Key voice named Gino Rosario, who's based in Pensacola, Florida, will perform our opening act.

Gino has performed with a litany of artists who are doing some amazing work in the area of smooth jazz.

And then LA Bass, Pamela Williams, a veteran saxophonist who was named top new female contemporary jazz artist in 1996.

Her first album has been over five months with the Billboard charts, and she has been blazing the trails ever since.

But it is a jazz double bass experience with Felicia Ray and Jacob Whipp.

They have a phenomenal combo.

And they're doing some amazing work in the area of smooth jazz.

And then finally, my personal favorite.

So we think we have one of the best lineups that we've ever had.

And we're very excited to have these individuals be a part of our festival once again.

And the lineup that he put together that's a rich mix of that talent from national, regional, and local uh recording artists.

And uh they deserve to be heard and seen on a larger stage.

And also very proud to uh since the beginning of um the music office's inclination when we launched Huntsville Music Month in September to uh make sure that Jazz in the Park is a pillar of that month.

And so we'll be kind of gathering up and reaching out again to talk about uh all things uh Huntsville Music Month, and so to be able to announce this first ahead of everything is something we're really proud of.

And so a reminder, these concerts are free and open to the public and the new venue at Big Spring Park West, which means whether you're a jazz aficionado or just curious, there is a space for you out there, and that's what we want to keep building a music ecosystem where everybody feels welcome and we're attracting world-class talent.

I hope you'll mark your calendars the for uh every Sunday in September.

Bring a lawn, and that's a very good thing.

Good evening, Huntsville.

It is now five thirty PM on Thursday, September eleventh, and 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 begin our meeting tonight with an invocation led by Chaplain Zach Johnson, followed by a performance by the Lee High School Chamber choir of our national anthem.

If you would please stand if you are willing and able.

And the logice has a lot of stay no expankable.

Please don't go.

Stay on the stage.

Choir, choir, please come back up on the stage.

That's fine.

If the choir would stay up here, and the director, thank you so much.

I was so mesmerized when you started, I thought I was going to get to sing with you, and I realized that they never let me even sing in church.

So uh so I better not join join in, I better turn around and face the flag.

But to all of you, we want to say thank you so much for uh helping us celebrate music month in the city of Huntsville, and by doing this and starting us off right, it's a great day on um September 11th to be doing that to uh so that we can remember uh how we are proud as a nation after uh our response after after that happened.

And thanks thanks to each of you for coming here and being part of this.

We have a little uh resolution or plaque for you that is presented to the Lehigh School Chamber choir uh for significantly contributing to the inclusive, inspired, and creative music environment enhancing the quality of life of all of our citizens and visitors.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you guys.

Y'all sounded great.

Thank you.

Uh-huh.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Y'all did good.

Thank you, Chaplain Johnson, and thank you, Lee High School Chamber choir.

Brings us to the approval of the agenda.

All the council members have uh an agenda before them.

Um like to note that item 22 will be taken out of order, and item five B has been withdrawn.

Are there any other changes uh to the uh agenda?

Seeing none, the agenda is approved.

Um brings us to number four, which is the approval of minutes of previous meetings for A are the minutes of the regular meeting of the City Council held on August 28th, 2025.

All member council members have a copy of the minutes uh before them.

Are there any changes or additions to those minutes?

Seeing none.

Seeing none, um, the uh approval of the uh minutes uh has been approved.

That brings us to five A um C, actually, which is a proclamation recognizing September 12th, 2025 as a Dietcha Goya Day.

Mr.

Mayor.

If we could ask Adi Goya to come up along with Jeff Sams from Huntsville Hospital, we have a proclamation here tonight.

Come on up, guys.

Your parents can take the pictures and you can be right here.

And we have a proclamation tonight uh for somebody who's done some very special things in our community, and something that uh makes our community stand out and makes us proud to proud to have people like this in our community.

And our proclamation says, whereas Adi Gauda, a 16-year-old student in Randolph School in Huntsville has demonstrated extraordinary initiative, compassion, and leadership by founding Donate Your Meds in 2022.

So you did that when you were 14, right?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

And whereas through his volunteer work at Clinica Medica Moscata and his work, his awareness of the challenges faced by uninsured patients.

Whereas donate your meds has successfully collected and redirected unused and unexpired prescriptions, over-the-counter medications and medical supplies, providing an estimated $200,000 in resources to the clinic.

And whereas this program has provided life-saving medications such as insulin, uh, glucose meters, test strips, and other diabetic supplies to need to patients in need.

Whereas Audi's vision has not only improved the well-being of vulnerable patients, but also contributed to the environmental sustainability by reducing pharmaceutical waste that can harm local waterways and ecosystems.

And whereas the leadership and creativity and civic mind spirit of Adi Gauda served as an inspiration to his peers, a testament to the power of youth engagement in addressing pressing community challenges.

Therefore, let it be resolved that I, Tommy Battle, Mayor of the City of Huntsville, do hereby recognize and commend Adi Gauda for his outstanding contributions to the public health, environmental stewardship, and community service through the creation of Donate Your Meds, and name September 12th, which is tomorrow, which will be your day, the Idi Gauta Day in the City of Huntsville.

Congratulations.

All right.

Yes, that I didn't cover there.

Yes, sir.

So in 2022, I'd been volunteering at the Clinica Medica Muscati for a good couple of years.

I can't even count anymore.

So by that time, I had been volunteering for a while, and I had noticed how a lot of the patients there didn't have nearly enough medications to cover all their costs and cover their own illnesses.

And I'd also seen other hospitals where patients had way too many meds on their hands.

So I thought to myself, what if we what if I could just ask patients to donate their unused, unexpired medications so that we could then redistribute them to the free clinics where patients really needed them?

So I figured I'd try and create an organization where I could really make this happen.

So I somehow got donate your meds going.

Congratulations.

Jeff, you want to address that?

No, I just we're proud to be here with Audi and his family.

It's people there's so many people in this community who give back and do the extra things to make this a special place to live.

We appreciate Audi taking initiative at such a young age to help people who can't always help themselves.

So thank you so much, Audi, proud to be here with you.

Audi, congratulations.

Thank you.

That's the most important picture I should have.

They're going to keep that up.

I like you, sir.

Thank you.

A bit of early housekeeping.

I might have misspoke.

Uh item 22 is not withdrawn or removed.

It is being taken out of order.

It is item 5B, which has been withdrawn.

That brings us to six uh item six, which is Council uh recognitions and resolutions.

6A is a resolution recognizing the National Association of Home Builders Professional Women in Building Week, which is September 15th through the 19th, 2025, a yearly occasion that celebrates and honors women who have careers in the construction industry.

Move to approve the resolution.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Kling.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

All opposed, say nay.

Motion carries.

Dr.

Robinson.

If I could have Lisa Dutton from the Madison County Home Builders come forward and Lisa, bring with you your crew.

It is my honor to recognize women in the building industry in all phases of the building industry and their impact in our community.

Thank you, ladies, for being with us.

You all just line up.

I have a resolution here that says, whereas the City Council and the Mayor of Huntsville, Alabama wish to recognize the National Association of Home Builders Professional Women in Building Week, a yearly occasion that celebrates and honors women who have careers in the construction industry.

This will take place September 15th, 19th, so next week.

So think about these ladies.

That week is going to be dedicated to supporting, inspiring, and promoting women in all facets of home building of the home building industry, including builders, remodelers, architects, engineers, suppliers, marketers, designers, and tradespeople.

We celebrate during this week the achievements of women in the residential construction industry and raise awareness of the opportunities available to women and encourage the next generation to consider a career in this.

Whereas during professional women in building week, we honor the dedication leadership and talent of women in the home building industry.

Now therefore, be it resolved that the City Council and the Mayor of Huntsville, Alabama proudly recognize the National Association of Home Builders annual professional professional women in building week for the celebrations, dedication to motivating women in the construction industry, increasing awareness of career opportunities available to women, and acknowledge the role women play in guiding future generations of industry professionals.

Lisa, I will present you with this resolution and give you a moment to share your thoughts.

Would you like to introduce your folks?

Yes.

Well, I'll just let y'all introduce and tell them what you do.

Sure.

My name's Nikki Scrugs.

I work at Continental Roofing Company.

I'm the client relations specialist there.

I'm the chief operating officer with Continental Reefing Company.

I wear many hats.

I actually work for Huntsville Madison County Builders Association as well.

Have a real estate team with my daughter and a custom home building with my company with my husband.

Hi, I'm Heather Harrington, and I own Heritage Wholesale Supply.

We're plumbing and decorative showroom.

Hi, I'm Teresa Kennedy.

I'm the executive officer of the Huntsville Madison County Builders Association.

Hi, I'm Emma Dutton Pagan.

I'm Lisa's daughter.

I'm a realtor and I'm a custom home builder and I'm the chairwoman for professional women in building.

Hi, my name is Alison Stark, and I support the home building industry through Home Builder Finance with Trust Smart Bank.

Hi, I'm Dorothy Rocket, and I'm originally from Kansas, so I'm a transplant down here because all Dorothy's come from Kansas.

And I uh am the general manager of Pro Social Wholesale Floor Covering, and we supply materials to the Builder Trade.

Thank you for all you do.

Let's celebrate these ladies.

Oh, yeah, let's take a picture.

Thank you so much, Matt.

Our next item is public hearings.

9A is a public hearing in order to hear, consider, and act upon all objections or protests, if any, for the removal of a public nuisance at 1013 Kinsey Drive Southeast, Huntsville, Alabama, and consideration of an ordinance, I'm sorry, of a resolution ordering abatement of a nuisance located at the same property.

Yes, Mr.

Irtwin.

Yes, good afternoon, Council members, Mayor Battle.

Scott Urban Community Development Department.

This hearing tonight is regarding to 1013 Kinsey Drive.

This property was found to be in a violation of the state of Alabama Junk Public Nuisance Act.

Before you denied all the conditions that exist on the property, and we're coming for your authorization to abate this public nuisance.

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

Is there anyone that wishes to speak to this item?

Yes, sir.

Go right there behind you.

And lower the mic appropriately.

I don't know how to operate to talk into it.

Yes, sir, but I will need your name, address, and city of residence.

I'm Tim McCoy, 1013 Kinsey.

Oh.

This is sort of got out of hand because uh my wife is sickly.

And I'm her 247 home care.

And uh I've been working on it cleaning it up.

And uh Judge Grimes has been meaning it with me, and he gave me the last time I was in there, he gave me a tool.

And an extension to a november the field.

Now I don't know which one overrides what, you know, but I do uh getting it cleaned up and uh I need these extra days to get it done.

My wife is like I say she was on hospice.

My wife is like I say she was on hospice, and they essentially told me she wouldn't die quick enough, so they took her off of it, and I made me her 24-7.

If you notice on all this other thing on the right side here, it's all gone.

Everything's about to go.

I gotta get it rid of, but it's hard to leave her by herself.

She's 93 years old, she's got dementia.

The house is in her name, it's not mine.

She didn't want to put it on my name.

I guess she's afraid that uh I might do something illegal.

Never know.

But I don't I don't know what else to tell you.

Uh except that I do need the time to get it straightened up.

I'm going to do it because she's not going to get no better.

And I can't stress to you that y'all probably have people in your family that's got dementia.

She's in confidence.

Some days I may have to clean her up three times a day.

So I ain't got a whole lot of time to do stuff.

And like tonight, I left her home by herself to be here because I got no help.

That's all I can say.

I just I need your help.

I know it looks bad, but I didn't.

I started this years ago to help get me out of the poverty level because you can't buy the Taj Mahal with a thousand dollar social security a month.

So instead of doing drugs and stuff, I started picking up stuff on the side of the road.

And then after she got in into the hospital, it sort of got out of hand.

I know it looks bad.

I don't want to do it either.

I'd like rather be sitting in the house watching gunsmoking Marcia Dillon.

But I've got to get this stuff straight because it's gonna come back on her, and she don't know that she's got cancer.

That's why I don't want nobody around her because what good is it gonna do to get her stressed out?

Not nothing I can see, and I don't want to get stressed myself because I was a Marine when I was 18 until I was 22, and I like things that go smoothly, and I like people to help me help myself.

Thank you, sir.

Thank all y'all.

Thank you, sir.

Would anybody else like to speak to this issue?

Y'all see this thing from the judge.

No, sir, but uh you no sir, but we understand.

So um we oh, yes, you'd like to speak to this issue, go ahead.

My name is Sarah Colletti.

My address is listed on the sign-up sheet outside.

I live in Hartzell, and I've never met this man before, but in him I see my grandfather, and in his wife, I see my grandmother who died of cancer, and I don't want to see my loved ones and myself working and living in a city that would put this man and his wife in such a precarious position.

I hope y'all remember your empathy with this man.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening to everyone.

Good evening.

My name is Dr.

Angela Somerset, and I have been a physician for 35 years.

Sorry, can I get to Excuse me?

I live at Nine Chalk Stone, Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you.

And your story, sir, is impactful because I had a mother who he had to mention.

And instead of using him as a community, we need to be pulling together to try to help him.

Yeah.

So I have a social media page, and I am A.

R.

Wisp it.

So I probably have a peer across many of your FYP pages for TikTok.

I think we can get a committee together if y'all are willing to help me.

Yeah.

I have a Ford 150 truck.

We should be able to take some of these developers with some of these trucks and and all these other things that we have, and we should be able to help our elderly.

Because the one thing I didn't hear from him is that he didn't seem to have any children or anyone to help him.

America, we should be bigger than this.

We should be better than this.

Y'all hear me talk about even with Huntsville Utilities, pandemic relief.

Where is the relief for our elderly?

What has happened to our health care that we have to determine that somebody is not dying fast enough?

I deal with this every day.

PBMs called pharmacy benefits managers.

We have some of the highest health care costs in the world.

We have got more money in this community.

We've grown to astronomical levels.

Well, I'm tired of saying, what do you think we can do?

I think we can do this.

I know I can do this.

And if somebody is willing to help me, I'm willing to help this man.

Would anybody else like to speak to this issue?

Hearing none, uh the public hearing is now closed.

Move to approve the resolution.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the Chair.

Mr.

Yes, sir.

Mr.

Kling, you have the floor.

Dr.

Robinson and I have been talking among ourselves, and I think we're we're probably going to see about our wavelet with other other council members.

If this were to pass, basically, we're not saying, you know, we're not lowering the boom immediately.

It just says we would give Mr.

Irwin the authority to manage things, give time extensions as long as things are being done on a good faith basis.

We get a bunch of volunteers, perhaps there are some churches or other folks involved who could come help with the cleanup.

But if we did do uh what was part of the mo what was the motion, it would not be lowered in the boom now.

We just said we would basically give the authority over to Mr.

Irwin.

He's a compassionate, he is a very competent department head.

And if we can get folks in this room to pull together, and perhaps there are some churches that community development has contact with, uh I think we could make something good come out of this and uh kind of get the city to come behind on this.

Um Thank you, Mr.

Kling, Dr.

Robinson.

The gentleman mentioned a November 5th extension granted by Judge Grimes.

Are you aware of that, Mr.

Irwin?

No, Councilmember, I'm not aware of that.

I need to see that document to see exactly what that was a recall date or what, but but that I'm not familiar with that.

So that's you could have that conversation with Mr.

