Welcome everyone.

We're ready to begin the meeting.

If everyone would take their seats.

All council members are president, are present, and we are waiting for um Mayor Battle will be joining us shortly.

It is Thursday, February twelfth, twenty twenty-six, five thirty.

We are met in the chambers of the Huntsville City Council in the City of Huntsville, and we welcome everyone who's joined us tonight.

We extend a special welcome to Limestone County Commission Chair Colin Daly, who's joined us as well.

Welcome.

We will begin our meeting as we normally do with an invocation that will be offered by Nancy Smith, one of our police chaplains, and the Pledge of Allegiance will be led by Dr.

Onley Collie, Ollie Conley.

Please rise and join us for the prayer and pledge.

Let us pray.

Lord, we lift up our city council.

Give them wisdom, discernment, and steady their decisions.

Remind them that leadership, when done with humility and integrity, has the power to shape lives for good.

During this month, as we recognize Black History Month, we thank you, God, for the courage, resilience, and contributions of Black leaders, families, and pioneers who have shaped our communities and our nation.

Help us not only to remember history, but to learn from it, honor it, and build a future marked by dignity, opportunity, and unity for all.

Teach us to care for our hearts physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Strengthen the health of our citizens.

Thank you for their courage and quick thinking and their willingness to step forward when moments mattered most.

Because of them, lives were saved, and families were spared grief, and hope showed up right on time.

Bless these officers, Lord, watch over them and their families, strengthen their body, mind, and spirit, bring peace into their homes and rest to their hearts.

Protect them, renew them, remind them that their service is seen, valued, and deeply appreciated.

May we be a city marked by compassion and progress, by justice and mercy, and by respect for one another.

Amen.

Please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands.

One nation under God, in the visible, with liberty and justice for all.

You may be seated.

Thank you very much, Chaplain Smith and Dr.

Connolly for opening our meeting in such a wonderful way.

We will move to the approval of the agenda.

Council members, please note that 20 M has been deleted by the sponsor.

And plea Councilman Kling has asked that 14C be taken out of order.

And with your approval, it would be considered after 6C and a presentation would be made.

Are there any other changes or additions to the agenda?

Hearing none, is there a motion to approve the agenda?

Motion by Mr.

Little and second by Mr.

Cling.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

The agenda is approved.

And for the record, Mayor Battle has joined us.

We'll now move on to the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting.

Council members, you have the minutes of the regular meeting of the City Council held on January 22nd, 2026.

Are there any changes or additions to those minutes?

Seeing none, the minutes will be accepted as approved.

We now, the mayor now has a special recognition.

5A is a presentation of a life-saving medal.

We don't do these very often, and it is a real honor to uh to do that now.

Mayor Mayor Battle.

Thank you, Madam President.

If I could ask Chief Giles and he has a team of officers who need to come forward to be recognized.

Would y'all please come forward?

Thank you, Mayor.

Mayor and members of the council, if you'll bear with me just a minute, I'd like to read this to you.

So today we are recognizing two officers and one sergeant whose actions on an ordinary morning became an extraordinary act of courage and ultimately saved a man's life.

So December 5th of 2025, at approximately 720 in the morning, officers were dispatched to the 4400 block of Millbarrel Drive.

A caller had reported that her brother had left the home and was not dressed, was not dressed appropriately for the near-freezing temperatures.

So Officer Miller, Officer Morris, and Sergeant Cunningham all arrived and began searching the area.

During that search, a second caller reported seeing the man jump into a nearby creek.

The creek has swollen from recent heavy rains and the water was cold and moving very swiftly.

Officer Miller located him in the creek, but lost sight of him due to the vegetation and the water current.

Approximately 45 minutes into the call, Officer Miller, Officer Mars, and Sergeant Cunningham located him again.

He was stranded on a small patch of grass in the middle of the creek.

Officers quickly found a way to get closer to him and tried to convince him to come back to shore.

However, he was shaken uncontrollably.

He was pale and unable to respond coherently.

So they knew that time was critical.

So without hesitation, Sergeant Cunningham, Officer Mars, and Officer Miller removed their equipment and entered the water, which again was moving rapidly.

When they reached him, he was unable to stand or walk.

So they had to carry him through the cob and the water was waist deep and an uncertain footing.

They carried him back to the shore and transferred him over to emergency personnel.

Hempsey later confirmed that his body temperatures core body temperature was 90 degrees.

So should be noted the hypothermia sets in at 95 degrees.

Medical personnel advised that without immediate intervention, he likely would have not survived.

They were courageous, and they made the difference.

So because of Sergeant Cunningham, Officer Morris, and Officer Miller, a life was saved.

And we thank you for your commitment to our community.

To all these officers who serve every day, we want to say thank you for the job that y'all do on a daily basis to make our community a safer place.

Thank you.

Let's thank these officers one more time.

We'll now move on to special recognitions and resolutions from the council.

6A is a resolution honoring Black business owners throughout Huntsville in recognition of Black History Month.

The Chair moves for approval.

Second.

Second for Mr.

Little.

All in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

Any posed motion carries.

Ms.

Watkins, would you like to make that presentation?

Yes.

Can I get the members of Invest Northwest to come up, please?

So in recognition of Black History Month, Invest Northwest, which is North Huntsville's Business Association, is going to accept this proclamation on behalf of the African American business owners.

Whereas the City Council and Mayor of Huntsville, Alabama recognize the significant contributions of black business owners in strengthening the economy, social and cultural fabric of the City of Huntsville.

