cops because according to the law, this is an assault.

They call it an assault with bodily fluids.

And although Katie does plan to press charges, this is the kind of person she is.

She asked me to please make sure to respect this person's pronouns and to try not to demonize her when I tell people what happened.

These are the kinds of people that have been allowed to take over our libraries.

Mostly I think they're just misinformed, but many of them have proven that they're not well.

They do not represent the majority of our citizens, and they're not gonna stop trying to keep soft core porn in front of our kids.

I'm telling you guys all this because although I was really hoping this kind of lawless behavior wouldn't come here, I think it has.

I think it's here, because this is the second run-in I've had with hateful protesters around here.

And I think it's only a matter of time before they're no longer satisfied with vandalism and hurling mucus and actually start putting their hands on people, as we've all seen happening in the rest of the country.

I just thought our leadership should be aware.

Thank you.

And thank you.

Our next speaker is uh Brie Jeff or Joff.

Um, so Jeff had a personal emergency that came up, so I'm gonna speak instead.

Um my name's Tierney, I live in Huntsville.

Um, sorry, Tierney Gaskin.

Um, so real quick, I wanted to focus on the city detect program that you guys had proposed at a previous meeting.

Um the three-year contract that was originally proposed would be over $300,000 a year.

And I was just curious as to where that money would be coming from since we are tightening the budget.

And if we had to pay all of that up front, where would that money be coming from?

Because in the proposal, it's only $300,000 proposed.

Um, in addition to this, what departments have access to this?

How can they use it?

Do we have any regulatory ordinances?

Do we have any ideas of procedures of what the data that we gather from this can be used for, and whether or not it's good for our city to even have this data in the first place?

Have we looked into alternate solutions for the problem that it is trying to solve?

Um is AI the best way to go?

Personally, I don't think so.

But if it is, how can we make sure our data stays secure?

Where is our data being stored?

How are we 100% sure and certain that it is not being sold?

City Detect is a profit c for-profit company.

How is how are they getting their profits?

Are they getting their profits from the contracts?

Are they getting their profits from selling the data?

Where is our data being stored?

How likely is it for there to be a breach?

What can be used?

You know, if someone is on their own property and they get an image taken from the garbage truck, and it looks like they could be doing something like a misdemeanor or something like that.

How what are the what are the protocols in place that the law enforcement is going to use if they do decide to act on that data they got?

We just I want to make sure that we are not using data from an AI thing that may or not even be the best solution, but make sure we're not using it to justify overreach in our law enforcement on to our private property, especially for various all the districts.

We do not want that to happen.

Um, aside from that is the environmental impact of AI.

One of the great things about Huntsville is our ex our extensive environmental uh recreational sites, the fact that we can have so much clean water because we have so much water here in this area.

Do we know the impact, the environmental impact of us storing our data from the AI and all of that on our environment?

Because it'll take up more water, it'll use more energy, and then we need to use more water to make more energy, and then where is our water going?

What infrastructure is being built that destroys vegetation that increases soil retention, which is a huge issue all over the world, but especially in an area like Huntsville with extensively clay soil, the water doesn't drain as quickly.

You need to make sure that you're putting in that into perspective, things like that.

Um just making sure that we really think about this problem entirely, and that we are uh ensuring that we are not making it in a way that could backfire on us without make because data breaches happen all the time.

So awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next is Joy Johnson.

Public hearing.

Um Ms.

Johnson, I apologize.

I blew past your question that you asked during the public hearing, but I will follow up and get you an answer about the trees.

I I apologize.

That that one's on me.

Uh let's see.

Uh my name is Joy Johnson.

Um I live on West Arbor Drive in Huntsville.

Uh I I'm having a hard time not mentioning this, so I'm just gonna go ahead and say it that a certain council member uh said that uh we need to be very careful about having good data on something.

This is uh you know, guys, I come to these meetings, so I've seen a lot of stuff.

This is the same council person who um uh had to review the good data on uh uh marijuana use instead of believing it on her own.

Uh I also want to say that a couple of people have mentioned um the renderings that uh that get put in front of you when uh when development is proposed and these artistic renderings and how great they are and all that kind of stuff.

Um when this building was proposed, the renderings had those trees that were there and had lived there for who knows how long, longer than us, uh, in the renderings.

They were immediately removed, chopped down, et cetera.

Um so don't believe the renderings.

Uh the you're gonna get a render we got a rendering for that development up on Monteceno that had trees all over it, and the first thing they did was denude the side of the mountain.

Don't believe them, okay.

Uh we hear about oh, you can get a special allowance or credit or something for leaving trees.

But the next thing they you have a picture up there uh about uh approving lots and planning commission, and the place has been denuded.

We're losing valuable habitat and soil retention for that matter.

Um, let's see, what else?

Oh, look, I do live in district one, by the way, and it is true that I am a high school dropout.

I'm a high school dropout.

Of course, I dropped out of high school to go to college, and I have four degrees, three in hard sciences.