Mr.

Cox.

Um we could have that could have that conversation.

And then also, do you know what's the history on this property?

Have have we has this gone to the board of housing adjustments to consider um hardships that might bring volunteers in to help?

So this has been a repeat offended property that we have worked with for literary years to try to bring it into compliance.

Uh one thing to make sure Council understands community development is really about helping our broader community.

We have programs that help the low to moderate income population that we can actually recruit, as Mr.

Kling said, volunteers.

Uh what we need tonight is the authorization to work with those organizations, uh, anyone in this room, churches or to to again to help those that can't really do it themselves.

So the property owner, the husband, and upon their consent and authorization, then we're here to help and make sure that not only is this family assisted, but also the neighbors within that area that the conditions don't continue and would take this stress off of that family as it can as it exists today.

And and we really need to balance the the needs of the family, the property owner, the hardship that they are under with the needs of the neighborhood also, who also have expressed concern about the the condition of the property.

So you will you will this is with a balance where we can meet both needs.

Absolutely.

But with your authorization, we will work with the property owner, uh her husband, and again try to find a way that this gets cleaned up in a in a timely manner, but also one that respects the response respect and dignity of this family.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Anyone else?

Um you?

Yes, Ms.

Watson.

Mr.

Irvin, what kind of timeline would he receive?

Well, I can't give you a firm timeline.

I mean, normally we start mobilizing the until we meet to figure out what the issues are and what kind of resources are needed to bring it into compliance.

Uh you know, we'll have to work through those issues.

I mean, hopefully it can be happened within the next 30 days.

That would be reasonable because it it has been there for literary years.

So we are talking about at least 30 days, can we?

Yes.

I mean, we don't move any time, even if we on the the mobilization efforts take time, but as we're mobilizing, not just to clean that up but actually to recruit the volunteers and additional resources to help the family.

So I know you are really good about working with residents because you are having to pass.

So will you speak with him?

Yes, we will.

Absolutely.

Come up with a plan.

And if I know a couple of people say they want to volunteer, but also let me know as well, because I know some people I could reach out to as well to get them to volunteer to help.

And our maintenance rehabilitation program just call the community development office.

We have volunteer opportunities daily for anyone who wants to support a family in need within our community, whether it is this family or another, we will make sure we link those resources together.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Specifically to this case.

Would you be willing to give out the community development contact information so that those sitting in this audience or watching at home would be able to reach out directly to volunteer to help this specific uh individual?

I will give my direct email, which is Scott.erwin at Huntsville.gov, and I will take a personal interest in that or call the community development number, which is 256-427-5400.

Either one of those avenues will get a response and we'll we will link those resources together.

Thank you.

And as my uh colleagues mentioned, um, I am just saying it for the record.

Um, you will be working with this specific individual on this, and um the 30-day limit is flexible.

If action is starting to take and the volunteers are lining up, we will organize it so that if it takes 40 days, he is fine.

We simply need the cooperation of the property owner, whoever is in charge of control to allow all this to happen.

Sounds wonderful.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And thank you, sir, for letting us know what was going on.

Mr.

President.

You can't, but you're we appreciate what you said.

Mr.

President?

Yes.

Um you can ask Mr.

Irwin after uh when he has time, it will be after the meeting.

And Mr.

Webster will be glad to talk to you and I'll join you in just a few minutes.

Yes, Mr.

Kling.

Uh from the pictures I saw, it looks like there is a whole bunch of metal furniture, uh, looks like a washer, dryer or whatever.

Some of that stuff has some good scrap metal value.

So instead of taking it to the city dump where there might be a tipping fee involved, you might take that over to uh one of the recycling or scrap metal places.

I think they are paying something like seven dollars per hundred pounds.

So look at that as a possibility.

You might pick up a little money that way.

Yeah, I think the property owner has been doing that for a while, so we will certainly give him the opportunity to continue to remove those items and dispose of them in that manner.

Okay.

There's some good people out there we're talking about they might that they would have trucks, so get them involved.

I think this could be a great community exercise coming together.

Absolutely.

It absolutely shows that this city has a heart.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 9B, which is a public hearing in order to hear, consider, and act upon all objections or protests, if any, for removal of a public nuisance at 3506 Gay Street Northwest Huntsville, Alabama, and consideration of a resolution ordering abatement of a nuisance located at the same property.

Mr.

Erwin.

Uh yes.

Uh as Mr.

The President stated, this is a public hearing for 3506 Gay Street.

This property was found to be in violation of the State of Alabama Junk Public Nuisance Act.

So we are before you tonight with the conditions that exist on the property with authorization to abate this public nuisance.

Thank you.

At this time, I would like to open the public hearing on this.

Would anybody like to speak to this issue?

Seeing none, the public hearing is now closed.

Chair makes the motion.

Second by Mr.

Clang.

Any discussion?

Yes, Ms.

Watkins.

On the agenda, it says 3506.

So is it 3506 or 3509?

I believe it is 3506.

I don't have anything to say differently than that.

Okay.

This is just a typo on the thing.

I just wanted to make sure I had the right address.

Good catch.

Um, all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Councilmember.

Thank you, Mr.

Irwin.

Um brings us to public hearings to be set.

Um is a resolution to set a public hearing for suspension of licensures for confidential tax related to case number 407.

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

Second.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Little.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

That brings us to public agenda related uh comment.

I'm sorry, agenda related public comments.

This portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to hold uh 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.

Our first speaker tonight is Tierney Gaskin.

Hello.

And I wanted to speak to the question.

Before you speak.

And moving forward on the sign-up sheets, we've got to have the information.

Your address isn't listed.

We we need your address.

Okay.

But go ahead.

Okay.

So I won't make you state it uh publicly since you don't want that, but we go ahead and I'll add it to the sheet afterwards.

Thank you, ma'am.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

I wanted to address the item for the Human Relations Committee Commission charter.

Some of the language in the charter refers to the people uh living in Huntsville as citizens.

Um of it it shows that it implies that the usage of the word citizens in the Human Relations Commission charter implies that people who are not citizens do not deserve the respect that would be shown otherwise if they were.

And so my call is to change the word citizens to residents, because that refers to all types of people who will be living in the city, including those who are simply just here on a temporary basis due to work or things like that, or they just haven't switched their legal address yet.

Um but it it helps make sure those people are included and those people are acknowledged in the charter since those are founding documents.

I feel like that language should be taken seriously, um especially since one of the sentences does quote have disseminate information educational materials and reports in which will assist in ensuring respect among all citizens, um, which kind of nails in that point of like if you are not a citizen, you don't really quote unquote deserve the the efforts that will go through the human relations committee, um, even though you are human.

So if we could fix that language, that would be ideal.

Um thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ms.

Joy Johnson.

Joy Johnson, I live on West Arbor in Huntsville, Alabama.

Um I want to first of all say I completely concur with the previous speaker's uh message.

Um I think citizen is not the point at the city level.

It's your live here, right?

Anyway.

Um I don't know uh that that item is has gotten moved uh from last time it was in 21 all the way up to 19.

So I don't know if that can be changed or addressed tonight at all, because it skipped 20 and the discussion and all that kind of good stuff.

So maybe you can fill me in about if that's a possibility.

Um I I I also wanted to mention item 20 G.

Uh I'm I just want to say thank you for for doing something about affordable housing for seniors, because in this current economy, I'm about to lose my house if things don't go okay, you know.

So you might have to be putting me there, okay.

Um item 20H uh just says melt water.

That's not very transparent.

I wonder what that is.

I recognize that there's a PDF attached here, but I have uh a job that I'm humping as hard as I can to try to make some money so I don't lose my house.

I don't have time to research everything.

It might be nice to uh explain to us what that is, please.

Um I want to take two seconds to welcome Eileen Schumacher back.

She's a friend of mine.

Uh and I want to say I uh the budget that is being proposed.

Um I certainly wrote to the mayor saying I thought that he should not even bother to put a contract with City Detect in the budget.

Of course, I have no idea if he did or not.

I did notice at last meeting that you renewed a contract with somebody who does working at properties around the city, so I'm hopeful.

But I'm gonna take this opportunity to say, I sure hope city detect contracts are not in the proposed budget.

And I will also take this moment to say Huntsville, Alabama should pre be proclaiming itself AI free for many reasons.

One, AI is stupid and it gets things wrong all the time.

Big one number two, it is an enormous energy hog at a moment in history when we cannot afford to be doing that.

Mr.

President, this is not agenda-related.

Thank you, Ms.

Johnson.

Um that brings us to comments from our mayor.

Mr.

Mayor.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um this morning we had our memorial service for 9-11 at uh Station 2 and 100 to the 3220 people who died on that day uh within those four hours, uh who were simply trying to go from one place to the other.

Um we as a community each year uh respond to that and have a memorial on that, and um it's very important for our community, I think, to continue doing that uh through the years.

Uh this this week uh we named Space Command as uh Huntsville is a home for Space Command.

Uh we met with General Whiting and his crew is coming in with boots on the ground, uh ready to go.

Uh and it's uh and it's very refreshing.

I think he was in D.C.

uh yesterday uh seeing the congressional delegation, and uh they're they're moving moving forward uh very quickly.

Uh this is music month, and there have been a lot of music treats already.

Jazz in the park had about 5,000 people Sunday night uh down listening to some uh beautiful jazz music.

Uh Saturday night was uh three dog night in the Little River Band.

I see some people out there who might not have been born in time for three dog night, but we enjoyed it.

Uh and um and this next week uh is women in music is coming up.

Uh headline by Melissa Etheridge coming in.

So ought to be a a fun time.

We've had ribbon cuttings this week, uh Kema, RX, uh Ulysta, uh the Stoner Park skate skating rink, which is one of the few outdoor skating rinks that you are going to find throughout the country.

And um our folks who are experts in it have been around to all to almost all the skating ranks in the country, and they said ours is uh by far one of the best that they have been able to put up.

So we're very excited uh about the the fun times everybody will be having at the skater par skating park up at Stoner Park.

And also we kicked off and did the ribbon cutting on the Togate Greenway, which will take us from Tollgate Road all the way up to the top of the mountain, and we'll put part of our uh parks, our paths in the parks, uh tie them together so that we can have uh plenty of room for uh for for hiking and biking and uh and mountain biking.

So uh that's one of the some of the things that we add, and and we add them because they're part of your quality of life.

They uh they give you a reason to want to be in the city of Huntsville and be part of the City of Huntsville.

Um congratulations to David Nast, who got uh an award from the Sports Commission uh for his outstanding service to community.

Um well deserved.

He has been uh has worked very hard in the Art Museum uh and the uh Sports Commission and and several other places, and also been an industry leader.

So uh David, congratulations on your day.

And that's all I have, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Brings us to Councilmember comments, and we will begin tonight with Mr.

Kling.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh at the last meeting, we had a gentleman who was asking or expressed concern about uh City Police Department using drones for surveillance purposes, and I thought that was something worth looking into.

So I did make contact with the police chief to find out are drones being used to provide surveillance on citizens.

Uh the answer he told me was emphatically no.

Uh the drones are used if you should happen to think about uh robbing a convenience store, then it's very possible a drone would be up and would be trying to track you down.

Uh I saw an instance where that was demonstrated where a person robbed a convenience store and then very quickly uh changed the dress that uh that person was wearing.

Uh did not uh phase the surveillance, they did track her down to uh uh wooded area, the police department were able to retrieve her, uh criminal breaking the law.

As far as Big Spring Park, people around about drones flying ahead above you, are they spying on you?

No, they are not from the police department.

A lot of people can buy a drone very easily.

In fact, eBay has them for as little as a hundred dollars.

Uh people like taking drones out to um old airport property, uh to Big Spring Park, other places to you know, to play with them, uh send them up.

But those are done by individual people, uh, private citizens.

That's not part of any official act from the city.

Uh so again, uh I did be with the police chief, and he's very emphatic.

Uh if there's a spouse abuse situation, if there is a situation with gunfire, yes, a drone will probably be sent on the scene ASAP.

But uh as far as surveillance, spying on people, no, that is not the role.

He was very emphatic about it, and he said frankly they don't have the time and they have absolutely no inclination.

So if you're at Big Spring Park and you see a drone flying above you, look around.

Maybe you'll see uh a hobbyist or even a kid with remote control on it, but it's not coming from the police department.

And I think that concern was raised.

I had enough respect to feel that uh that citizen was entitled to to get a response on that.

Uh a couple of things that I've done uh over uh the last several days.

Uh had a chance to visit the senior center uh to see the great job that they are doing.

It's like a refresher course.

I um very appreciative of the great work that they do.

They have wonderful outreach.

Uh they provide wonderful services to our senior citizen community, and it is one of those quality of life things that are available for retirees.

And no, they did not uh try to get me to sign up and join.

Also uh walking in neighborhoods, uh saw some problems that uh I want to express appreciation, especially to public works and to engineering.

Uh steeplechase and Sherwood Park both have had drainage issues from the big uh rains that we had a few weeks ago.

It seems like it was a much longer time than it actually was.

But uh there were some clogged uh drainage uh ditches, there were inlets that were clogged up, uh public works came out, and uh they were able to get those problems taken care of, and that was certainly a good peace of mind for for the neighbors.

Um a lot of great street resurfacing is taking place uh within the district and as well as the city as a whole, and uh been walking as I enjoy doing in different neighborhoods, calling in cable TV wires, uh and I don't see yeah, there's our IT guru, but I want to express appreciation to him because his help desk has been kept very busy and they've been very responsive, and that helps anything that spruces up a neighborhood is very much appreciative.

Uh and uh that has been a good thing to have.

But uh Ben McThormore Acres, Holiday Homes, College Park, Fleming Westbury, and the Mayfair neighborhoods over the last uh two weeks.

And again, uh a lot of great yard work has taken place.

Uh and uh I know we're gonna have leaves coming down, but uh I know we're gonna have our uh good uh street sweeping equipment ready to go full steam ahead when uh the leaves start coming down.

But uh a lot of good things taking place in the community.

Uh budget had a chance to look at it.

It's uh not uh the biggest budget in the world.

It's a uh looks like it's a very efficient budget.

I'm sure there will be some tweaking that the council will do next uh Friday.

But uh we're in a situation I think better than a lot of uh cities around the country.

We are looking at positive revenue growth, whereas other cities are level or even losing revenue, and uh I think we can be appreciative of that.

And uh I don't want to steal the thunder uh from the finance department, but I guess it's gonna be announced about our budget work session, Mr.

President.

Um feel free.

Councilmember Watkins.

Sir, feel free to talk about it if you want.

I'm sorry?

He says go ahead.

Okay.

Well, anyway, it's gonna be next Friday at uh two o'clock.

That's when the council gets a chance to talk among ourselves in a public meeting and you know, go over budget ideas, uh comments, what's good, what's what they don't have too much support for and all that.

But again, that's that is out in the open.

And uh we'll work it out.

I guess the game plan is to try to pass a budget uh two weeks from tonight.

Yes, sir.

Okay.

That's all I have, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling.

We're gonna take a step back for a second and let the mayor uh add to his comments.

Okay.

Um many of you might have noticed that city detect has been removed from the agenda.

Uh we have removed it because we feel quite frankly feel we need to educate people a little bit better on it.