Whereas black business owners in Huntsville have demonstrated extraordinary resilience, innovation, and leadership in establishing and sustaining business that provide essential services, create employment opportunities, and contribute to the vitality and growth of the local economy.

Whereas black business owners in Huntsville actively contribute to the community through mentorship, civic engagement, and philanthric efforts, fostering the next generation of leaders, supporting local organizations, and strengthening neighborhoods throughout the city.

Whereas in celebration of Black History Month, the City Houncil recognizes the legacy, achievements, and enduring impact of black-owned businesses, and fostering community development, supporting local initiatives, and strengthening neighborhoods across our country.

Whereas the accomplishments of black business owners reflect the spirit of innovation, determination, and leadership that has helped shape Huntsville into a thriving and diverse and inclusive city.

Now, therefore, let it be resolved that the City Council and Mayor of Huntsville do hereby honor and commend the black business owners of Huntsville, Alabama, for their invaluable contributions to the community, their entrepreneurial spirit, and their enduring impact on the city's growth and prosperity, and that a copy of this resolution be presented as a lasting tribute to the achievements and continued success.

Thank you all.

And at this time, I'll let um Mr.

Lee, who is the executive of the best Northwest give a few words.

Thank you, Madam Councilwoman.

We just want to thank you and our business owners for the work that you continue to do and that the city is assisting us with to make Northern Huntsville, Northwestern Huntsville, and our operational footprint a place where businesses continue to thrive and where the city is investing in including more development.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Move now to uh six B.

Six B is a resolution in honor of Heart Health Month 2026.

Uh Chair moves for approval.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Little.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed motion carries.

Uh would representatives from the American Heart Association come forward, please.

Do we have them here tonight?

Since they are not there, we will hold off on presenting this to them.

Um, but we appreciate their efforts to help us all be heart aware and take actions with CPR, with AEDs, and to be heart healthy.

We'll move on to 6C.

Six C is a resolution honoring Jazz McKenzie for her exceptional talent and outstanding achievements.

The chair moves for approval.

Second by Mr.

Little.

All in favor, please indicate aye.

Opposed the motion carries.

Ms.

Watkins.

You want to join me?

You're a fan.

You have a fan, Jazz.

Councilwoman Robinson.

Living in love.

She took the midnight.

I would like to leave a legacy that you good people exist.

Even with you know, recognition, gifts, talents, so many different things.

You can still walk in integrity.

You can still operate in love.

You can still be a good person.

You don't have to become everything that the world wants to make you to be just because God gave you something.

It's so turn around.

Oh, yeah.

Boy, girl, I'll assist a track.

Well, if you don't know who that is, that is Jazz McKenzie, who was on The Voice and made it to was it the final round?

Mayor Paddle, you want to join us too?

We have a superstar in the house tonight.

And we want to celebrate her because she's a huntsville's own, and we want to celebrate the fact that she made it that far.

And I think she could have made it further.

I was a little judgmental.

But what the video did not show was that at one song she sung, all four of the chairs flipped around at the same time.

It was a four-tier four-chair turn.

So you and Max and Decca Hearts, I was rooting for all of you the whole time.

But you need a family stop.

So Jazz, can we get you to come up so we can present this resolution to you?

Y'all not clapping about enough.

Hey Jazz.

Hey.

Whereas the City Council of the City of Huntsville takes great pride in recognizing residents and alumni whose achievements bring distinction and honor to the city of Huntsville and serve as an inspiration to the community.

Whereas Jazz McKenzie is a dynamic vocalist from Birmingham Alm, Alabama, now based in Huntsville, whose artistry reflects exceptional talent, dedication, and cultural impact.

Whereas Jazz McKenzie is a proud alumni of Alabama Indim University, where she developed her confidence and musical foundation, and where her artistic growth was further shaped through her membership in Sigma Alpha Oda, an international music fraternity for women.

Whereas Jazz McKenzie began her professional career in 2018, debuted at RB Vibes Live in Huntsville and quickly became known for her soulful tone, emotional storytelling, and commanding stage presence.

Whereas Jazz McKenzie gained national recognition as a contestant on season 28 of NBC's The Voice, advancing advancing to the final round and representing the City of Huntsville, Alabama Union University, and the state of Alabama on the international stage.

She has earned a rare four-chain turn that Ms.

Robinson was talking about during the blind audition from Coaches Reba McIntyre, Now Horan, Snoop Dogg, and Michael Bubble, with her powerful rendition of Tina Turner's What's Love Got to Do with It and later delivered a standout performance of Journey's Don't Stop Believing.

I like that song, which the coach described as giving him goosebumps.

Whereas Jazz Musical Journey is rooted in faith, family, and community, and includes performances at Huntsville Panopley Arts Festival and shared stages with acclaimed artists such as Dougie Fresh, Chrisette Michelle, Leela James, Avery Sunshine, and Kim.

And whereas Jazz remains committed to uplifting and inspiring the next generation of artists through authenticity, musical excellence, and service to her community.

Ladies and gentlemen's Jazz McKenzie.

Would you like to say a few years?

I just want to thank you all for having me.

Thank you for honoring me.

It's an honor to stand in this position and represent the city of Huntsville alongside my hometown, Birmingham, Alabama, just to you know honor Alabama in general and to represent.

I'm so glad to be in that position.

So we're gonna keep on going.

I'm gonna keep making you proud.

Thank y'all.

Thank you.

I'm very likely.

Council members now uh, as we've agreed and changes to the agenda, we will consider 14C at the request of the sponsor, Mr.

Cling.

Let me get there.

Madam President.

Yes, sir.