So please give us some credit in district one.

Okay.

Um I also want to mention that I myself myself have been removed from this proceeding before.

And Mr.

Kling himself has approached me about being on a commission.

FYI.

Um, and I also want to say, yes, it's time for us to uh stand up for Gaza and the Palestinians and not back drone companies.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Joe Winston.

Well, first of all, good evening.

Mayor and City Council members.

Name is Joe Winston.

I reside at 105 Greymont Drive, Madison, Alabama.

Again, I uh bring to your attention the proposal that was mentioned several times, even with some correspondence that was sent to uh you all and the mayor as well, and uh Mr.

John Hamilton as well, the city administrator back in May time frame regarding having a black art black history museum here in Huntsville.

And uh the uh response I got from Dr.

Barber, Randober, and also from uh President uh Meredith, uh that's appreciated.

And uh also from uh Mr.

Kling, who responded to me as well in terms of the uh perhaps a proposal to have the Black Art Black History Museum on the sixth floor of this city hall, and I responded to Mr.

Kling in terms of that's uh notable uh of him to do that, to propose that and recognize that it had not come before the council for a vote, but it was not accessible to the general public.

Therefore, we were looking to have something accessible to the general public uh as a black art black history museum.

Now, based on the correspondence I received from the mayor, I have talked with several community uh persons.

I have submitted a letter to uh First Missionary Baptist Church.

I've also spoken with Alabama ENEM University regarding having a black art black history museum, and they also say why not?

We should have one.

Uh the questions that have been asked of me, which I cannot answer is what is the city doing?

What recommendations are coming forth from the city?

Is there a survey being posed by the city that's going out to the community to address why not have a black art black history museum?

I cannot answer that, so my question is uh our response is I don't know the answer to that, so that has to be uh presented by the uh city council members.

The other uh thing that have uh come up, I've asked people in the community as you go through your grocery stores, your shopping stuff just stop and ask somebody how about a black art black history museum in the city of Huntsville?

They ask, okay, why don't you have one?

I can answer that, except we are pushing to get one.

So I leave you with this in terms of a black art history museum, and I've seen this before.

Y'all want to look at Birmingham, Montgomery, uh Nashville, and you'll see the results of having one that they've had one for years.

So there's no excuse except we need to come together.

It cannot be just us, it must be you all as well, in terms of how can we the city come together to have a black art black history museum as it should have had over the uh years that Huntsville has been building up, and we look at Space Command coming to Huntsville, and you all know the numbers that you expect if that should happen.

And it just mentioned here in this particular meeting tonight with the projects and the uh companies that are already here in a hiring.

We need to have a black art black history museum here in Huntsville.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Jury.

Hi guys doing this evening.

Uh my name is Sammy Attorie.

Um Hudson, Alabama Huntsville Islamic Center is the address.

Um I'm here to talk to you guys about two things.

First of all, I want to speak to you about uh the garbage resolution.

Um I feel like that's uh uh overreach from government from uh code violations, um, just to monitor us systematic uh pressure, and I feel like it uh takes away our uh fundamental rights, um First Amendment rights and religious rights.

Um and I really feel like you guys need to reread um some of the contract I was looking at um city detects uh frequently asked questions, and it says that they hold our information definitely um it also says, or I guess the public's been um told that it was five garbage trucks, but it's actually 20 um vehicles as well.

And um I feel like that's just a lot of wasted cost.

Um I believe they said 3500 out of the 3500 out of 8,000 of the complaints were overgrown vegetables.

So um, you know, it just Billy's mad that somebody, his neighbor's cucumbers bigger.

I don't know, you know, but I feel like spending a million dollars um on City Detect um is just an overreach for government and um you know to surveillance and have our information.

It also said too that contractors are allowed to have that information and they would never sell our information.

But if the city does work with a lot of contractors, and um for them to profit off of our information is practically the same thing.

Um and I think we've uh seen this happen in Gaza and Palestine as it was first sold as you know, surveillance, I mean security, then it's surveillance ends up being um you know, used to oppress the population.

And I feel like we need to, if you guys would look at even their website, and um they hold our information indefinitely, and um even if the contract with the city is over, I just feel like that's too much, you know.

Um just for code violations.

I feel like we can use that say money to train youth, and um, you know, for them to give, I guess, incentives or maybe even a program where uh we can train high school kids to uh go out and do inspections as well.

And um I don't know.

I just feel like uh it's a lot.

Um this is our last meeting, a thousand Gazan kids have died um through GHF, and this is really sad.

It's uh occurring every day, they're starving, they have famine, there's disease.

Um there's a lot of things going on there right now that I feel like we need to address, and um thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is uh Zach Daly.

Hello, my name is Zach Daly.

Live at 1021 Hume's Avenue in Five Points.

Uh got a few notes of concern that just telling the neighbors, talking to new co-workers, new friends around town uh that we've noticed, and I'm one of the only ones that ever come here really, so thought I'd mention a few of those.