Uh let people know exactly what it's going to do, what the ramifications it has, what's uh what the uh propensity is for uh their ability to actually uh take pictures, what they're gonna actually take be taking pictures of and how how uh tightly we're gonna be able to hold on to that information.

Um several other things in the in the contract uh needed to be tweaked, and so we uh we have uh put it off right now.

Uh it will be, you know, uh we will be working on it over over the next six, eight months and uh come back come back at some point.

Uh but we have taken it off the agenda for right now.

Thank you, Mr.

Mayor.

Our next council member comments will be delivered by Mr.

Little.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um on the 16th, which is next Tuesday, I'll be hosting the joint town hall with Holly McCarty, my uh school board uh colleague for District 2.

It'll be at Lee High School in the theater at 5:30.

And then October, it's a little early, but it's community planning month, and we'll be having a planning celebration at Optimus Park uh rec center on October 22nd.

Just talking about what all is planned in in District 2 sidewalks and greenways, I'd imagine to be on that list.

Uh and I got to go to a couple of ribbon cuttings, one the Toll Gate Greenway, which is gonna be a great addition to the community.

Um get people hopefully up the mountain a little safer.

I know folks like to ride their bikes up bankhead.

Um then a ribbon cutting for Chick-fil-A out at Trailhead, or as my kids called it Chick-Olay.

We still call it Chick-oh-lay at our house.

Uh and then special thanks to traffic planning police department, public works for being Johnny on the spot with some citizen issues.

Appreciate their work.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

Dr.

Robinson.

Our community lost two heroes in the last few weeks.

Nina Beale passed away on uh September 2nd.

Nina and her husband Doug started the ARK 30 years ago.

They were great advocates for animals.

And um we uh actually adopted our cat from the Ark.

He lived there for a year and a half in the kitchen, and we adopted him.

Uh they had named him Magnum because Nina and her volunteers were all Tom Selleck fans.

So they named him after Magnum PI, and we we kept that for him.

Uh that's just one story.

The she impacted so many families who adopted uh their dogs and cats from the Ark, and she will be missed.

My husband went over there today to visit them, and the volunteers assured him that the Ark will continue.

So we are very glad to hear that.

We also lost Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Schultz on August 28th.

He succumbed to brain cancer.

Uh he spent 21 years in the Air Force and the Air National Guard, flew 423 combat hours as an F-16 pilot, then continued his career in the defense industry by working on the X-37 space plane uh with his company uh resolution.

They were a prime contractor for NASA.

He is survived by Team Hunter Schultz, his wife Mary Scott Hunter, their children Nathan, Caleb, and Claire.

And we um his funeral was last Saturday at Trinity Methodist Church.

It was a full military honors right there on Airport Road, 21 gun salute, and the F-16 flyover with the missing man formation.

It was pretty impressive.

So John will be missed.

I have had lots of concern expressed over the last few weeks about the closing of Gate 3.

It has created nothing short of a hot mess on the South Parkway.

And first of all, want everyone to know we are aware of it.

I've asked Mr.

Hamilton to come and share his for those of you who don't know.

Councilmember John Hamilton, City Administrator.

So yes, I was a garrison commander, it was a long time ago.

And uh and I'm certainly not here to speak on behalf of the garrison.

That that is uh not would not be appropriate.

But we do partner with them closely in dialogue uh quite often with their leadership.

So some things that uh uh that you know I think we can update on and also talk to the things that we, the city can do to try and assist with the issue.

So unfortunately, the garrison is resource constrained.

Uh manning all of those gates uh requires a great deal of resources for them to do that, and right now they're constrained in their ability to do that as extensively as they would like to be able to do that.

They keep very accurate track traffic counts of who's using the gates and how often, and so they're having to make prudent decisions on how they adjust those hours when when they don't have sufficient manpower to keep them all open.

So that's the process they've gone through, uh, and that's their decision 100% to make on the arsenal exactly how they man those gates when they can be open, those kinds of things.

And gate three is not the only gate that they've had to cut back operational hours and things on.

Uh they've also consolidated some of the opening times up at gate eight and gate 10 uh on the northeastern corner of the Arsenal as well.

So they're they're working through that.

That's challenges they have to deal with.

Uh and at this point, there's not really anything the city can do to assist them directly uh in terms of how they do that.

But obviously, all of our roads connect to those gates.

And so one of the things that uh the traffic engineering does, and this is true of other issues if there's if there's something that impacts traffic patterns on uh city streets, traffic engineering is regularly monitoring that and looking to see other things they can do to assist with that.

So it's adjusting timing on lights for the alternate routes.

Obviously, a lot of people that would typically use gate three now need to go further north and go in gate one.

Uh so that affects the volumes going into some of those roads, and so they're monitoring that.

There, I think there are some things uh where they will continue to to tweak the the light sequences and and timings and things to assist with that traffic flow a little bit better.

Uh there may be some places where we can extend turn lanes to get more queuing space or things like that, but they'll monitor all of those things uh and identify the ideas and things that we can do to assist getting people to the gate.

Uh and then as you know, once they get to the gate, then then the garrison is responsible for getting them through.

And so they do that as fast and efficiently as they possibly can uh within the resources they have available to them.

Thank you, Mr.

Hamilton.

And again, we just want to reassure the community we are well aware of the situation and are doing what is in our power to do and look forward to a speedy resolution on the federal side so that we can move forward.

And then finally, today, as Mayor mentioned, today is September 11th.

And um, while we remember what happened on September 11th, I think we also need to remember what happened on September 12th.

Someone said that on September 12th, the nation became a neighborhood.

And we started joining together.

And I saw evidence of that here tonight as we um as people volunteered to help someone in need.

We need more of that.

We are so deeply divided as a country.

I think hyperpartisanship has created as really deepened those divides.

And it's situations like September 11th, or someone who stands here and tells us about his needs that pulls us together and overcomes those divides.

And I hope we can see more of that in the future.

Thank you.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

Next is Ms.

Watkins.

Good evening.

Uh want to send condolences out to the family, uh, Mother William May Draper, Mother Draper, and the Draper family are well known in Huntsville, Draper Memorial, right way Church of God in Christ, and Mother Draper would have been 102 in November had she not passed.

Her funeral would be Monday at 11 o'clock at Progressive Union.

And we just want to extend our dullnesses to the Draper family as well as to church family.

Um got a text from Miss Betty Showers, and she asked me to pass this information along.

On tomorrow, September 12th, from 8 to 7 o'clock.

She is asking you to join the staff at the Dr.

Richard Shower Center on Blue Spring Road as they play tribute to the late Councilman Richard Showers on his birthday, honoring his legacy and service to the community.

A memorial display will honor his contributions to Huntsville, Alabama, and his community involvement.

Again, tomorrow, Friday, September 12th, from 8 a.m.

to 7 p.m.

at the Dr.

Richard Shower Center.

Last week I met with Miss Diane Reagan and Tracy Seltzer.

They gave me a tour of the homes at on Spraggins Hollow.

I was very impressed.

They're going to do a park.

I think they bought the Hollow Park from us.

Is that right, Shane?

They bought Hollow Park and they're going to renovate it, make it a plate uh area for adults as well as children.

Attended the skate park opening.

I got my skates.

So we skate hospital, where are you at?

Because you said you were going to give me lessons.

I also have me, I got a what you call it, help helmet.

I got knee pads, shoulder pads, back pads, every kind of pad you can think of.

Because I don't know how to skate.

Yes, I got that too.

I attended the mayor's youth advisory council this past Saturday with the mayor, where we both brought greetings.

Um, met some wise young minds there.

They were very alert, smart, and ready to learn and be engaged.

Um, met with several family members this morning about the Bob Wade Lane name change, and we had um very good discussions.

I want to thank Shane Davis and uh attorney Riley for attending, as well as Sarah Powell and the staff for putting this together.

On Tuesday, September 16th, from 5.30 to 7 at the shower center.

I will have my district drop in.

That's where you just drop in and talk to me one-on-one about issues and concerns you have.

You should not be talking to me about Pulaski Pike.

It's been paved.

District 1 Town Hall on October 13th from 6 to 7:30.

That's the quarterly town hall we have.

Um Space Command is coming, and I just want everyone to be mindful that we have locals, and we do not need to price them out.

We have an affordable housing manager, and uh we have a homeless manager as well.

Now in the C Did we hire for that yet?

The homeless manager?

No.

But that okay.

I will really want um the city to work with both of them to ensure that our residents who have been lifelong residents are not priced out because the cost of housing has gone up tremendously in this city.

Uh remembering the victims of 9-11, I pray for those families.

Um it's hard when you don't have closure.

I had a cousin who perished in the second tower.

She had just been here and spent the month of July with us before she went back to New York where she lived at.

She worked for Sandler and O'Neal.

She was a VP, and uh we never got any closure from her.

So remember the victims and always keep them in your prayers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Um bit of housekeeping.

Um the mayor mentioned the uh City Detect contract being one that they are going to withdraw.

Technically, it wouldn't have been on today's agenda because it was postponed to a date certain when it first was being considered, and that date certain was 925, which is our next meeting.

So it would normally have been there, but it actually still will be because it's actually under the purview of the council, given that it was a second, a motion a second, and was postponed to the date certain.

So we will have to address that item.

We'll take a vote.

We will honor the mayor's request, and it will be properly withdrawn at that time.

Um I do want to thank my forum guests uh at the last forum for sharing their organization's mission, vision, and how those translate into services that they provide for Huntsville residents throughout our city.

These are four of the entities that have received council improvement funds specifically from council members here related to their districts.

Uh we took a look at some of where those uh expenses have well allocations have gone, and those four were ones where we visited those facilities to give folks a better look at what they do as representative of the overall program.

So I want to thank Alison Dylan Yaquin of Arts Huntsville, Charles Fry with CNI Solutions, Alka Bargov with the AUM Foundation, and Susan McGrady with the 8th Street community.

Thank you all.

The next forum will be Tuesday, October the 7th at 4 p.m.

here in Council Chambers.

It was my intent to have Facebook Live broadcasting tonight and future council meetings.

Unfortunately, that has not happened.

And I would like to invite Ms.

Kelly Scrimps, the head of our communications department to briefly tell us why.

Absolutely.

Kelly Scrimsher, Director of Communication, and Councilmembers, yes.

At your request, we have begun the process to add the Facebook live stream to the City Council meetings.

And in the process of doing so, once we set up all the accounts and the procedures and testing it, we realize that Meta now has a 60-day waiting period.

So we are a government channel, and we will abide by that.

We have put in for an expedited request with Meta, and hopefully we can get it sooner, but it should be coming in October.

In the meantime, there's many, many ways to watch our government channel, not only this meeting, but through HSV TV.

You can watch it on the City website, of course.

There is an app for your phone or your tablet.

You can watch it on WoW or Comcast Cable Television, also on Amazon Fire, Roku, and coming very soon, Apple TV, which will make a lot of folks happy.

So even more important, we love that we have all of our programming and meetings available on City Video on our website.

So this is on demand.

You can watch anything you want at any time that's convenient for you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

And I would say that the app worked fine for me during that last meeting, because I was able to watch from a very remote location, so it does work.

Speaking of the last meeting, normally when public makes a comment, I tend to not respond.

Given the fact that a former colleague, someone that has served on this council, took advantage of the public comments, which she has every right to do.

Why blame me for what other people say?

If you don't like something that a council member says up here, don't blame me.

I did not put the words in their mouths.

So don't lay the responsibility for what they say on me.

Now let's move on to something positive.

The advocacy effort that was conducted by the folks that did not like City Detect contract or just the plain thought of cameras, AI cameras being put on garbage trucks to monitor community service uh breaches was wonderful.

In all my time of sitting on this council, no other advocacy effort has come anywhere close to what you all accomplished in these few short weeks between rolling that initial opportunity into the budget process.

You took advantage of that time, and you you leveled one very good advocacy effort, and it should be commended.

It should be used as a model moving forward by other groups that want to have uh their voices heard.

But the best thing of the whole issue is that it has proven that at least in the city of Huntsville, Alabama, the people still shape the laws under which they must live.

Kudos to all of you.

Then as a cherry on the top, item 22 is being moved up and will happen right now.

Our first speaker on the second roster is Karen Church.

Karen Church, please come to the microphone.

You seem to have learned a lot just being here tonight.

Umly that I don't know what the hell y'all are talking about.

Because I don't know what the agenda was, City Deck detect or whatever all that is.

I have no idea.

I haven't seen the agenda.

What I do know what I need though is My name is Karen Church.

I live in District 1, 819 West Arbor Drive.

Thank you, ma'am.

I am a lifelong citizen of Huntsville.

I've been here my entire life.

I've seen this city grow and prosper and become very cosmopolitan.

And I think all y'all are doing a great job.

Marvelous.

All you have to do is look at Huntsville right around Huntsville.

I even got a job as an overdriver.

It's fabulous.

But well, the reason I'm here, I get to what concerned me.

I emailed each and every one of you separately an email.

It was addressed to Mayor Tommy Battle, but I copied every one of y'all, also James Gossett, who's head of parks and recreation.

In order to make sure you read the letter, I actually called Monday and spoke to Lily.

Y'all may know Lily, I don't know her.

She was very sweet.

I said, please make sure they read this, even if you have to print it and gave every one of them a copy.

It's long and lengthy, and I don't want to go all into detail.

I told her I'd be here tonight because I wanted to hear your answer.

Um this is pertaining to a city facility.

The parks and recreation may know, and you all may know it as the aquatic center or the natatorium, I don't know how you refer to it.

Tommy Battle was instrumental in getting a third pool added years ago when they tore down the first pool that was heated downtown.

This pose hated and it is used greatly by senior citizens.

Um I can't tell you the difference that pool has made in a lot of myself and a lot of other people's lives.

We all meet there.

It's physical therapy, it's exercise when you can't possibly do a treadmill or something due to injuries.

Uh my sister just had a knee replacement.

Her doctors told her it's their best net physical therapy you can get.

Now we all pay $70 for three months, and I've been paying that for the last five years.

Now, as of four weeks ago, we got an email.

It's closed.

Now y'all may say it's not closed, but virtually it's closed, unless you want to get up and be there at 7.30 in the morning, which I don't.

I've been retired, I don't have to punch that clock.

Thank God.

But it's closed.

And when I call to find out why is it being closed, I was told they don't have lifeguards.

They all went back to school.

Okay.

Well, y'all knew kids go back to school with there not any plans, no preparation.

Basically, in a synopsis real quick, it's understaffed.

I was told there were 17 lifeguard positions and y'all have three working for three poles.

And the one that's not getting utilized and not being used is the heat of po that the seniors use for their arthritis exercise.

Now, speaking of Mr.

Gossett's office, I was told that, well, it's very expensive.

I said, Well, what do you call expensive?

It's $300.

Now, if all the kids in college, that's great and wonderful, but I don't believe all the kids are in college.

I think there's a lot of kids would love that job if you guys offered them the training.

Gonna have to cut you off there, but thank you.

I got a lot more to say.

Basically, all right.

I don't have any more though.

You've read the letter, it may all have read the letter.

I'm not gonna say anything.

What's your answer?

What's your answer today?

Ma'am, gonna have to cut you off.

Do you have an answer?

Gonna have to cut you off.

You read the letter?

Ma'am, please.