I would uh so move for passage of uh 14C, which is a $5,000 appropriation from my individual discretionary council directed project account.

It would be used uh but well let's hang on just a second.

14 C is an ordinance approving appropriations, goods and services for District 4 Council Improvement Fund.

Mr.

Kling has made the motion.

The chair will second.

Okay.

Please go on and share share with us what we're doing here.

Okay.

Well, that would be for uh providing funding for the Huntsville High School principal's uh books account.

All right, any discussion?

All in favor, please indicate.

All right opposed.

Motion carries.

Now I believe Mr.

Kling, you would like to make a presentation at this time.

Uh that is true.

Is uh Mr.

Hitt from Huntsville High School out here in the audience.

There he is.

Thank you for coming down.

I um understand that uh there's a little basketball game that's taking place this evening.

Could you tell our audience about it?

Uh yes, tonight we're hosting the uh area tournament with 7A.

We play at 6 o'clock.

We play our rival Grissle, and at 7:30, Albertville and Spark as Albertville and Sparkman will play.

Okay.

Madam President, I'd like to have that uh seconded by me for the record.

But anyway, it's my pleasure to present this to Huntsville High.

Uh, we appreciate so much what you all do.

Uh, your basketball team is something that uh uh is just uh stellar with with the achievements that they've been able to do every year.

And of course, Huntsville High is such an important part as far as revitalizing that whole Mayfair neighborhood area over there.

And uh we just think y'all are just about the best thing in town.

So uh please take this.

Uh don't drop it, it might bounce, but uh but we we'll get you something a little bit more substantial, but again, this will go to the principal, and I think he's got some good uh plans for using it, and we certainly wish everything but the best for uh big red.

Well, on behalf of Dr.

Clarence Sutton, our superintendent, our school board, Kerry Flipple, the principal of Huntsville High, the administrative team, and our almost 2,000 students.

We thank you for your continued support, and we continue to pray that we make Huntsville City look good in everything that we do.

I think y'all do.

Thank you.

This is a big Huntsville button.

All right.

Thank you, Councilmember Kling, for sharing that with all of us.

Um we have a couple of announcements to make.

The first is to welcome several scouts who have joined us for the audience.

For those of you who don't know, scouts have requirements for citizenship in the community and also for communications to attend a council meeting to visit with council members.

I've had that pleasure a number of times.

So we welcome all of you tonight who have joined us and hope you learned something.

If you want to talk afterwards, we certainly can as well.

First announcement is that we will have the Huntsville utilities energy task force work session in these council chambers on February 27th at 11 o'clock a.m.

If you all recalled last meeting, uh Wes Kelly, the CEO of Huntsville Utilities, uh gave a brief summary of those recommendations, and we felt that those recommendations needed some in-depth exploration, so we have scheduled a work session.

It will be the only item on the agenda, and we will have an opportunity to really take a look at those rec recommendations at that time and discuss them.

Secondly, I'm sure other council members have received, as I have, uh, complaints from citizens regarding recycling pickup and the inconsistency thereof.

Uh I met with the SWATA director, the Solid Waste Disposal Authority Director this week.

And we have received a statement from uh the Solid Waste Disposal Authority that they are partnering with the City of Huntsville and Madison County to collect recyclables this Friday, February 13th.

It will be our lucky Friday.

All second week RENA recycling customers should leave their carts out and ensure they are on the curb Friday, February 13th before 7 a.m.

and at least five feet away from any other obstacles.

We uh the and then um Mr.

Holiday also shared this statement and he asked me to read it at this meeting.

We sincerely appreciate the City of Huntsville and Madison County's willingness to assist us in getting the recycling collections back on their regular collection schedule.

We also apologize to our arena customers and citizens for any inconvenience caused by the delayed recycling collections.

We greatly appreciate your patience and understanding and hope you continue to participate in the future.

So we are we are hopeful that this extra collection day with the collaboration of city sanitation workers, Madison County sanitation workers, will help get that schedule back and running smoothly.

We uh have one matter with outside legal representation.

8A is the council's decision on a personnel hearing for Scott Hartman, Huntsville Police Department, which was held on February 6, 2026.

Madam President, I move to uphold the decision of the department head.

The motion has been made by Mr.

Little.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Kling.

Is there any discussion?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

I am gonna abstain.

I'm abstaining as well.

Then let's uh let's do a roll call vote if we could please, Mr.

Meredith.

I abstain.

Mr.

Kling.

Aye.

Mr.

Little.

Aye.

Ms.

Watkins.

Abstain.

And the Chair votes aye.

The motion uh carries.

And the decision of the Department Head is upheld.

We have no public hearings to be held.

We have several to be set.

10 A is a resolution to declare a public nuisance located at 3607 Princess Street Northwest, Huntsville, Alabama, and to set the date for when objections will be heard.

Is there a motion to set the hearing?

Move to set the hearing for February 26, 2026.

Is there a second?

Second by the chair.

Mr.

Little has made the motion.

Chair has seconded.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The hearing is set.

10 B is a resolution to declare a public nuisance located at 4906 Clarky Road Northwest, Huntsville, Alabama to set the date for when objections will be heard.

Is there a motion to set the hearing?

Yes, moved to set the hearing for February 26 2026.

Motion by Mr.

Little, second by Ms.

Watkins.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed.

The hearing is set.

10 C is a resolution to set a public hearing on Raj Kumar doing business as AAA car service for the operation of two luxury vehicles.

Is there a motion to set the hearing?

Move to set the hearing for February 26, 2026.

Motion from Mr.

Little.

Second.

Second by Ms.