One is uh, well, first I'd like to thank a couple of the board members.

Um Mr.

Riley, thank you for looking into the parking situation.

Uh if on it in all honesty, parking downtown, just putting times on the signage saying when we do not have to pay, and when we do have to pay would go a long way.

Because I'm always asking people right behind me.

Wait, do we have do we need to pay right now or do we not need to pay right now?

That'll alleviate a lot of concerns.

So appreciate you looking into that.

Uh Ms.

Watkins, uh, thanks actually as a program manager.

I'm also worried about the ECD and asking about the water project and the seven and a half million, not getting a confident answer about that, just uh flat out two years.

That doesn't tell me that that they're too confident about their uh IMS.

So I'd like to so hopefully that contract is buttoned up.

Uh so living in five points two, it's a hodgepodge right now.

That's another concern.

Uh in five points is a hodgepodge of stop signs, uh slow slow bumps, slow uh you hear what I'm saying, the uh speed bumps, and then random rows that don't have any stop signs that actually go right through the community.

We're a community of crisscross roads everywhere.

I've almost been hit.

I almost hit people, then gotten flicked off, and it is not uh, and I just forget.

And just if y'all could uh instigate some type of questions or concern into that, I think Dement and Russell are straight through with one stop sign, and then Ward doesn't have any speed bumps.

I think Halsey doesn't have any speed bumps.

I heard that someone was looking in to get all the neighbors signed up for speed bumps, but honestly, just adding stop signs on every corner would help just slow people down at every single road because we are growing, and it's a great community that uh that is over there, and also the Monte Seno apartments I saw right now coming over Chapman.

Y'all all go over that to and from and it's just a blank slate talking about trees.

God help the trees, but we were worried a couple years ago with a huge five points concern about them building any apartments.

Now well, what apartments are even there to be concerned about, and it's just dirt, and it's like it it's an eyesore.

Uh but yes, so glad I made it in time.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, sir.

Yes, sir.

Our next speaker is Ray Mohammed.

Um Ray Mohammed, um 25 655 Greystone Drive and uh Mousing acting in Limestone.

Yes, sir.

Um I am uh one of the uh um heirs of the Jones family.

Uh I'm about to say thank you for some of the counselors that had talked to us.

I think we didn't talk to you, Dr.

Ludam, Mr.

Little.

Uh we hadn't got a response, or you don't want to talk at all, but that's okay.

Um you know, my like my uncle was saying that uh you guys have a chance to make history or correcting something that was done before you all.

Um, you know, we're not no one none of our family is holding against you all what happened back in those early Jim Crow days, like my uncle said.

But you can make history.

It will get solved.

Believe me, it will.

And if if y'all don't want to try to try to keep communication or try to make it hurt, Huntsville's gonna be the one who's gonna be the one have to pay.

It'd be today, tomorrow, next year, 10 years from now.

It don't matter.

We got a lot of people in our family.

So we'll sit, you know, we asking y'all to be transparent.

Huntsville, you too, we'll worry about them later.

We got the we gotta get airbag one at a time.

Uh UAH, we get them too.

It's just that we just try and come to you all to for y'all to be transparent with us to try to come to a solution that everybody can agree on.

If y'all want to keep, you know, putting your head in the sand, they say that's fine, but we're not.

We've been doing this thing for almost 20 years.

We know this cave like the back of our hand.

Have the things that we know you don't even know.

You know, it's a lot of backroom deals, a lot of moving grave sites without nobody in the middle of the night that no one knows about.

I can go on and on and on because we had done our homework.

Y'all do y'all homework.

You see that what we tell it is true.

We won't be doing this if we wasn't telling y'all the truth.

It's your responsibility to find out the truth.

That's how you know that's how we see everybody had to go on the street.

My dad tells me all the time the proof is in the pudding.

I know y'all parents probably told y'all the same thing.

We got the pudding.

We just want y'all to come see the pudding so y'all can have some too.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

And our final speaker tonight is Caden Hillbling.

Good afternoon, counsel.

Um, I came here primarily to talk about the city detect uh proposal.

No, my address, sorry.

It's uh 243 Catalyst Street, Huntsville.

Um it was brought to my attention that this uh city detect system uh was going to be implemented or voted on in September uh to be considered.

And um I wanted to be another one of those that's um you know here to go against that.

Um it's not that I'm anti-AI, it's just that um there are much better applications for that technology, and Huntsville's already blanketed in license plate reader cameras, and the last thing I'd want is for an additional camera to be rolling through everybody's neighborhood on a weekly basis.

Um it tends to start with things like tall grass and overgrown vegetables, but then can quickly grow into other things, and um I think that's worthy of consideration, and um it'd be great if there was an opportunity for you know, potentially the public to vote on this rather than it just staying here and getting voted on.

But um just wanted to say those things.

Thank you.

And thank you, sir.

Mr.

Clain.

Thank you, sir.

We are now adjourned.