I guess the answer is no then.

Our next speaker is Beth Pugh.

You have no answer.

That was a lot of fun, but apparently you get to speak, but you don't get answered.

Hello, my name is Beth Pugh with Indivisible.

My address should be on file.

And I live here in Huntsville.

Thank you, ma'am.

I was a student at Huntsville High School in the late 1980s when I first read Anne Frank's Diary of a Young Girl.

The entry for January 13th, 1943 reads in part, terrible things are happening outside.

Poor helpless people are being dragged out of their homes.

Families are torn apart.

Men, women, and children are separated.

Children come home from school to find that their parents have disappeared.

When I read those words as a teenager, they seemed unimaginable.

Yet this scene that Anne described in January 1943 is happening in our country right now.

Across the U.S., immigrants are being taken by masked ICE agents who do not identify themselves, who do not have warrants, and who do not say why people are being detained.

Families are being torn apart.

Mothers taken from nursing infants.

Children who are in who are U.S.

citizens are deported with their parents, even in the middle of medical treatments.

Families lose breadwinners overnight.

Loved ones vanish into a system where even finding out where they are being held can be impossible.

Those detained are often sent to camps far from family and lawyers, sometimes in conditions human rights groups have called cruel and inhumane.

Cages and sweltering heat, spoiled food, no medical care, no basic hygiene.

Many are deported without due process, sometimes to countries they have no connection to.

Deportation is a legal process with rules.

What we are witnessing is not deportation, it is kidnapping.

And if Huntsville cooperates with ICE in these practices, then we too are complicit.

We will be spending our tax dollars to violate the Constitution and to bring great harm to our neighbors.

Huntsville has always prided itself on being a city that leads.

Home to scientists and engineers who help put human beings on the moon.

We are forward-looking.

But progress is not only about rockets and technology.

True progress is measured by how we treat one another with dignity, fairness, and compassion.

Many of us here across different traditions share a belief that every human being carries inherent worth and deserves protection.

I ask you to remember that truth as you consider the resolution that is being presented here tonight.

Huntsville has the opportunity to lead, not just in science, but in humanity.

I mean, three, sorry.

Sorry, Jenny.

Agreements with federal immigration authorities like 287G, which we'll we'll hear about later tonight, are not the only way for local police to assist immigration agents in putting our neighbors at risk of being confined or disappeared without due process.

The Alabama legislature passed two immigrant bills that were signed into law last spring.

Ania Robinson of the ACLU of Alabama said these laws authorize racial profiling of not only undocumented people, but citizens and immigrants who might look foreign or speak with an accent.

The Supreme Court decision this week confirms Ms.

Robinson's fears that racial profiling is becoming more widespread and accepted.

Under SB 63, law enforcement are required to conduct invasive DNA testing and to collect fingerprints from any undocumented person who has merely been arrested, not even charged or convicted of a crime.

Their immigration status is determined by contacting Federal immigration authorities, at which point ICE could decide to detain them, unless the person is carrying certain documents.

The second law, SB 53, creates the crime of human smuggling and also requires police to determine the immigration status of anyone they arrest, detain, or even just stop if they have reasonable suspicion that that might person might be undocumented, even if they are never arrested or charged.

Again, their immigration status is determined by contacting Federal immigration authorities unless the person is carrying certain documents.

And if they are undocumented, they must be turned over to the Federal Government.

If this sounds familiar, it's because these laws, together with increased ICE activity in Huntsville Echo 2011's HB 56 Show Me Your Papers, which created such suffering and caused massive damage to Alabama's economy.

Both these laws were passed before the daily reports of illegal actions by Federal immigration authorities, before immigrant even immigrants with legal status had been denied due process.

Maybe the Alabama legislature would have taken more care if they had known that these laws would be used to aid such cruel and unconstitutional treatment of our neighbors.

How Huntsville enforces these laws will have a profound effect on the safety and rights of residents who are perceived to be immigrants.

When you know that the Federal Government is denying due process to people perceived to be immigrants, deciding to investigate someone's immigration status makes you, in effect, an accomplice to a crime.

That is why we are asking for serious deliberation on what guidance officers will be given with respect to these laws.

It's why we were asking for an expansion of their annual refresher on bias and racial profiling.

Overcompliance with these laws is a threat to the necessary trust between law enforcement and the immigrant community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mr.

Don Campbell.

I am speaking on entirely different subjects here, which many have spoken before.

My name is Don Campbell.

I'm from Madison, and my address is on record.

We should not be penalized or manipulated for allowing a device on our homes that harms us.

There have been many here presenting information to you in past weeks, past months, which people present to you about how the smart meters are physically harming us.

This was known a decade ago.

And now there are many more studies done than science revealed.

However, even a decade ago, the information was put together in the Take Back Your Power documentary.

And I gave the science, cited many sources and studies done then, which detailed the science of how everyone is being affected by the frequencies the meters are producing.

And not just those who have immediate reactions.

I have sent that documentary to you months ago.

And uh many others have asked you to take a look at this 90-minute documentary.

I also referred to that same documentary six years ago to HU when I was battling to opt out of the smart meter.

Rhetorical question.

Have you looked at the documentary?

These frequencies are clumping the blood cells of everyone.

Everyone.

And they are affecting the central nervous system.

The central nervous system operates using microfrequency current.

And our CNS is what controls all body functions.

The frequencies are interfering with that CNS central nervous system communication.

And the bad frequencies of the meters are emanating throughout the entire house wiring, and not only at the meter.

There are endless testimonies from those harmed.

Many are dead.

Many children are dead from this.

This is fact.

Yet there is no such pronouncement of death from such assault.

It is not recognized.

Many have cancers from overtime exposure.

Which I had three more than three minutes to go into all that there.

And how many are truly being harmed now?

At this time in history, I believe this is the most important issue that you have, the council to deal with.

There is no other issue so important in protecting the welfare of our town than one which is allowing such assault on our individual space, which we have no control over.

You feel people do have the power here to change things and control the entity responsible.

And begin to remedy this and save us from this assault.

Thank you, Mr.

Campbell.

Our next speaker is Marcia Ramsey.

Ms.

Ramsey, there you go.

My name is Marcia Ramsey.

I am my address is on file.

I live in Southeast Huntsville.

Thank you for hearing me tonight.

I'm going to deliver a um a statement from a very close friend of mine, who is a freelance uh Spanish interpreter here in the Huntsville area.

Um this is in support of our immigrant community.

And she's giving an example of the kind of things we'd like to avoid in seeing in Huntsville in uh regarding immigration enforcement.

She says, I'm a I'm a freelance Spanish interpreter in the Huntsville area, and I'm frequently called to translate for Spanish speaking people in hospitals or at their medical appointments.

Last spring I had an appointment at one of Huntsville's medical clinics to interpret for the father of a two and a half year old Hispanic patient Hispanic patient.

In addition to the sick toddler, this dad had a two-month-old baby with him.

I introduced myself and explained that I was there to facilitate facilitate communication between him and the medical staff.

The dad seemed really nervous about his children and overwhelmed by some paperwork in his hands.

He looked very stressed, so to put him at ease while we waited, I asked if the children's mom was at work that day.

He said no, she was not at work, that she had just been deported and he had no idea where she was.

He continued to tell me that everything started when his wife went to the immigration office to renew her permit to remain in this country, as she was supposed to do, and like she had done in previous years.

But she never came home that day because ICE had taken her straight from the office and deported her.

To which country he did not know.

He told me he had no family members to help him look after the children, so he couldn't work and couldn't provide for his kids.

He was doing everything he could to find out which country his wife had been sent to so he could try to bring her home.

It was very stressful, obviously, for the entire family, especially since the mom had been nursing the baby when she was taken.

Not physically, but she was a nursing mom.

I'm deeply disturbed by the way ICE is conducting detentions and raids on immigrants in our country and in this community, creating fear and using aggression against people, separating parents from their children, deporting immigrants to countries different from their country of origin.

This is not the American way, and I do not believe our local police should take part in this unnecessarily cruel kind of behavior.

Thank you.

Thank you, May.

Our next speaker is Francis Huffman.

Good evening.

I'm Francis Huffman.

I live in Five Points, and my address is on file.

And I'm here to talk briefly about the effect of immigrants on economies.

Let's look at the numbers.

Based on the Federal 2020 census data, 10% of Alabama immigrants live in Huntsville.

In 23, households statewide paid $945 million in Federal tax, $356 million in State and local tax, with $3.7 billion in after tax income, a significant amount that can be put back into the community.

Immigrants make up about 6 percent of business owners.

That is 12,670 immigrant-owned businesses in Alabama with income of about 320 million.

Immigrants pay both Federal and State tax and pay into critical social services like Medicare and Social Security, even though they do not benefit from those services if they are undocumented.

Immigrants comprise almost 6 percent of the State of Alabama's workforce.

They account for 10 percent of the entrepreneurs, self-starters, new business opportunities, a noted and followed source of new business in Huntsville, a critical part of our historic growth.

Emigrants make up about 10 percent of STEM workers, 12 percent of construction workforce in the state.

Some are picked up by ICE, they're not criminals, they're just undocumented members of communities.

We see them disappear without representation, limited access to legal counsel, and rare opportunities to even communicate with their families.

The local immigrant community is very well connected.

News flows from family to family when when they hear of someone being picked up by ICE, word flows across the community network, resulting in reticence to show up to work.

Business owners can't help but notice as absences grow.

Many families are mixed families.

Some people are documented, some people are not, but those that are documented protect those that are non-documented, and they fear those people are at risk.

District 1 is home to many of our Huntsville immigrant families.

They rent houses and apartments, they're good, steady renters, they keep their yards nicely, and they keep their homes with care and pride.

Their absence in that community would have a decidedly negative financial effect on landlords and housing investors in District 1.

The immigrant community works and at percent percentages above the national average, serving in fields of construction, manufacturing, health care, especially hospitals and senior care facilities.

As many of us age, there's heavy emphasis on senior care, and as are pop, thank you for listening.

Yes, ma'am.

Our next speaker is Mr.

David Brown.

Hello, my name is David Brown.

I think my address is on record.

I live in five points here in Huntsville.

I'm here to present to you for your consideration the resolution that was mentioned by some previous speakers regarding immigration law enforcement.

Whereas the City of Huntsville values its immigrant community and seeks to improve race relations to promote cooperative peaceful existence and equality for the community.

And whereas the immigrant community is a major contributor to Huntsville's dynamic economic, scientific, medical, and cultural growth.

Whereas the stated mission of the Huntsville Police Department is to serve our community by protecting life, liberty, property, and defending the constitutional rights of all people with compassion, fairness, integrity, and professionalism.

And whereas the City Council recognizes the importance of protecting the safety, well-being, dignity, and constitutional rights of all residents, including undocumented individuals.

And whereas the City of Huntsville seeks to ensure that all residents can access essential services without fear of deportation or discrimination.

And whereas local law enforcement agencies should focus on community safety and crime prevention rather than using valuable time and resources on enforcing federal immigration laws.

And whereas cooperation with IS can lead to fear and mistrust within immigrant communities, discouraging individuals from reporting crimes or seeking assistance from law enforcement.

And whereas studies have shown that communities that foster trust between law enforcement and residents experience lower crime rates and improved public safety.

Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of Huntsville that one, the City of Huntsville shall not enter into any contract agreement or arrangement, such as 287G program that would grant Federal civil immigration enforcement authority to its law enforcement officers.

Two, the City of Huntsville shall not enter into any contract agreement or arrangement to detain or facilitate the detention of immigrants for federal immigration enforcement purposes.

Three, the City of Huntsville shall implement training programs for local law enforcement personnel to ensure understanding of this resolution and to promote community policing practices that preserve constitutional rights and build trust with all residents.

The City Council shall direct the mayor to develop and implement policies that support this resolution and to report back to the City Council on the progress of these initiatives within six months.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

President.

May I speak?

Absolutely.

I would like to see if uh Colonel Hamilton could come up and talk a little bit.

We have had several meetings with some citizens that are concerned about ICE and Huntsville and maybe explain how the system process works.

I think there's a lot of misinformation out there that maybe we could get cleared up and maybe help some of our neighbors here understand what is going on.

If you don't mind, let's do that after.

I mean, but could we just do it right now?

I mean, I I because there's that everybody still gets to talk.

But let's we will make sure Mr.

Hamilton has that opportunity before we move beyond this part of the agenda.

Okay.

But what people may be proceeding based on bad information.

This would be an opportunity to give them good information.

And they will get their good information, but we were not going to preemptively affect their right to speak.

I'm not going to be able to do that.

I understand.

I know that's not an opportunity.

I know that.

So how about I'm not saying you're being nefarious.

I'm understanding.

How about I call a point of order on all the applause?

I think it's inappropriate.

We're here to get business done and not to be, you know, the pep rally for folks.

I appreciate their passion.

But it would be nice if we could just, you know, get our business done here.

You've called the point of order, and um the chair does not agree with that point of order.

So we will move forward with our next speaker, who is Mr.

James Francini.

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

As you are aware by now, please state your City of Residence.

Huntsville.

Thank you, sir.

As you are aware by now, I am speaking on behalf of a group of concerned residents regarding the health and safety impacts of the smart meters that are being installed as part of Huntsville Utilities Advanced Meter Infrastructure Program, also known as AMI.

This will be a short status update on the progress we have made in our collaboration with Huntsville Utilities to develop a smart meter opt-out policy for Huntsville residents.

I would like to again share some background for those in the audience that may not be aware of this important topic or what we have been doing.

We originally approached this council because we had been notified by Huntsville Utilities that smart meters were going to be installed on our homes, even though we had previously opted out a few years earlier.

More importantly, there was no provision allowed for us to opt out again.

This was unacceptable for us because of the extensive research and studies that have been done revealing the serious health impacts that can arise from exposure to radio frequency radiation emitted by them.

After presenting our concerns to this council back in July of this year, Council President Meredith proactively hosted a meeting between representatives of our small group and Huntsville Utilities.

We then met with the utility boards in late August, shared our concerns, and requested that they postpone their vote on the initial draft policy to allow us to continue working with their staff in crafting a more robust and complete policy, which they did.

Since then, we have had multiple productive meetings with HU representatives.

I am pleased to report that we feel we have an opt-out policy that addresses most of our deepest concerns regarding smart meters, and we feel their final draft, the Huntsville Utilities final draft, is acceptable for the boards to consider and vote upon during their meetings on September 23rd and 24th.

This good news story could not have occurred without your involvement, the extra time allowed by the boards, and the focus given by the Huntsville Utilities staff.

And for that, each of us are truly grateful.

As promised previously, I will provide another update at the next City Council meeting in two weeks.

Thank you for your support and for your attention to our concerns.

Thank you, sir.

Our next speaker is Rebecca Renfro.

Next speaker will be Johnny Montford.

Mr.

Montford.

Next, then will be Brittany Whitehead.

Thank you.

My name is Brittany Whitehead.

My address is 1146 Town Creek Place, Huntsville, Alabama, 35806.

Thank you.

I am going to be reading a statement by Chelsea Brunti Borrojas, who is unable to be here today.

I am writing to you today with a heavy heart and deep frustration about the unjust treatment of my husband Antonio Borroja Solano.

On August 6, 2025, my husband was detained outside a family home in North Huntsville while trying to support relatives grieving the loss of a loved one.