Watkins.

All in favor, please indicate.

The hearing is set.

10 D is a resolution to set a public hearing on Anthony Fisher doing business as Southern Comfort Luxury Transportation LLC for the operation of one luxury vehicle.

Is there a motion to set the hearing?

Move to set the hearing for February 26, 2026.

Second.

Motion by Mr.

Little, second by Ms.

Watkins.

All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed?

The hearing is set.

10 E is a resolution to set public hearing on the zoning of 1.41 acres of land lying on the south of Sutton Road, west of Woodside Drive to residence 1A district and the introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Move to set the meeting for the public hearing for March 26, 2026.

Motion from Mr.

Little, second second by Mr.

Kling.

All in favor, please indicate.

10 F is a resolution to set a public hearing on the rezoning of 1.15 acres of land lying on the west of Bell Road, south of Bell Park Lane from residence 1B district to residence 2 district and introduction to an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Move to set the meeting for March 26, 2026.

Second by the Chair.

Motion by Mr.

Little, second by the Chair.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The hearing is set for March 26th.

We will now move on to agenda related public comments.

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

You may sign up to speak on the public comments roster prior to the meeting, and these speakers have done so.

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

Each speaker may address the council for three minutes.

Speaker 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.

The first person to sign up is Attorney Scott Morrow, is Attorney Morrow here.

We will move on.

The next person to sign up is Steve Wright.

Subject is impound contract.

Is Mr.

Wright here?

Please come to the microphone right here.

And if you'll just state your name and uh address and city of residence for the record, please.

My name is Steve Wright.

Address 46 Underd Sum Drive.

And City Residence?

Onsville, Alabama.

Thank you.

35810.

Thank you very much.

You can begin.

Okay.

I wanted to uh make a complaint about uh my vehicle being impounded from roadside towing.

I buy this uh 2007 Cameron from this company, R and J and the 21st.

I got all the paperwork.

My car was being told on the 27th of December from uh apartment complex for parking at uh no parking area.

I try to claim my car at the Monday, the following Monday, with uh my paperwork.

Roadside told me said I cannot get my car because somebody write on the title.

I informed them that first they said I need to get the owner for the company.

That's my partner.

So we get them, we come back at the same Monday with the business license, dealer license, and he told me that I need to go get the release from.

So we go again, come by the third time with the release form.

When I come by the third time, he said we're not giving you the car.

Go get the lawyer, get whatever you got there.

I'm not giving you nothing.

So I was just trying to come here to finals.

What's the solution for just buying a car?

And uh we got all legal documents and cannot get the access to get it.

Does that conclude your comments?

Oh, I am told that uh to order treatment was the disrespectfully on top of uh trying to claim uh a position.

I got my test glasses, I got my script in the car.

I got my dealer tag was on the car.

I even asked them, please can I get my script, uh test glasses, even my dealer talk.

They said no.

They couldn't give me a car.

They don't know who owned the car.

Well, I got a tide clear, I got uh Villa Sale, I got everything to prove that.

I am the owner for the carboard that refused not to give me anything.

And uh I think two weeks after I talked to the owner myself, and that's when he agreed that I could get my tag and my medicine or the car.

And I've yes that they are going to sell it to in the auction.

If I need it, I gotta get it in the auction.

Okay, thank you, Mr.

Wright.

Um, Mr.

Riley, would this be something that someone from your department could help with?

I believe we will we will talk to him.

We wouldn't be able to help him with it.

If we can direct him in the right uh position.

I think Lieutenant Danley is here and might be able to take his information and check on he works uh on the on the towing contracts.

And I am actually uh getting an indication here that Mr.

Hamilton would be willing to talk to you.

So if you'll go with Mr.

Hamilton outside the chambers, he will have that conversation with you.

Thank you, Mom.

Thank you, sir.

Uh, the next person to uh sign up to speak on a gender-related items is Daniel Bradford.

Uh subject is also inpound contract, is Mr.

Bradford here.

Good afternoon, City Council Member.

Give us your name and address and city for the city resident.

Bradford, 4651 Salm Drive, Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you, sir.

I'm here due to a conversation I had with the Chief of Police.

I was informed that my company, Bradford Rec Service, would be disqualified from bidding on the city contract, inpound contract, due to a sign that was in my office that said cash for only for inpound vehicles.

Because of that sign, he said I was removed from the next in line rotation list, which made me noncompliance with the city.

I had called the chief to complain that I didn't agree with that decision due to the fact that it didn't apply to Huntsville City Vehicles.

It was only for N pound vehicles only.

So I'm I'm here tonight to ask this council to make the right adjustment before it is approved.

My company, Bradford Record Service was a low irresponsible builder on the current solicitation for the Huntsville City impound contract.

We have waited for years to bid on this contract.

We have the facility, the equipment and the personnel to meet all requirements to reform that says of the bid.

Therefore, I'm asking the City of Council to award Bradford Record Service, the city, the Huntsville inpound contract, due to the fact that I was the low irresponsible bidder.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

We have no other um individuals who have signed up on non-agenda con uh comments.

So will we move on to the mayor's comments?

Mayor Battle.

Thank you, Madam President and Council.

Um just a couple of uh quick items there.

Um the Mardi Gras raid uh is Saturday, uh 2 30.

If you happen to be going to a wedding, which is downtown at 2 o'clock, you might want to go a little bit early and get there into the building before we have to close down roads.

Um you may have to wait just a little while after we uh you finish the wedding to be able to get to your car to get get out.

So just know that uh there's gonna be some congestion downtown uh from probably about 2.30 to 330 or 4 on Saturday.