He was with three other men when police and ICE officers arrived.

They had a warrant for an individual who was not there.

They chose to detain all four men, my husband included, simply because of who they are, Latinos.

My husband tried to explain he is a married U.S.

citizen and has legal representation, but they ignored him.

The pain and fear I felt, knowing my husband was taken without explanation or notice is something I cannot describe.

His rights and our family didn't matter.

He is not a criminal and has only ever had minor traffic violations in the past.

And despite a judge granting him bond, ISIS is still keeping him detained, wasting taxpayer dollars, and causing immeasurable harm to our family.

For 13 days, Antonio was denied access to his lawyer at the Etawa County Sheriff's Office, which is a direct violation of his basic rights.

The conditions he is being held under are inhumane.

No proper medical care, inadequate food, and unsanitary conditions.

And when we've tried to reach out for help or answers, we've been only met with silence.

We are asking for answers and for justice and for basic human dignity.

No one, regardless of their immigration status, should be treated this way.

I am asking the City Council to step up to stand with us and to demand that those in power respect the rights of all individuals in our state.

Allowing humans to be without food for days, sleeping outside, and denying them phone calls is actively occurring in these facilities.

Please help us bring our family back together and make sure no one else has to endure this kind of suffering in the future.

Antonio did have a hearing on Tuesday during which they disregarded over 300 pages of evidence.

We will be going forward with trying to get him a cancellation of removal and adjusting his sat his status.

If they continue to disregard all of the evidence and the fact that we have a bona fide marriage in the United States, we will be moving out of this country.

Seven U.S.

citizens that were born here in Huntsville, Alabama.

My children don't even speak Spanish.

They have medical problems, and we are suffering irreparable damages due to this attack on our family by the government.

Antonio is currently being held at Adams Correctional Facility in Natchez, Mississippi.

Thank you.

Thank you, ma'am.

Our next speaker is Jeff Ingle.

Good evening.

My name is Jeff.

I am with North Alabama Democratic Socialist America.

My address is on the page, and I live in Sherwood Park.

I want to thank all of the council members for listening to the public.

I want to thank several organizations here in the Huntsville area that participated in this campaign.

This is a victory for public privacy for community independence and for the working class.

However, tabling this for six to eight months is a half measure.

As you are well aware, come Tuesday, September 23rd, and every other Tuesday after that at 5 p.m., we could easily find City Detect.

City Detect back on the agenda.

We would have less than 48 hours to bring our concerns back to you and address them again.

I guess six to eight months is your word.

It's not in writing, it's not held.

There's nothing that is stopping you from waiting for this to blow over for this bad press and our attention to go elsewhere for you to bring this back to the table.

So if this proposal is so impalpable to the public and so impalpable to several of these counselors, we are demanding a vote to reject the proposal instead of leaving it in this limbo where it might jump back into the uh into the agenda after the heat has died down.

We are not we do not have questions about the contract.

We do not want the contract negotiated.

We want it rejected.

I thank you for listening to our concerns so far, but you need to open your ears more.

We do not fucking want to be surveilled.

Yeah.

I'm gonna I'm gonna call a point of order on that.

That's inappropriate language in this forum.

You can't second a point of order or whatever.

I agree.

I mean, whatever.

Uh whatever, Dr.

I don't I'm sorry I'm often brushed up on my point of order rules here, but that's fine.

All right.

You brought a point of order and um what's the technical I don't agree, but let me give you the technical language.

Point is not well taken.

Um so we'll move forward.

Um Sabrina Crairary.

Query.

Sorry.

Good evening, counselors.

Thank you for your time.

Um I also wanted to thank you for the compliments you gave us for the campaign that we did for City Detect.

And I want to thank the community that we did and were able to reach concerning this proposal.

We appreciate that you are going to be taking time.

Oh, yeah.

Is my time restorting?

Yep, that's it for you.

I I'm sorry about that in all of the point of order stuff.

I forgot to reset it, so go ahead and continue.

Am I still good to go?

Okay.

Um but yeah, thank you uh for um moving it to six to eight months to get some more research.

But at the end of the day, um, like my comrade said, um we've read through it and we don't want it.

And um, if you think that our campaign was good now, it's only going to double from there of people who are going to be against this.

That's not going to change in six to eight months.

And we will be checking every council meeting, every and then uh during this time.

So it's just a matter of are you going to actually listen to us and give us what we want?

And what we don't want AI surveillance.

We don't need more of it.

So it's up to you.

Thank you.

And thank you, Maya.

Our next speaker is Amy Price.

Hi.

Might be a little short for this.

Uh my name is Amy Price.

My address is written down.

I live in District 5.

Um.

And uh and uh I've lived here since 2008, and I want to thank you first of all for listening to us in the campaign.

Um, paying attention to what we are saying in regards to City Detect.

That's what I just wanted to say very quickly, thank you for that.

And um, as you consider continue to consider this proposal, please consider the wall that this kind of technology draw builds between the people who live, the residents of Huntsville, and the government.

So the people in the government need human interaction.

And I'm not gonna take any more time.

I just want to say that.

So thank you so much.

Yes, ma'am.

Our next speaker, Tierney Gaskin.

Ms.

Gaskin.

All righty, we'll move to Michelle McQuery.

Hello, so Michelle McQuery, resident of Huntsville, and my um address is on the sheet.

And I'm reading this um from a teacher who teaches in Huntsville.

Um privileged to work with students for whom English is not their first language, and in many cases, the United States is not their country or birth.

Every day I work with students from rich, diverse backgrounds.

Many of them are children of immigrants.

They all have different skills and talents, but they are all bright, hardworking, and most importantly, they're kind.

Getting to be their teacher has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

But 2025 has been a challenging year for all of us.

I've seen students come to school only to find out later that one of one or both of their parents have been taken into the custody of ICE.

I have had to watch children try to process the unimaginable loss while still trying to learn English, pass standardized tests, and navigate a world that suddenly feels unsafe.

These are not abstract stories.

These are stories I teach children I care about deeply, children who wake up in the middle of the night not knowing where their mother or father is or who will be taken next.

Children who stop speaking in class, stop trusting, and who stop believing that they have a future at all.

I've had children ask why they should even bother to learn English because they're going to be sent back to their home countries anyway.

And here's the truth that often gets lost in the conversation.

Many of these families were not undocumented.

Some were legal residents, some have pending cases, and some were caught in a broken system that failed them.

But all of them are human.

All of them were hardworking, law-abiding, and contributing members to our community, our Huntsville community.

These parents weren't criminals, they're caregivers, they're home aid, home health aids, their construction workers and small business owners.

They were the people who keep our neighborhoods running, and even when they're invisible to the systems that benefited from their labor.

When we allow families to be torn apart without due process, without compassion, we lose part of our own humanity, and we inflict long-term harm, not to just those families, but our entire community.

Because trauma doesn't stay in one household, it ripples outward.

As a teacher, I do my best to help these children feel safe, seen, and supported, but I can't do it alone.

No teacher can.

So I'm asking this community, its leaders, its residents, its neighbors, to take a stand for justice, for transparency and dignity, to ensure that no child in our town lives in fear of losing a parent, that we push for policies that protect families, treat people with the humanity they deserve, regardless of their immigration status, because the strength of our freedoms is only ever as strong as the strength of those very freedoms among the least of us to whom they've been extended.

As our Federal government seeks to open more detention centers to continue rounding up the other.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut you off.

Okay.

We all know how that ended.

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

I will have to say.

Huntsville City Library system, broadcasting NPR, starting to broadcast NPR, I think on October the 13th, 1976, almost 50 years ago.

At some point in time, WRH was sold to the Alabama Educational Television Commission, which governs Alabama public television, who now controls WLRH radio in Huntsville.

When I spoke to Wayne Reid, the executive director of API, he said the APT board had voted not to sell WLRH.

They don't want to give it up.

Mr.

Reed gave me a list of radio stations in North Alabama who also broadcast NPR.

However, all of these stations have poor and or no reception in Huntsville.

A fact that Mr.

Reed in an email that I read The fact that I told Mr.

Reed in an email and which he knew before I ever said anything to him.

I mean emailed several people at the University of Alabama system, including Mr.

Sid Tarrant.

Trent, CEO of the system about purchasing WLRH.

The UA system currently owns WBHM in Birmingham and W UAL in Tuscaloosa.

They would be a better owner of WLRH than APT.

WLRH website says, and I quote: NPR programming currently accounts for 32 percent of WLRH's weekly schedule.

NPR's programs, morning edition, and all things consider represent 38.5 hours of programming alone.

Eric Bruckner, WLRH general manager and director of radio at APT, has known since July of 2025 that WRH was not going to renew the NPR contract.

Mr.

Debness, I'm going to have to cut you off there.

I am afraid not.

But thank you.

We appreciate your comments.

Yes, sir.

Got to stop you there.

Yes.

Thank you.

Mr.

David Snyder.

So next.

Hello, my name is David Snyder.

My information is written correctly on the sheet.

I live in Huntsville.

Yes, sir.

I wanted to talk about a couple different things concerning City Detect.

We absolutely do not need any more education on the subject.

Everyone that has been speaking tonight is very well versed in it, and we don't want it.

What we do want, as some people with uh the alumni from Omega Sci-Fi have uh advocated for is a Black History Museum.

That is something that we deserve as a city.

Um I also want to talk a little bit about Derrick Street.

Um I would like for City Council to affirm and support and gently nudge, if you can, any uh uh effort that Scott Irwin is going to put forward to pave a way for people from the camp to be able to access water right now.

Uh people have to walk out into the street, go around to the adjacent parking lot, and for people with mobility aids, it's very difficult.

Also, uh we met and we talked about that, and we talked about uh potential for there to be a canopy put up there.

Um if you could support that, that would be great.

Um the resolution that's been put forward tonight uh that Indivisible has put forward that uh, you know, as talked about HPD not working with ICE in any way.

That absolutely is something that should happen.

We do not want that as a uh city, right?

Um we also so that resolution needs to get passed.

Also the ceasefire resolution that has been standing with the city for a long time.

I know there has been a recent petition.

I emailed that petition to uh Bill Kling at one of our district meetings.

I'll email it to the rest of you too.

I would like you to sign it, and I'd like us to adopt it as a city.

Um I personally have put, and with the backing of the organization that I work for, the nonprofit, the Huntsville Bail Fund, uh, I have submitted a public records request for any memorandums of understanding, any resolutions andor contracts the City of Huntsville has with ICE or with uh the Madison County Metro jail or the Sheriff's Department, especially and particularly regarding finances with the city for individuals being detained on what are known as ICE holds.

Every single person with an ice hold right now is being taken, right?

And we don't want the money for that.

We want to give that money back, and we want our community members back.

We want Antonio back.

We want you to get Antonio back.

We want you to get our community members back from this hellhole that they are sending them over uh to Mississippi, and for the concentration camps and the death camps that they are sending these people back, we want you to protect our community members from that.

Our next speaker is Dr.

Marissa Allison.

Good evening.

My name is Marissa Allison.

I live in District 2 here in Huntsville, and my address is on file.

I'm here to urge you to support the resolution presented by fellow community members in support of our immigrant neighbors and end all partnerships and cooperation between our city and ICE.

We are in a moment of reckoning across the country.

People are waking up to the deep harm caused by policing, incarceral systems, and surveillance.

And ICE is one of the most violent arms of that system.

To collaborate with ICE is to make our city complicit in tearing families apart, as we've already heard, detaining people in inhumane conditions, and criminalizing existence.

ICE is not about public safety, it is about control, racial terror, and violent policing of borders that were drawn by colonizers in the first place.

When our city cooperates in any way with ICE, it tells our immigrant neighbors that they are not safe here.

It tells undocumented people that their lives are conditional, that their presence is a problem to be managed.

It tells children that their parents can be taken at any time.

This is not justice, this is not care, this is not safety.

Safety is housing, safety is health care.

Safety is knowing that you can walk outside your home without being targeted, caged, or deported.

So I'm here with many others asking you to imagine a city rooted in solidarity and not surveillance.

A city that sees migration not as a threat, but as a sacred human right and reality of our human existence.

A city that refuses to be a pipeline feeding ISIS violence.

As biologist Amino Dett has said, it feels almost silly to argue about the legality of migration as if human evolution itself was not a story of migration.

We are where we are because somebody before us moved.

Every single one of us has migration in our history, and every single one of us will have migration in our future.

There is no future for human species without migration in it, and you may not have migrated yet, but our descendants will, whether it be because of crop failure, climate change, rising seawaters, political instability or conflict, people in our future will migrate.

And if we criminalize migration, then you criminalize movement, and if you criminalize movement, then you've simply criminalized humanity.

I implore you to pass this resolution.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Mr.

Jerry Cox.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Jerry Cox, Tales Star Circle 35805.

Council at a representative of Redstone Arsenal at a city meeting said that Redstone Arsenal is ready to receive the space command.

My community would argue with that.

The Arsenal has closed Gate 8, which now impacts Gate 10, which greatly, greatly, greatly impacts me and my community.

From 6 a.m.

to 830 a.m.

at least.

Traffic is backed up from Gate 8, 8.8 miles to Drake Avenue, 1.7 miles to Bob Wallace, and on many occasions, 2.1 miles to I-565.

Our access to our homes during this period is greatly limited.

I don't know, uh, Council Warman Robinson if your gate three affects residents or if it just affects employees.

Emergency vehicles cannot reach my community except by coming south in the northbound lanes for that two or 1.7 miles.

That takes time.

Time is of essence in an emergency.

At lunchtime and from 3 till 5.30 p.m.

The speeding and the cell phone usage of the workers coming off the arsenal because the arsenal enforces speeding, and they enforce cell phone.

But once they hit that gate, which they have to be traveling at 35 and 25 miles an hour for some period of time, guess what they're going to do when they hit that gate?

They put the pedal to the metal and they put get on their cell phones.

This endangers me and my community trying to get out of our community onto patent road to go about our lives.

As a retired NASA employee, I'm equally concerned about the loss of productivity and employment satisfaction by the workers that is having to endure this travel to work every day.

To bring space command to RSA.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Whitney Washington.

Hi, uh, good evening.

Uh, just wanted to say thank you for can I interrupt.

Yes, ma'am.

You're right.

You got me.

Uh I live on Gay Heart Drive in District One in Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you.

Um, and I just wanted to say thank you all so much for listening to your constituents regarding the AI cameras on garbage trucks.

Um I really hope that you continue to listen to us, and uh this does not come back on the agenda at some point.

I would encourage you, um, as we saw earlier by the gentleman that uh spoke, uh, a lot of times these property violations and blight that are the concern uh are c are dealing with elderly, disabled or low-income homeowners, and perhaps that $300,000 a year could be used to go to grants to people in those conditions to help them with those property violations.

I think there's much better uses of this money.

Um I would also encourage uh the city council to consider some sort of working group to consider if, how, and when Huntsville implements AI technology.

I understand that it's coming, uh, but there are lots of ethical implications that I just hope we consider thoroughly.

Thank you so much.

Next, we'll hear from Alicia Booth.

Ms.

Booth.

There we go.

Hello, I'm Alicia Booth Hagermaker.

I live at 274 Riverside Drive in District 1.

Thank you.

Um, Mayor Serious City Council members, neighbors, thank you all for allowing me to speak.

Today I published an opinion piece for AL Politics that lays out both the problems we're facing and the solutions that are within our reach.

Tonight I want to share some of those solutions.

Earlier, someone said we need to get rid of AI altogether.

I understand that fear because centralized AI systems are dangerous.

When they're controlled by corporations or governments, they concentrate power, strip rights and resources, and fail us when we need them most.

AI becomes a problem when it's used for control and surveillance instead of the good of the people.

But here's the key.

It's not the technology itself that's the problem.

It's how it's structured.

The danger comes from centralization.

The solution is decentralization.

Councilman Kling said drones aren't being used for spying on people.

Maybe not in the way they imagine today, but history shows us this j excuse me.

Just because the technology isn't misused in this exact moment doesn't mean it won't be tomorrow.

Every tool starts as limited use until those ripples spread outwards.

Our job isn't just to stop the wrong ripples, it is to not ignite a ripple in the other direction.

Instead of surveillance and control, let's use technology to spread resilience, sovereignty, and transparency.

That's what decentralization makes possible.

And what we're seeing here tonight proves it.

People are offering to help their neighbors, talking about working together, showing that community itself is the real infrastructure.

Technology can support us, but can it can't replace us?

So how do we channel that energy?

Decentralized energy.

We can build microgrids, rooftop solar, and neighborhood scale batteries, so our homes and businesses stay powered even if the larger grid fails.

Federal and TVA grants are already on the table.

We just need to claim them.

Decentralized resilience.

We can strengthen libraries, rec centers, and churches into resilience hubs, places with backup power, water, refrigeration, and communications.

When disaster strikes, these hubs save lives.

Decentralized intelligence.

Instead of outsourcing to surveillance companies that watch us, we can empower neighbors with transparent open source networks.

Communities already share truth faster than institutions.

If we invest in that, we gain awareness without surrendering privacy.

And we can decentralize our economics too.

Huntsville could pioneer its own Rocket City stable coin integrated with XRP, backed by commodities and sustainability metrics.

The more we build resilience through energy, food, and community, the more that coin is backed by real value.

It becomes a unit of measure for local success and a tool to keep well circulating here instead of being siphoned away.

Huntsville is about to be home to Space Command and a hub for national defense.

If we lead in decentralization, resilience, and transparency, we won't just be protecting our own citizens.

We'll be protect I'm sorry, we'll be setting the standard for the entire country.

That's the vision from my article.

That's leadership that truly is a very important thing to do.

I'm going to have to cut you off there, but thank you very much.

Thank you.

Yes, ma'am.

Our next speaker is Salem Labad.

Sorry.

Hi, good evening, Council members, and good evening to all the concerned citizens in the room.

My name is Sedan Labad.

My address is listed on the sign-up sheet, and I'm a resident of Huntsville's District 5.

Yes, sir.

I'm here as a child of immigrants.

My parents immigrated over 30 years ago to the United States.

My parents pursued higher education opportunities, obtaining their doctorate doctoral degrees here in the United States.

My mother became an academic working to educate our students and our next generation professionals.

My father became a physicist, researching scientific advancements in his field.

Immigrants like my parents came here to pursue better opportunities to raise families and their contributing members of our society that we need to protect.

This country is founded by immigrants.

For centuries, it has always been built by immigrants, and immigration has always brought in people of all backgrounds who have served their communities.

From teachers to health care workers to builders, immigrants are essential, important and valued members of our community.

As a child of immigrants, I have a responsibility, and as people of moral conscience, every single one of us in this room has a responsibility to speak about, to speak up about what's happening in this country right now.

Every day across this country, ICE detention tears families apart.

People who have lived here for decades who have built their lives and contributed to their communities are abducted.

They are kidnapped, locked away, and treated like criminals.

Children are separated from parents, workers are taken from their jobs, and entire communities are terrorized and made to live in fear.

Here in Alabama and in Huntsville, we've seen the abductions of people's parents, children, and neighbors.

Across the country, we've also seen students detained for exercising their free speech and abducted unjustly just because the government disagrees with their opinions and will break the law using ICE as a secret police to silence them.

These are students like Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeza Osterk and the case of Alireza Derudi, a doctoral student at the University of Alabama, who was detained for 45 days even after the Department of Homeland Security admitted he had legal status.

This harm is being inflicted in our state.

It's racism, it's tyranny, and we have a responsibility to protect our immigrants.

We have a responsibility to call on our city to not be complicit in these violations of people's rights.

Our local law enforcement agents should serve to protect lives and defend our constitutional rights.

Local law enforcement agents should focus on community safety and crime prevention.

They should not use valuable resources, and our local tax dollars partnering with federal agents and processes that have demonstrated a complete disregard for due process and people's constitutional rights, like our rights of free speech and our fourteenth amendment right to due process.

I implore the Huntsville City Council to support this resolution and to end the city partnership with ICE and prevent it as best as possible.

Immigrants are essential and valued members of our community.

Immigrants have built this country, and we have a responsibility to keep our immigrants safe.

Thank you.

Next is Anne Marie Lang.

Thank you.

I'm Anne Marie Lang.

I live uh in District 3 in Southeast Huntsville.

And I'd like to continue the neighborhood theme tonight.

My husband and I have lived here since 2000.

We love the city.

We love living in this city.

But I'd like to implore respectfully to ask the Council to commit not to commit to not enroll HPD in the 287G program.

The HPD mission statement in part states that the Huntsville Police Department will serve our community by protecting life, liberty, property, and defending the constitutional rights of all people with compassion, fairness, integrity, and professionalism.

That mission statement cannot be adhered to if the City of Huntsville ever agrees to participate in the 287G program.

Under this program, the cost burden of enforcing immigration law is largely shifted to local police departments, costing millions of dollars to the cities who participate.

Resources would be diverted from promoting community safety and preventing local crime.

Cooperation with ICE can lead to fear and mistrust within immigrant communities, discouraging individuals from reporting crimes or seeking assistance from law enforcement.

Even the perception of cooperation can lead to the lack of trust in law enforcement.

In Huntsville, when an officer arrests someone for a crime and knows or suspects that he or she is undocumented, that officer can pass along the information and investigate, and the investigator assigned to that can take takes and to the detention officers at the Madison County Metro jail.

That triggers a cascade of events that can end up with the percent with the person in ICE custody.

It's hard to get numbers, but in March, about 4 percent of our inmates were undocumented.

It used to be that most people with ice holts were released after their hold expired.

However, now we are seeing that all people are being held.

None are being released.

With this new reality, and with the daily reports of the increasingly cruel and illegal treatment of immigrants who are detained by the Federal Government, we need to figure out what we can do to minimize harm to our residents for all the residents of Huntsville.

Until we admit there's a problem, we cannot find an answer.

So I'm asking now for the City Council and the mayor to make it a clear resolution that Huntsville is not going to apply for the 287G program.

The symbolism of this act alone would go a long way toward increasing trust between immigrant residents and Huntsville police.

And if I might, one last moment.

In 1960, when our communities across the country were experiencing race riots, Huntsville did not experience those race riots because the city and white churches and black churches came together, people who didn't understand each other came together and they talked and they communicated and they found a way so that we did not have to have tanks on our streets.

I was raised in New Jersey and I remember the tanks coming down our streets.

It's not a good thing.

We solved that problem here, and we can solve that problem here now, today.

Thank you, Bill Mayor.

Our next speaker is Christopher Leoi.

Good evening.

Thank you.

I'm here to also speak in favor of the citizens' resolution against police cooperation with ISIS before you.

Enough other people have expressed why supporting this policy is uh wrong and unjust.

I just wanted to add maybe a small anecdote about how it's also senseless and self-destructive.

People working in this town, hopefully, even if they aren't engineers, may know something of uh Chiang Choi Sen, who is a student of Theodore von Karman.

He was a brilliant aerospace engineer and scientist without whose work my own job and this town's prosperity would not be possible.

As thanks for his voluminous contributions, Joseph McCarthy accused him of being a communist without evidence, put him under house arrest for five years, and deported him to China in 1955, where he went on to develop the Chinese missile system.

This is uh then Under Secretary uh of the Navy Dan Kimball famously said that this was the stupidest thing this country has ever done, and that's saying something.

This is an extreme and remarkable example, but seeing in recent months the brutal arrests of uh material science PhDs and sociologists and workers at uh Hyundai battery plants and living in this town, it's the one that comes to mind to me.

To target immigrant workers with specialized knowledge and expertise at the same time the government claims it wants to revitalize American manufacturing is irrational, uh cruel, and suicidal.

And there's no reason whatsoever that we as a city have to willingly participate in this destruction.

That last raid, by the way, uh saw 300-plus uh South Korean workers arrested and literally shackled.

Just today, the Prime Minister of South Korea said that this uh imperiled uh foreign investment in the United States.

All of this is not to say that our defensive immigrants should only be in proportion to their economic contributions.

It's just to highlight the stupidity and short-sightedness that is always the handmaiden of this kind of primitive nativist politics that animates the policies that we are seeing today.

Fulfill your duties as constitutional officers, as leaders and as people of conscience, and support the resolution.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Vera Vegara.

Bugara.

Help me out, last name.

Hello.

My name is Vera Vergara.

I am in your district, Mr.

Meredith.

Welcome.

I am here today to again as to address the issues of ICE.

I am a child of immigrants.

My children were the first in our family to be born in this country, and they were born in Huntsville Hospital.

But with everything that's happening with ICE, people that look like me are scared.

And we are petrified.

The idea that I have to go around Huntsville and make sure I have my citizenship papers with me is absolutely astonishing and it's humiliating to me.

I have to wear my earbuds when I'm in public, because I don't know if at any moment I could be taken.

And let's be real, it's not always going to be some sort of raid.

We have seen people taken going about their daily business, whether they're in a store or in a gasoline station.

I have never felt so unwelcome in this city that I have loved since I moved here since 1976.

So I'm asking you and imploring you to please accept this resolution that has been presented before you.

First of all, I want to bring a commonality to everything that is basically been said this evening.

And I think the key words would be accountability, transparency, communication, and equality.

We have heard a lot about the immigration issue as well as about the AI cameras.

But one of the things that I've always prided myself in, at least my patients call me the fixer, because too many people in this community have reached out for the answers that have not come.

So I am going to attempt to answer a few of those questions.

But I think we live in a rocket city with a lot of educated people.

And I don't think we need to really reiterate a dead issue.

And then had to use badges to go back and work in the properties that were later taken, or the children that later wanted to return home and didn't realize then that MIMA's property had so many citations against it that it ended up on the court steps and sold to developers and the wealthy.

Now, as Mr.

Hamilton said to me once, he said, you sure do ask a lot of questions for an average citizen.

Well, I don't think of myself as average.

But I do think of myself as an intelligent woman, a single mother, a physician, and a person who cares about this community.

And as Mr.

Hamilton said, I can't figure out, you know, you own farm property in Georgia.

Yes, I do.

But one thing that farmers always say is if I eat, you eat too.

So I'm going to help you to understand just a few concerns that I also had in regards to Huntsville Utilities and the pandemic money.

And you know, I'm kind of tired of being gaslighted, and I'm tired of asking questions that never came, and so I had to do my own research.

And Huntsville Utilities purchase fiber to the tune of a hundred million dollars.

And they took that from our cash reserves.

They didn't go to a bank and take out a loan.

So when auditors come in and they see these cash reserves go down, yeah, it raises questions.

But then who's giving the answer?

Who's hiding that?

Because you know, utility money is supposed to be used for utilities, not for fiber.

But then we have the smart meters that come in and maybe that covers so that it can appear on the electric financials.

So the last thing I really wanted to say is that we spend so much time with developers and AI and all of this, but we need to be spending it with our community.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our next speaker is Ms.

Sarah Colletti.

My name is Sarah Colletti.

My address is listed correctly on the sheet.

I am a resident of Hartzall, but I have lived in district four most of my life.

I still continue to work in Huntsville.

And I really just want to thank all of y'all here today for coming up and speaking.

So instead, I'll say some other things.

Earlier, we had somebody up on the dais say that they were told that the drones that HPD uses aren't used for surveillance.

Now, I don't know if the person that this person was talking to is just a liar.

But as someone who has been surveilled by the drones owned by HPD, I'm gonna say that's not true.

Those drones are already used to surveil us, whether it's because we're peacefully protesting in the park, even though you know, a lot of times we'll apply for a permit that gets approved by the city, we are still surveilled by HPD's drones that we pay for.

We don't get to see that drone footage just like we don't get to see the body-worn camera footage of our murdered citizens, and we're sick of it.

And y'all just want to point more cameras at us?

Are you serious?

Like if y'all had actually listened to us, this city detect thing wouldn't have got pushed back six to eight months.

It would have been stopped.

Y'all only did that because you want us to go away.

You think, oh, it worked with the the Palestinian people, they stopped coming up here because Bill Kling and John Meredith said that they might sign a ceasefire resolution.

And he had the gall to say that I've been contentious.

You want to know why I've been contentious.

It took like a week after October 7th for this city to unanimously pass a resolution in support of Israel.

We've been asking for years for y'all to show just little bit of support for Palestine.

And you can't even do that.

You can't even say the word Palestine on the dais.

You say the Israel Hamas war.

Say Palestine, because that is their land.

And um a lot of people might not realize that this ICE contract is a renewal, but that's the only thing they might not know.

Like it was said before, these are educated people.

And that's why they're not going to re-elect the District 2 representative, I hope.

Because accessibility in this city is disgusting.

And this city chose to put that man on the accessibility committee.

Thank you.

Our final speaker is Mr.

Jeremy Clayton.

Hello, thank you.

My name is Jeremy.

My address is on the register, and I'm a citizen of Huntsville.

Thank you, sir.

This is my third meeting I've ever attended.

I did speak at the first meeting that I ever went to.

And uh the only thing that's brought me in these meetings is trying to find out about the city detect.

Um I do notice that uh out of all the meetings I've been to, I haven't heard one person come up here and ask for it.

Everybody's been coming up here saying we don't want it, we don't want it, we don't want it.

The only people I've heard say that they want it is um some people over here in the suits.

Um the uh if you do push this on us and we uh we do have to accept this, is there some way we could at least get like a GPS tracking system on the on the trucks so we can you know monitor them while they're monitoring us so we can see what they're doing?

Um also um the $300,000, isn't that like a down payment to get it started?

That's not like maintenance and upkeep and all that stuff, too.

Uh I was just curious about that.

And uh once again, the surveillance, uh, Mr.

Kling, I believe you either are being lied to or the people that told you it's not being used for general surveillance is ignorant or they're lying to you.

So either way, that's not a very good uh good traits for our uh police department.

But there is a local uh music venue that they hide in a parking lot that's only uh accessed by certain members of the venue, and they fly the uh drones over the parking lot surveilling people, not looking for robberies or domestic violence as you charge.

But uh I I yield the rest of my time back.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

At this point in time, I'd like to honor uh Mr.

Little's request um that Mr.

Hamilton come up and talk about or address the ICE concerns of the public.

Uh thank you, Mr.

President.

Mr.

Hamilton, I thought it might be good just to clarify how things happen uh with our police when they make an arrest, they take somebody to jail if we have an over if we have a relationship with ICE as a city, maybe just to provide a little clarity.