Uh also um in addition to weddings and Mardi Gras parades, it is also Valentine's on Saturday.

Uh fair warning to all, if not all guys, to all guys and ladies.

Uh it only takes a little bit of candy to make someone very happy, so uh take some time out and make somebody happy.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mayor Battle.

And thank you for that reminder as well.

We'll move on to Councilmember comments.

We will begin with Councilmember John Meredith.

Thank you, Madam President.

I too will be brief.

I just want to acknowledge the death of uh a local hero in microwave Dave.

Um I know he meant a lot to most folks in Huntsville.

I did not I'm not a native born and bred Huntsville, but I've been around long enough to have forged my own relationship with Michael Wave Dave, and um you will be missed by the City of Huntsville.

Also, uh, like uh the mayor mentioned, um happy Valentine's Day in advance.

Um all you young gentlemen out there, get your flowers and your candy ready and uh be prepared uh to ask that question.

Will you be my Valentine?

And good luck with your answer.

I also want to acknowledge that it is uh Black History Month and want everyone to have a happy Black History Month and learn as much as you can about Black history that you currently know nothing about.

And then finally, the I guess the the order of business is uh I want to bring to the city's attention, the administration's attention that um we need a monument sign at the West uh Huntsville Rec Center.

Given the layout of how the entrance, the driveway is so far away from the front of the building.

We have people that are taking a premature left turn that is really just a U-turn to get back to the MAPCO, and they're turning and they're trying to get into the rec center and they can't do it.

So if we have another town hall there soon, we might have uh a pretty nasty accident with folks trying to make that turn that does not exist.

So we could get a sign out there that lets folks know that it's another two, three hundred feet further uh west than you think it is.

Uh we would probably go a long way uh to making that a safer uh environment.

And that, madam president, is all I have.

Thank you, sir.

I saw Mayor Battle taking lots of notes there.

So I know you'll follow up with him.

Uh brings us to Councilmember Michelle Watkins.

Ms.

Watkins.

Good evening, everyone.

I want to thank Arts Huntsville, uh Fantasy Children's Playhouse, Alabama Anim University Theater Department for presenting Annasi, the Spider on this past Friday at the Calvary Hill Theater.

It was well attended.

The kids had a lot of fun.

I really enjoyed that the um cats stayed behind and asked the questions for the children, and they had a lot of questions, a lot of interesting questions.

And then on Saturday night, I want to thank Matt Mandrella.

I think you're here.

Are you here, Matt?

He's our music director for the City of Huntsville.

Uh he had Oakwoods Choir, Alabama Annum University, and Lee, and let me tell you, they presented voices of Hope and Power this past Saturday night at the Carver Hill Theater, and you were in for a treat if you were there because those choirs were outstanding.

I don't know which one did the best.

I was just floored at how great they did.

So thank you for bringing that to the Canberra Hill Theater.

And then on Sunday, I want to thank Ms.

Con Lee who led the pledge tonight.

Uh her and William Hampton gave a black history program here on the sixth floor City Hall.

And let me tell you, it was standing room.

There were no seats available.

People were standing up.

And if you have an opportunity throughout the month of February, she has all of her Black History archives up on display on the sixth floor.

You can come up and view at your discretion while we're open.

But it was well attended event, Ms.

Conley.

You did a great job.

Thank you for doing that.

And Thursday, I will have a town hall at 5:30 at House of Hope and Restoration.

You can get to it from Sparkman Drive, or you can get to it from Grizzlient Road.

But we'll have a town hall.

And then on Saturday morning at 10 o'clock, I will have the 21st, not this Saturday, not on Valentine's Day.

Not that I have a Valentine's, but we're going to have a district drop-in.

That's where you come and talk to me one-on-one about issues and concerns that you have in the community, and that starts at 10 o'clock.

And I think that's all I have.

Thank you.

We'll move on to Councilmember Bill Kling.

Thank you, Madam President.

I uh would like the record to reflect the passing of some very fine citizens in the community of one of Huntsville.

Uh Betty Joe Cunningham, who was uh well loved and the wife of Leroy Cunningham uh after a long illness passed away this past week.

Uh numerous friends, and she will be greatly missed.

Uh I'd like to join Mr.

Meredith and uh mentioning microwave Dave.

I knew him back from my news days when I was at public radio, and he would come in to do live performances in the radio studio, and again, he was uh a great person uh and everybody had high regard for him.

He was a local institution.

Former State Representative Howard Sandford uh passed away.

Uh Howard had served uh Huntsville, Madison County for numerous years in the State Legislature, was very highly respected, and former city employee Janice Fowler passed away.

And again, uh these are just great people who is my privilege to have known, and uh I think our city was a little bit of a better place because of uh those folks.

A couple of things going on.

I'm gonna be having a town meeting this Monday night, 6 o'clock at the library, and of course, everybody is welcome to attend.

And this past week I attended the uh School Foundation Teacher of the Year uh recognition dinner.

Uh other council members were in attendance, and uh this was a great uh event.

It recognized the excellence and these outstanding outstanding teachers of the City of Huntsville school system as well as uh City of Madison and Madison County.

And when we talk about our future, uh the bottom line is uh our schools, our education that we provide.

So uh that was a great event to attend, and I congratulate uh all the people who helped put that event together.

Earlier this week, uh we received um some crime statistics that were presented uh by the the police chief.

And what's interesting is that the bigger Huntsville gets, uh the better our crime rate gets.

Um data was used with the benchmark of the year 2019, and during that time, or from that time to now, City of Huntsville's grown by over 20 percent.