Sure.

So uh one, obviously this is a complex conversation that I think needs to continue.

I don't think uh, you know, for for where you sit and the decisions you are asked to be made.

This can't be a one-time conversation we need to continue to monitor because obviously you know things evolve, and we're watching a lot of things that federal agencies are doing or state agencies are doing, things that we don't have authority over, but obviously can have an impact uh on our city, and those are things that that will evolve over time.

So I think uh it's important that we continue this conversation and continue to monitor uh what those things are, because what is the truth today may not be the truth a year from now or so a month from now or whatever.

So we need to continue to talk about these things.

So, you know, where where we sit today, uh there is not any existing agreement with ICE related to uh immigration enforcement with HPD.

And HPD doesn't have the authority to enter into an agreement like that on their own.

That would be something that would have to come uh before City Council uh for your approval if they were to enter into some sort of agreement like that.

Uh I would uh I would argue, you know, and obviously we're in the budget season, so I spent a lot of time looking at the resourcing of HPD.

They don't HPD isn't resourced to take on an expansion of missions uh like that.

So the conversation will be more than just an MOA, it'd also be about how do we actually get HPD the capability to do something like that.

And so that'd be a much bigger, broader conversation than just uh taking on those kinds of things.

But absolutely immigration enforcement uh does occur in our city and and those things are ongoing.

As you all the citizens that are concerned about it, they've I think they've educated themselves very well.

They understand that you as a city council don't have authority over a federal agency and they're not asking you to take authority over them.

Uh, but we do recognize they operate in our city.

Uh so you know there's certainly not anything that you or HPD or the mayor or myself or anybody else can do to stop ICE or any other Federal Agency from from doing operations that they've been directed to do by by their leadership.

Uh and but what we do have to talk about is you know where where does the work that we do at local law enforcement potentially cross lines there.

HPD is out there enforcing the law, and if somebody has committed a crime that uh then necessitates them going to jail, when they get to jail, there is a process uh within the Sheriff's Department.

Sheriff's Department runs the jail.

I'm not sure that all of our citizens are aware that uh that the Sheriff's Department runs the jail for the whole of the county.

So anybody that HPD arrest uh goes there to the to the county facility, and then the warden and the staff uh that operate that jail are the ones who really didn't take control over those prisoners uh and process them through.

During that process, what we have been informed by the Sheriff's Department and certainly detailed questions about exactly how they do and what they do is something that really should be directed to uh to the county and to the Sheriff's Department particularly.

But they do go through a process where if they suspect or they determine that someone uh is an undocumented immigrant, they do notify ICE of the presence of that person, and then they they take direction from ICE.

And it was, I think there were some examples noted here.

Uh that absolutely does occur.

That's not something that HPD has any control over.

That's not something that HP is directly involved in, because once they've arrested the person and delivered them to jail, that's really part of the administrative processing that occurs inside the jail.

And so that absolutely is happening.

Uh and you know how many of those exactly what ICE does with each one of those is something that they have to determine.

They work that directly with the Sheriff's Department who are operating the jail.

Uh that is that process, and their procedures there is not something that you as a city council have authority over.

Uh and quite frankly, I mean, and obviously this is not something that I think any of the citizens are asking for or or that we would contemplate, but the only way to circumvent that process is to stop arresting criminals.

So obviously that's that's not going to happen.

And so the reality is we do have people uh that will be arrested and be entered into that process once they get in under the custody of the of the sheriff and of the jail.

So that that is absolutely happening uh as we speak, and and I don't know that there's anything that would uh would change that as we you know as we move forward from here.

Um, at this point, we have not been asked uh by ICE to enter into any kind of long-term agreements as it relates to immigration enforcement.

We have not been asked to participate in the in the 287 program that was mentioned earlier.

Uh and if they did, that's something that we would have to bring before City Council to contemplate.

And so obviously that would have to happen publicly here, just like any other thing that you uh that you consider and approve.

So uh at this point, that is those kinds of requests are not on the table.

They haven't asked us uh for that.

Uh and it I I don't have the any reason to believe that we should anticipate them asking.

Uh but if they do, then that's something that obviously that we would have to notify you and we have to bring it before you to consider.

Great.

Thank you.

Um does does our police department check people to see if they are citizens, like if they pull somebody over or just drive to the parking lot and they don't.

I I would imagine that you know undocumented citizens probably speed as much as documented citizens do, and so they're probably getting traffic tickets or other things, uh, but those are not things that uh our officers are not equipped to go through, you know, the the uh determining someone's status and and nor have they been tasked to do that by their leadership.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you.

You're very welcome, Mr.

Little.

Um I'd like to ask for a recess.

I'm sorry?

A recess.

Oh, okay.

Um, 15 minutes?

12 and a half.

12 and a half minute recess.

Uh it's um 807, might as well say 808, so make it 820.

820 is good.

All right.

All right.

It is now 820, and we will reconvene this regular session of the Huntsville City Council.

All members are present.

And that brings us to 14A, which is a resolution authorizing expenditures for payment.

Ms.

Watkins, if you care to lead the way.

Mr.

President, I move that we approve expenditures in the amount of 37,828, and 300.

36 $360 and 26 cents.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Little.

Motion made by Ms.

Watkins.

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Um I presume Ms.

Smith will address us next week as opposed to today.

And uh we'll move on to 14B, which is the ordinance approving appropriations, goods, or services for District 2 Council improvement funds.

Second.

Or move to approve.

Sounds good.

Motion by Mr.

Little, second by Dr.

Robinson.

Um would you care to talk a little about the question?

Absolutely.

This is uh appropriation going to the Schools Foundation.

It's a wonderful organization here in town that supports our teachers, principals and students, and from some of the things I don't know I think deserve a little light shown on them.

They have a program called All-Star Abilities.

They help uh equip children with special needs to be on sports teams.

The schools, all the kids come out and cheer them on.

It's a wonderful program.

They also help kids pay their fees to play school ball.

No.

When I rode the bench for Huntsville Highland the basketball team, I was wearing the same uniforms.

The last 10 teams had worn.

And uh it's a lot different ball game now for playing school sports, so we're helping these kids do that.

So there's $5,000.

We'll go to them and it'll get put to good use.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

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 Yolanda Ulanda Codel 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.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Dr.

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.

Mr.

President, since our time is You can't consolidate something that's a good question.

Oh no, I'm not asking to consolidate because it has no action required.

Since it has no action required, could we simply say that the nominations as stated on the agenda will be reflected in the record?

No, I'll read them.

16A is a nomination to reappoint Lindsay Perry to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 16, her current seat for a three-year term to expire October 1st, 2028.

16B is the nomination to reappoint Melissa Musgrove to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 4, her current seat for a three-year term to expire October 1st, 2028.

16C is the nomination to reappoint George Cannon to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 5, his current seat, for a three-year term to expire October 1st, 2028.

16D is the nomination to reappoint Ahmad Brown to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 3, his current seat for a three-year term to expire October 1, 2028.

16E is the nomination to reappoint Jeffrey Blackwell to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 2, his current seat for a three-year term to expire October 1st, 2028.

16F is the nomination to reappoint Charles Below to the Burrett Memorial Committee.

16G is the nomination to appoint Tracy Gillespie to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 9 to the seat previously held by Paula Cushman for a three-year term to expire October 1st, 2028.

16H is the nomination to reappoint Cindy Griner to the Burrett Memorial Committee, place 10, her current seat for a three-year term to expire October 1st, 2028.

16i is a nomination to appoint Amy Kemp to the City Tree Commission to the seat previously held by James Peters for a two-year term to expire October 8th, 2027.

16J is the nomination to reappoint Troy Bowman to the City Tree Commission, his current seat for a two-year term to expire October 8, 2027.

16K is a nomination to appoint Matt Burke to the City Tree Commission to the seat previously held by William McBride for a two-year term to expire October 8th, 2027.

16L is a nomination to reappoint James Cochrane to the beautification board, place eight, his current seat for a three-year term to expire September 30, 2028.

16M is a nomination to reappoint Michelle Lamansky to the beautification board, place 11, her current seat for a three-year term to expire September 30, 2028.

16 N is the nomination to reappoint Alexis Quinn to the beautification board, place 7, her current seat for a three-year term to expire September 30th, 2028.

160 is the nomination to reappoint Laura Miller to the beautification board, place 12, her current seat for a three-year term to expire September 30, 2028.

16P is the nomination to appoint Zachary Hester to the beautification board, place 15 to fill a vacancy due to the resignation of Celia Wettstein for the remainder of a three-year term to expire September 30, 2026.

16Q is a nomination to reappoint Ethan Walker Jones to the beautification board, place 10, his current seat for a three-year term to expire September 30, 2028.

16R is a nomination to reappoint Billy Lennox to the beautification board, place nine, his current seat for a three-year term to expire September 30, 2028.

16S is a nomination to reappoint Mark Seely to the Board of Examinations and Appeals for Construction Industries, place 4, his current seat for a three-year term to expire September 21st, 2028.

16T is the nomination to reappoint Josh Steele to the Board of Examinations and Appeals for Construction Industries, place three, his current seat for a three-year term to expire September 21st, 2028.

16U is the nomination to reappoint LaFreda Jordan to the Huntsville Madison County Airport Authority.

Her current seat for a six-year term to expire October 24, 2031.

Are there any nominations from the floor?

I actually have one.

It is to nominate nomination to appoint Wiley Day to the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council, place 13, due to the resignation of Brian Webb for the remainder of a of a vacant four-year term to expire August 1st, 2027.

Brings us to Huntsville utility item.

17A is a resolution authorizing the Mayor to approve budget work orders and project work orders for new construction for system improvements, capital projects, including material purchasing.

Yes.

Did I skip something?

I will confirm that.

You write on time.

Yes, you made the motion.

Mr.

Little made the second.

That's okay.

16U is no, I've done that.

Huntsville Utilities 17A is a resolution authorizing the mayor to approve budget work orders and project work orders for new construction for system improvements, capital projects, including material purchasing, outside services, and labor, transportation and other expenses, as outlined in the budget for the electric department for the fiscal year 2026 at a total estimated cost of $64,473,985.

Moved approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair.

Hello, Wes Kelly with Huntsville Utilities.

Pleasure being with you tonight.

I realize you have a long meeting and you have more to do.

I have presentation material, but I'm willing to abbreviate that and take your questions if that is your desire, or I can go through presentation material expeditiously.

So I will follow the direction of the council.

What would the council like to do?

Expeditiously.

Expeditiously, and we'll move forward.

All right.

And uh these are mainly new electric delivery points in the first category.

These are the large substations where we receive power from TVA.

There's a number of different distribution substation improvements.

We are rolling out our first grid battery storage project.

And we're also beginning the process of automating our underground switch gear to put in more advanced technology in our downtown underground system where it is very much needed.

So those are the highlights.

This I know is an eye chart, you can't see it.

Um, but um what it does is it lays out our full five-year capital improvement plan as it exists today, with 2026 being in the first column going out to 2030, just to give you a little snapshot about how we think through these projects because many of them are multi-year basis.

So there's actually two pages of this just for the electric system.

The items that are on your agenda tonight are these items uh right here.

These are the budget work orders, new construction, all the way down to the various categories.

These are our annual normal construction capital appropriations.

Then we have project work orders.

These are projects that may uh go over multiple years, or they're just specifically called out.

They're not in big buckets, they're individualized projects, but as I said, some of these may span multiple physical years or fiscal years.

So that's what I have for electric.

Thank you, sir.

Um discussion.

I have a question.

I saw that you had string field substation.

Yes, ma'am.

So is that going to be upgraded, replaced?

Yeah, as a matter of fact, it's actually string filled where we're putting this new grid battery storage system.

So it's a four-megawatt hour battery, it is the first that's ever been at Huntsville Utilities.

It will provide reliability, and it will provide other um voltage enhancements, and we will also be upgrading uh some of the circuits in that area as well.

And where we're on string field is dislocated.

The battery is going to be located adjacent to the existing substation, which is kind of across from the quarry.

Okay.

That's good news because every time it storms, I lived over in that area, the power goes out.

Yes, ma'am.

So this is going to help that situation.

Great.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

That brings us to 17B, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to approve budget work orders and project work orders for new construction for system improvements, capital projects, including material purchasing, outside services and labor, transportation, and other expenses as outlined in the budget for the gas department for the fiscal year 2026 at a total estimated cost of 11,180,334.

Moved approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson.

Second by Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Kelly.

Yes.

So skipping ahead on the gas side as well to get to the core projects here.

The gas system is pretty straightforward this year.

We're continuing enhancements in the north side of the system, North Huntsville, North Madison County.

We're starting to loop together gas mains that are just been run out radially for years.

We need better resiliency and redundancy out there.

So we are running these large loops to augment and improve that system.

We're also functionally complete with our replacing our aged cast iron gas main system.

So that was mainly in the older parts of town.

That was a long-term project for Huntsville utilities.

We're wrapping that up.

But the big project this year is to relocate a high-pressure gas main, which runs under Providence Maine.

It actually runs under the sidewalk of Providence Maine.

And that for safety reasons, we want to get that high-pressure gas main relocated to a less densely populated area.

So this breaks down the what we call the waterfall chart, which is because it sort of uh trickles along there.

Um for the gas system, you see it's a much smaller than on the electric side, and you see a lot.

You see north, north, north, north.

You see a lot, a lot of activity on the north side of the system.

There is a lot of construction in that part of the community, and so we are making sure we got infrastructure where it needs to be.

Thank you.

Yeah, and then yeah, and then these are your uh your both budget and project work orders that you are asked to approve here tonight.

Thank you, sir.

Any discussion on this?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 17C, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to approve budget work orders and project work orders for new construction for system improvements, capital projects, including material purchasing, outside services and labor, transportation, and other expenses as outlined in the budget for the Water Department for the fiscal year 2026 at a at an estimated cost of 26,718,000 four hundred and sixty-eight dollars.

Move to approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the Chair.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Mr.

Kelly.

I am stuck on West, but thank you, Mr.

Kelly.

Absolutely.

Um brings us to legal department items and transactions.

18A is an ordinance authorizing the vacation of a utility and drainage easements between lots 118 and 119.

Stratford phase three at McMullen Cove.

Move to approve.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Kling.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries brings us to 18B, which is an ordinance authorizing the vacation of a utility and drainage easement across lot 20A, Green Mountain Auction Property, 5302, Riverview Drive.

Moved approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Kling.

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

That brings us to unfinished business items for action.

19A is an ordinance revising, restating, and consolidating the Human Relations Commission and its bylaws pursuant to resolution number 94-633, which was adopted and approved on August 25th, 1994.

Moved approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the chair.

Any discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to new business items for consideration or action.

Are there any items under 20 that it council member would like held for separate consideration?

Item E as an egg.

Yes, sir.

And also item G as in good.

Yes, sir.

I'm doing G as well, H and W.

Um.

G, H and W.

Alrighty.

Any others.

In that case.

Chair moves for consolidation and approval of items.

Actually, um I want to hold 20B as well.

B as in boy.

Um therefore the Chair moves for consolidation and approval of items 20A, 20C and D, 20 F, 20I, through W, and then 20X and Y.

Second.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling.

All in favor say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed say nay.

Motion carries, and those items are approved.

That brings us to 20 B.

The Chair makes the motion for approval.

Dr.

Robinson makes the second.

I only held this to give acknowledgement to the person that is making this donation.

And if you can just tell us who it is and the amount, we'll move on.

Certainly.

This is uh basically an annual um donation that comes to the Parks and Rec Department for Richard Sauer swim program, specifically from Representative Laura Hall.

It is in the amount of $10,000 for our shower pools, swim lessons, water safety education, equipment, and teaching aids for or lifeguard training.

Thank you very much.

And uh thank uh Representative Laura Hall for her generous donation.

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Brings us to 20E, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a grant agreement by and among the United States Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration and the City of Huntsville, Alabama for fiscal year 2026, say streets and roads for all grant program.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Little Beach.

Any discussion on this one?

Mr.

President, I just asked to have it held so we could get a general explanation of what it is, since uh you know it's always good.

Everything we go through, it's good to kind of give a little rep, you know, recognition to uh federal safe streets program, things that we're doing.

Yes, sir.

Mr.

Davis?

Thank you, Council President.

Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

So should you approve this tonight?

We will be accepting uh federal grant proceeds for one of our ongoing projects that is in our current capital plan, which is our Homes Avenue corridor rebuild, which will essentially start from Monroe Street downtown over into through uh Jordan Lane over to Sparkman.

So it's a very long path.

Uh much of that uh area is seeing some redevelopment.

There's areas that doesn't have subwalk.

Uh so what we've been working on, then our engineering department has is what we call complete street uh cross section, where dedicated bike lanes, wide sidewalks, uh certainly improved lotting, more multimodal, pedestrian-friendly, certainly make sure that you know vehicle traffic still travels that quarter.

It's a heavily used corridor between Research Park and UAH and downtown.

Uh but we also believe it's a great corridor to increase pedestrian traffic.

Uh so we've been working on that project.

Uh it's a very expensive project, and our team in planning and engineering uh thought it was be a good candidate for this grant program, and and uh we were fortunate enough to select that.

So kudos to our staff in engineering and planning for putting together a great grant program or package.

So the total grant uh project is $30.8 million, and it's a 70-30 split.

So the Federal share of that will be $21,640,000, local matching funds that will come out of our 2014 capital plan to where we were building up funds to do this project 100% with city uh capital funds would be $9,160 uh thousand dollars.

What this grant will do is allow us to accelerate this project greatly.

Uh like I said, there uh staff is currently in design.

Uh we will come to you with uh probably in about a much because you approve this.

So there's two different style of design plans.

So when we do something for local funding, uh certainly it doesn't have a lot the same uh federal standards that have to be reviewed through Federal Highway Administration.

So we will do a small contract amendment for the design team to add the federal standards to the project so we can uh send it to Al Dot and Federal Highway Administration to approve the design, so they'll release these funds.

Uh but we'll start some most of it is in existing right away.

There's a few little slivers of of Ritaway just to widen sidewalks and things, but uh uh should you approve this, we would like hopefully to stay accelerated such that late next year we can start construction.

Uh originally without this grant, we were looking at 2030.

So it's a it's a great acceleration for our capital projects.

Kudos for picking the federal account.

Uh you picked the best uh account for this project.

So kudos.

Yes, sir.

What is the uh completion date supposed to be?

So if you will allow us to uh come back to you on that, uh again, we've taken by accepting these grants from we've taken a local project and turned it into essentially a federal project.

So there's additional review, uh, but we believe, because this is for construction funds only, uh, that we will be able to continue to accelerate our design, get into right-of-way acquisition.

Like I said, it's not large tracks, it's slivers along the existing roadway of Holmes Avenue.

Uh I would think early next year, Councilman Klein, we can we can give you a completion date because we will have been through a couple review processes with Federal Highway.

Um by law, they get 90 days uh minimum for a review at 30 percent 69 and 100.

Uh I can tell you it usually takes longer than 90 days for each one of those reviews.

So if it if so, for example, that's why I want to maybe come first of the year with that.

Through a normal Federal aid process, they get four reviews, 90 days.

You can do the math, that's a year worth of just review time.

Um but this grant program is designed to spend money or deploy it into communities quickly.

So we expect that to be accelerated.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

Yes, sir.

Uh yes, Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Davis, so I was curious, I know this would be a great project for that uh stretch of road, and I figure with uh Mill Creek happening and other uh activities west on governors with the kind of general upgrade we've seen with stovehouse, things like that.

Would we expect to see some activity like that along homes?

I've always been curious about the site of the old Sparkman homes.

You know, if anybody's ever talked about doing something there, I think it's on floodplain and being along homes.

I'm wondering if this might help something happen there.

Yeah, so we continue to have conversation with the housing authority.

Uh they certainly are the lead in that we're a supportive agency of things that they want to see happen to their properties of value add to to the residents and value add to their position to be able to maintain the properties they have.

That is one that they do have interest in.

One of the pieces that you brought up, meaning Mill Creek.

Um I hope in the next 18 to 24 months, the public will start to see the master planning that has gone on for uh gosh, 15 years in multimodal.

So we're we're just a few weeks away from bringing you the first phase of the park project of the widening of Pinhook Creek that ultimately has bridges over to U.S.

231 and 431 that gets you into Brahm Springs and Joe Davis Stadium and further south.

Um this homes Avenue project has a direct connection to that greenway system.

And then we've just started having public meetings on North Belt Line Greenway that will have connections to not only the park project but Holmes Avenue and get you to Alabama AM.

So we've always said this channel widening, flood mitigation, and part federal grant project, think of as the transit hub for uh pedestrian and bicycle amenities, and it's starting to all get connected.

And so I think over the next couple of years uh publicly you'll be able to see uh what we're trying to create in the city.

Thank you.

Mr.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

Yes, Mr.

Klein.

All right.

Uh I think I could kind of point out there has been a lot of activity over there, I guess uh doing my walking over there.

Uh McThormal acres over in that neighborhood has gone on the National Registry of Historic Places and a lot of good road resurfacing over there.

Uh CCI uh Russell Hill Cancer Institute is a great new uh world-class facility up there where there used to be just uh barren land.

Uh then right now we're seeing the new uh uh office building construction that's taking place uh where the big hill was where the UAH uh Nugent House used to be.

So there's a little bit here, a little bit there.

You know, there's a lot of uh you know things that are taking place in that area that would look good and uh this project certainly is good to add to that.

Yeah, we have had a lot of interest in our office come through that.

We talked about this project, and I think some of the hesitant of some of that moving forward has been when will this project actually start?

How long is the construction?

So this grant certainly takes a lot of that doubt out of play, and I think you'll see a lot of good things happen in the next couple of years out there.

For sure.

Thank you.

Any further discussion?

All those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Councilmembers.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis.

That brings us to 20 G, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and NCI Meridian LLC for the acquisition and redevelopment of Huntsville Summit Apartments to support the preservation of 100 affordable senior housing units serving very low-income households.

Move to approve the resolution.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by the Chair.

Um Mr.

Irwin, if you would give us a councilmember Scott Irving Community Development Department.

So tonight before you is another contract in our efforts to increase and modernize the affordable housing supply within Huntsville.

Uh we had an opportunity to work with the local developer neighborhood concepts and also leverage federal funding through our COVID relief funds, which had an expiration date coming up rather quickly that we've been using for rental assistance.

One of the eligible uses for this funding, other than rental assistance, is again to increase and modernize the affordable housing uh stock within your community.

Uh uh a property within Huntsville uh known as the Summit is uh built in 1979.

It has 100 units, uh, it has a HUD contract in which the residents pay no more than 30 percent of their income uh to live in this pro in this property.

Uh it did have substantial deferred maintenance.

Uh so the current owner and the prospective new owner, neighborhood concepts uh enter into an agreement that they would neighborhood concepts could purchase it uh and then do a complete demolition and rebuild on this site.

Uh again, this is really exciting.

Uh there's a couple of big issues to take note of.

Uh everyone that is living there currently will be subject to a relocation plan.

So they will have someone assist them in finding a temporary relocation during the demolition and construction reconstruction.

Uh in addition, once reconstruction is complete, they will have the opportunity to return to that new modernized uh facility.

Um what before you now is this updated rendering.

The uh development team, the architect is done by Nola Van Person and Shoal Marklin.

Uh in addition, the entire development team is local, uh, as I said, led by neighborhood concepts and Mary Ellen Judah uh engineering.

Our financing team is also local, and of course, our support upon your approval of the City of Huntsville.

So this is a somewhat unusual project in that it is all locally driven, it will be locally owned, and it will be of a huge benefit to our local citizens.

Uh the entire uh budget for this development is just over 21 million dollars upon your approval of this 4.7 million again of federal COVID relief funds that has a very fastly approaching expiration date.

If we're not able to use it for this intended purpose, it would be returned to the U.S.

Federal Government.

Uh but that $21 million and your $4 million and then the addition within uh local financing uh creates this opportunity for a substantial investment near downtown Huntsville, uh huge benefit to the residents who have been there for a long time.

Uh again, it was determined that that facility was in desperate need of not just renovation, but a reconstruction.

So uh as I said earlier, Mary Ellen Judah when every concept is here as the developer tonight.

If you have any questions, you'll be glad to answer that.

Uh but also those there's the the uh a backside of the product.

Uh hopefully the the timeline will shortly after the first year demolition or start construction of uh she may correct me, 14, 16 months or years.

I'm sorry, four no months.

I'm sorry.

14, 16 months.

Haven't we had a lot of problems with this property?

There has been a substantial amount of deferred maintenance.

Uh a lot of the elevators uh have not been working properly.

Uh Hemsey and FIRE have had issues sometimes getting individuals out of the upper floors.

So yes, this has had a lot of substantial needs based on the needs assessment, uh, and that is why we have identified this as a priority property within the downtown Huntsville, but also within our stock of affordable housing that was in desperate need of updating and modernization.

We are not losing anything.

We're just getting a much, much nicer modernized facility.

Is this going to take your air conditioning problems that we have had to do?

Uh I believe so.

I mean a new facility.

Yes.

Thank you, Mr.

Cling.

Mr.

Little.

I had a really good question.

Pardon me?

I had a really good question.

I have already forgotten it.

We'll come back, Mr.

Let somebody else talking to you.

Yes.

Now you did say that the residents would be able to move back, correct?

Absolutely.

There was a meeting this week that we are consulting or the developer is consulting with the residents during this process, uh, and they were informed that that how that process will work.

They will have a relocation specialist assigned to them and assist them in finding a appropriate to meet their their needs, a unit that will accept their uh HUD voucher, of source, not ability voucher, because this is privately owned with a HUD contract again to provide affordable housing.

Okay.

And I understand you saying that you have some, you know, someone that is going to work with them.

But um I know a couple of residents who were displaced and had vouchers, were unable to find somewhere to stay within the 90 days that they are given.

Are we going to be assured that they will be able to get a place to stay?

So when you talk about a voucher and that 90-day process, that's the Huntsville Housing Authority.

Uh-huh.

So this is not a Huntsville house, they're not involved in this process.

And the rules are somewhat different.

Again, they preconcepts will have an entity work with them to make sure everyone is placed appropriately to their own.

But let me let me revise my question.

Is there going to be a guarantee they're going to have somewhere to stay when they are displaced for this construction?

Yes, absolutely.

Okay.

100 percent finding a place and 100 percent ability to return.

Okay.

Just want to make sure because we don't want them to be displaced, and then we don't want this facility built and they are not able to move back in.

Again, Ms.

Judith will be glad to enter any details about how we will do that, but I know there is a substantial plan that has been created and submitted and approved for how that happens.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Mr.

Little.

Yeah, I remember now.

Uh just thank you, Mr.

President.

Is the capacity the same or will it have more capacity than you?

So it's a one-for-one replacement.

There are currently 100 units and 100 units will be replaced.

Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Little.

Okay.

Um in that case, all in favor say aye.

I agree.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries, brings us to 20H, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement between the City of Huntsville and Meltwater.

Chair will make the motion.

Second.

We will give Dr.

Robinson the motion and Mr.

Kling the second.

Is there someone that could speak?

Yes.

Thank you, Ms.

Scrimpcher.

Councilmembers Kelly Scrimpshire, Director of Communication.

This is our annual renewal of our meltwater.

This is our media monitoring service that we use.

It basically aggregates all of the news to the day from headlines all over the globe, social media trends, and we use it to monitor public sentiment to keep abreast of Huntsville's mention and local, state, national, international news, and we also use it to compile a daily news digest for the administration for council members.

Thank you.

Any further discussion on this one?

All those in favor say aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries.

That brings us to 20W, which is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a memorandum of understanding forming the North Alabama Drug Task Force by and between the City of Huntsville, Alabama, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, ALEA.

Madison County District Attorney, Madison County Sheriff, the City of Madison, Alabama, and the Department of Justice and Homeland Security Agents.

Move to approved.

Motion by Dr.

Robinson, second by Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Hamilton, if you could give us a discussion or summary.

Councilmember, what's before you is uh update and renewal of our MOA with all the agencies you just listed there for the drug task force that's been operating you know in our community for for quite a few years.

Uh from time to time, there's updates required of that MOA.

Uh so that's that's what is before you uh today.

So it's the same the same task force that's been operating for many years and will continue to operate uh under under the same conditions and rules.

Thank you, sir.

Dr.

Robinson?

And I think we should note that that drug task force has recently had a number of really successful efforts, and we're grateful for that.

Yes.

Amen.

Any further discussion?

Ms.

Watkins?

Uh more so a comment.

I went through the memorandum of agreement, and I can reassure everyone who is concerned about um ICE being involved in this.

There's nothing about ICE in this memorandum.

Correct.

Nothing at all.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

Um all those in favor say aye.

Aye.

All those opposed say nay.

Motion carries, and the item is approved.

That brings us to new business items for introduction.

21A is the introduction of an ordinance to adopt the City of Huntsville annual budget for the fiscal year 2026 beginning October 1, 2025.

21B is the introduction of an ordinance amending ordinance number 89-79 to provide all eligible employees of the City of Huntsville a cost of living adjustment, COLAs is sometimes referred to as, as reflected in the first pay period of fiscal year 2026, budget effective October 13th, 2025.

21C is the introduction of an ordinance to declare certain property surplus and no longer needed for a public or municipal purpose.

21D is the introduction of an ordinance annexing 9.93 acres of land lying on the east of Highway 431 South and south of Wade Road.

21E is the introduction of an ordinance annexing 14.62 acres of land lying on the east of Greenbriar Road and north of I-565.

21F is the introduction of an ordinance to change the name of a portion of Dunlop Boulevard Southwest to Town Madison Boulevard.

The 21G is the introduction of an ordinance to change the name of a portion of Avicent Way to Old Monrovia Road Northwest.

And that will bring us to my the if I can get a motion to adjourn, preferably from Mr.

Kling, we'll call in tonight.

Thank you, Dr.

Robinson.

And thank all of you.

Because that's part of our being good neighbors with the cities.

So we prioritized and we took the soldiers that we did have, which in our case are very senior.

They're very senior NCOs, very senior officers.

You typically would not see them on a gate.

And we're able to put them on there for uh just a couple of hours in the morning to help us get the traffic through the gate.