But even though we've grown in population by 20 percent, we've seen decreases in numerous crime categories, including violent crimes uh and breaking and entering.

And I think this shows uh the great uh people that we have working in our police department.

They have the challenge of covering the uh 29th largest land area city in the entire country, and they do that, and at the same time they're doing that, uh the crime rate is is dropping.

And having a safe city for all of our citizens, I think is something that uh that we see as being very important.

And again, uh that's something that uh I'm proud of and uh appreciate the great work uh uh that the police department leadership and the rank officers uh do.

Uh one thing that I've already contacted the uh city engineering department uh received complaints of or concerns or requests from uh residents who live both in Sherwood Park and also the uh western portion of Chadwell Drive, and this has to do with noise coming from the parkway for Chadwell Drive and Alabama Highway 255, right out road for uh the Sherwood Park area, and we're trying to get the uh State Highway Department to look at these two areas to see if there's any noise abatement that can be done uh and see what they can come up with.

But uh appreciate the uh cooperation that we have between the City Engineering Department, the Traffic Department, and also working with the State Department of Transportation.

And uh again, uh that's all I have, Madam President.

I'd like to uh commend uh Ms.

Connolly, and it was my pleasure to participate uh with Councilmember Watkins in uh being at this great event that was held.

And uh again, anybody that's able to during the week come up the sixth floor to see those wonderful artifacts that uh Ms.

Connolly uh has been very gracious to donate uh to our floor uh for the month of February.

So much history, so much heritage, and it's something that all Huntsville's uh can take a great source of pride.

So uh thank you again, Ms.

Connolly, and uh you're just a wonderful person to have in our community.

That's all I have, Madam President.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling.

We'll move to Councilmember David Little.

Thank you, Madam President, and I'll echo what everybody else said about Microwave Dave, but it's certainly a loss that the whole community feels.

He actually, MicroWave of Dave the Nukes played at our wedding.

So that's how far back we go.

Um and I know a lot of people have reached out about ways to honor him, and I know we'll all be ready to do that when the time is appropriate.

Um I would like to yield the rest of my time to the scouts if they would like to come up to the microphone and tell us why you're here, tell us your name and your PAC number.

It will be entered into the record, and then 50 years from now you can tell your grandkids you came and talked to Huntsville City Council.

It will be on the internet forever.

So you can just come to the if you'd all come to this microphone right here, just one at a time, line yourselves up there.

Tell us your name and your PAC.

Your name, PAC number, and what you're working on.

Somebody's got to go first.

Who's gonna be the leader?

Oh, yeah, there you go.

This is your leadership opportunity.

Pull the mic down.

We can do this, right?

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

Pull the mic down.

Pull the mic down.

There you go.

Your name.

Memphis.

And what Pat Uwick?

156.

Okay.

And what school do you go to?

Legacy elementary.

All right.

Very good.

Randy Mayo.

My PAC.

My PAC is 156.

Right.

And my school is Legacy Elementary.

My name is Gabriel Daniels, and I died years old.

My PAC is what five, six, and I go to Blossom Elementary.

Goat Panthers.

My name is Christopher Green.

My name is Christopher Green.

My PAC is 156.

And I go to Valley Fellowship Christian Academy.

Great.

Thank you all.

And leader.

And I'm called Johnson.

I am the Cupmaster for PAC 156.

And we always looking for a challenge.

We would love to have you the kids come and visit with us.

We always recruit it.

So if you know a young man, a young lady who wants to challenge themselves, give me a call.

You can go to one 1BSH.org and look up Boy Scouts and get them good information.

But what we try to instill in them is community.

We first got family, community.

And that's what we are here today trying to see how city government works.

Thank you for your service, sir.

It is a unique and precious honor that you give those boys.

Thank you for bringing them with it tonight.

Thank you, Madam President.

Okay.

I will make my comments brief as well.

I had the opportunity on Saturday to join the Mayor's Youth Advisory Council, Dr.

Randy Barber and I spoke to them about city government, how city government works, how the policy process works.

And after meeting with those young people, and they represented high schools all over Huntsville, I I felt very positive about the future of our youth.

They are going to be great leaders in the future.

It was just a great opportunity to be there, and Dr.

Barber is doing some really great work with them.

I had the opportunity yesterday to do a walkthrough at uh the Sandra Moon Community Center that's in the process of nearing completion sometime this summer.

And uh I joined James Gossett and Alice from City Parks and Recreation, our director and Alison Delagnacka, the executive director of Arts Huntsville.

Uh their enthusiasm for the project was evident.

The work that's being done there is just outstanding.

And we look forward to reviewing it actually at a town hall this next week on February 17th at 6 o'clock in the Moon Art Swing with the band rehearsal area to get an update from uh Alison Dillon Jock and James Gossett and also uh Mr.

Hamilton regarding the the work that's been done, the work that still needs to be done, and uh as we look forward to the opening sometime this summer.

So great work to everyone involved with that.

And then ditto to everything everybody said, I was just kind of chicken them off the list as we were going down.

Um we're we've all uh have experienced some really great things uh this week, and uh we just are living an exciting time in our city right now.

Oh, Mayor Battle.

Thank you, Madam President.

Um I guess I was overwhelmed with uh making sure that I had Valentine's taken care of, but um I do have some appointments to make.

Um be okay at this time, I would like to announce the reappointment of Kimberly Tibbs to the Huntsville Music Board for a two-year term to expire February 9, 2028, the reappointment of Jim Page to the Huntsville Music Board for a two-year term to expire February 9, 2028, the reappointment of Daniel Davis to the Huntsville Music Board for a two-year term to expire February 9, 2028, and the reappointment of Kelvin Wooten to the Huntsville Music Board for a two-year term to expire February 9, 2028.

Um, all these appointments were done in in conjunction with um an advisory by uh Matt Mandrella, our music commission, our music uh officer for the city of Huntsville.

Thank you, Mayor Battle.

We ready to move on?

Finance committee report.

14A is a resolution authorizing expenditures for payment.

Madam President, I move uh for the authorization of 42 million 32,402 dollars and eighty-nine cents.

Second by the chair.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

And I believe um, Mr.

Meredith, that we have a report.

Yes, Ms.

Smith, if you would do the honors.

Here a report from Penny Smith, Finance Director.

Good evening.

Um Penny Smith, Director of Finance.

Tonight I just want to update you on some upcoming debt issuances of the city that will be forthcoming, and we are currently working on this debt, is in regards to ongoing projects, both planned and budgeted within our Capitol Projects funds and um and a school issuance.

So in regards to the types and the sizing, the issuance will have four different series.

There will be two series, series A and B that are considered new money.

So one is for parks and rec coming out of our 1990 capital projects funds.

You can see those projects that are listed there.

A total amount of about 78 million 78 million dollars will be procured in principal.

So this is you passed a reimbursement resolution was passed in regards to these projects on in July of 25.

And so we have been we have been working on this project.

This is the model that we like to use in the city.

There that way we do not overborrow for the different projects that are underway, and so they have already been bid and they are in process.

The um the 2026 B is for the tax exempt borrowing for the schools.

So this is kind of what I call the first installment of our uh Huntsville City Schools facilities projects.

Um the larger plan is going to be submitted, I believe, presented to this body by Dr.

Sutton later on at another council meeting.

Um these are for both schools that are new and under renovation, and the total amount will be $75 million.

Again, this is in pursuant to a reimbursement resolution that was passed by this body in October of 24.

So those projects are ongoing as well.

Remember that this funding for the Parks and Rec series will come from the 1990 capital projects funds that has been budgeted and is in process, and also our 6.5 mil capital that is for the city with regards to a separate separate fund there.

And then for the school system, it is all of this, all of their debt is paid for for the 6.5 mills, a different fund.

We actually collect six select three different 6.5 mils.

That's confusing with regards to the city, and they are in different places for different use.

But for the schools, um, it is always modeled and set forth within that time frame, and um and we have done that work, and so this will be contained within that funding source.

Please uh don't forget that there are also two refundings that are in regards to this issue.

This is like refinancing, just like you refinance your mortgage for a cheaper payment.

We do the same thing with our uh with our issuances, and so for the city will we will be refunding series 2016A.

Um it is savings only on interest payment.

We do not change the maturities or the timing of the borrow.

And um, and so the total amount is for about 21 million dollars.

The net present value savings is 2.7 million.

The actual savings over 10-year time period is $3.5 million.

For the school system, um 2026 D will be for series 2014 C and 2016 B borrowings, again, savings on interest payments.

The total borrowing is for about $39 million in principal.

Net present value savings is about $4 million.

Actual savings over 10 years is approximately $5 million.

Just want to, although all of y'all are well acquainted with the team that we have that has been ongoing for a number of years, just wanted to re put that in front of you.

So PFM is our principal, is our financial advisors, Josh McCoy and Moxie Lewis lead those teams, and they have been working closely with us to model all of this debt, bring us forth the refinancings, and look through all of this as we move along.

Also, um our bond counsel, Bradley A.

Rant um is with Rod Rod Cantor.

He has been one with the city for a number of years and puts puts forth all of the POS, all the preliminary official statements and any kind of statements that come in front of the council or go to the bond market, is put together by Rod Cantor in his office.

I've also worked and had the privilege to work very closely with Dustin Day, who is our CFO for the city school system, and he has helped with um with the modeling and the projects and everything on on the school side, and then for our city staff, obviously, and particularly in my department, Rachel Biggs, my deputy finance director, works very closely with me amongst other people on staff, in addition to legal administration and general services.

And last, um I just want to put forth the calendar.

So we are ongoing this week, and we issue today the preliminary official statement and the final writing packet that went to our Moody's and Standard Poor's.

We will have the writing calls with them on Tuesday of next week.

And then after that, we will distribute the final POS that goes out to our investors, and we will receive those ratings back from Moody's and Standard Imports.

We do not expect anything less than the triple A rating that the city has come to honor in and have in their in their offerings.

So we also will post that for investors and they will start looking at that.

One thing I want to remind you of is that on the 12th is when we will be in the market for this sale.

We will be in the markets that morning.

The investors will bid or put forth their offers, and then we will bring those to you in the evening on the 12th at Council.

It will require unanimous consent so that we can make sure that we we actually have those offers in hand and can post those back to our investors.

Is there any questions?

Council members, do you have any questions for Ms.

Swift?

Smith Meredith?

No questions, but thank you for letting us know in advance about the need for the unanimous consent.

Thank you.

You know that triple A bond rating that we have been able to maintain is largely due to the work that your team does, so thank you for that as well.

And as Ms.

Smith mentioned, um, we will have a presentation from Dr.

Clarence Sutton at our next uh council meeting on the capital, the school system capital plan.

Um we felt like if we were going to be going forward with these borrowings, we really needed a formal presentation of that plan to the council, which we haven't had.

So that will be taken care of at that meeting, and then um I I believe you're going to have a more in-depth um description of how those borrowings and how those will work with the Capitol.

Specifically how they are funded by the city, because those are a GO warrants issued by the City.

Thank you very much for that.

Any other questions?

Thank you.

We'll move on then to 14B.

14B is an ordinance approving appropriations, goods or services for District 2 Council Improvement Funds.

Move to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Meredith.

Mr.

Little, would you like to share with us what we're doing here?

Yes, ma'am.

Uh, this is a $5,000 appropriation to the City School, Huntsville City Schools to provide funding for students from the Academy for Science and Foreign Language Middle Schools, future city team to attend a national competition up in Washington, D.C.

And uh hope they do well, hope they win, hope they come back, finish education, and decide to stay in Huntsville.

Comments or questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

All the motion carries.

We have uh considered enacted on 14C, which was taken out of order earlier in the meeting.

We will move to 14D.

14 D is an ordinance approving appropriations, goods or services or district five council improvement funds.

Motion to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Meredith, second from Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Meredith.

Uh yes, Madam President.

Uh $7,000 uh I'd like to have appropriated to Global Ties, Alabama to provide funding for the Meet the New South program for local university uh students from both Oakwood uh University, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and of course Alabama AM University.

And then also a $5,000 uh contribution I shouldn't say contribution, but rather an appropriation to the shower up uh entity to provide funding to operate mobile shower and laundry trailers for um our unsheltered uh here in the city of uh Huntsville.

Thank you.

Any questions for Mr.

Meredith comments?

All in favor, please indicate.

I opposed.

Motion carries.

We will now move on to the board appointments.

We have one abort board appointment to be voted on.

14A is a resolution to appoint Sue Alexander to the Huntsville beautification board, place 10 to fill a vacancy due to the resignation of the Ethan Walker Jones for the remainder of a three-year term to expire, September 30, 2028.

Move for approval.

Motion from Mr.

Kling, second from Mr.

Meredith.

Any comments?

Discussion?

All in favor, please indicate.

I proposed.

Motion carries.

We have two board nominations that we will not act on them tonight.

They are nomination only.

They will be acted on at the February 26th meeting.

16A is a nomination to appoint Deputy Chief Michael Johnson to the alternative sentencing and release commission due to the resignation of Rex Reynolds for the remainder of the vacant term.

16B is a nomination to appoint Brandon Tucker to the Huntsville Madison County Convention and Visitors Bureau Board of Directors to fill the vacancy due to the resignation of Ernest Young for the remainder of a four-year term to expire April 12, 2028.

And again, those will uh come before us for consideration at the February 26th meeting.

We have no Huntsville utility items.

We have a couple of legal department items.

18A is an ordinance authorizing the vacation of a portion of a utility and drainage easement between lots three and four, Richland Park subdivisions.

Movement approved.

Motion for Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Meredith.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed.

Motion carries.

18B is an ordinance authorizing the vacation of the utility and drainage easement in lot 18 of a Montesanto Cove phase two subdivision.

Move to approve.

Motion for Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Meredith.

All in favor?

I indicate any opposed.

Motion carries.

Several unfinished business items for action.

19A is an ordinance naming the new arboretum at John Hunt Park, the Joy McKee Arboretum.

Move motion to approve.

Motion to second.

Motion from Mr.

Meredith.

Second from Mr.

Kling.

Any comments?

I think we uh are John and I are proud to uh co-sponsor this together.

And I think Mr.

Hamilton has some particulars about this.

Good evening, Council members.

John Hamilton, City Administrator.

Thank you for considering this item.

The items before you obviously is for the naming of the Arboretum that is currently under construction in honor of Joy McKee and recognizing her service to our community.

I wanted to highlight not only her service in city uh in city government, but also kind of why, why her and kind of the how this ties into the things that we are doing over time at John Hunt Park.

Several years ago, in fact, it's far enough back that several of you before your time on council, I did uh presentation on the master plan for John Hunt, uh, and that's you know what we are executing now.

And part of that discussion uh was specifically around uh number of streets and other venues there that uh would you know were right for being named.

In fact, the number of the streets had no name at all, and we needed to get addresses and things.

And so what what we briefed at the time uh and what uh what council and the administration of the state consistent with is that we wanted to recognize people, either elected officials or citizens uh in some sort of civic service or even some of our appointed officials that had a direct tie to the public uses and the development of that property.

And so if you go down, you'll see streets that are you know, is one named after the mayor who was there when led the effort to turn into an airport, you know, so way, way back.

Uh and then most of them, though, are people who are involved in its development into a park.

So, for example, Russell Brown was the was the chair of the planning commission that approved the very first master plan for John Hunt Park back in 1993.

And it is others like that.

Uh Mayor Hedinger, who was also the mayor at that time that that master plan was developed, and so we could go through a long list.

I won't do that here, but that to give you a sense of what uh what we sought to do.

Uh in this particular case, Joy McKee was department head uh for landscape management, and she was instrumental in actually the creation of Green Team and much of the work uh being done around our community uh for environmental purposes and beautification of things.

And under her leadership, uh, as we undertook the process of turning an old airport into a park, uh she really led the effort for reforestation, quite frankly.

You know, airports uh aren't real big fans of trees.

They don't like vertical structures, they kind of get in the way of airplanes, but parks love trees, and so how you turn an airport into a park, a big big part of that is uh is reforestation and getting trees and things in there.

And we have literally planted thousands of trees, and it was under her leadership and her team in putting that plan together and executing that plan with the assistance of lots of volunteers and things.

Uh and because of the work that she did, not only there but around our community, we felt it appropriate to uh to honor her uh in the naming of this arboretum that we are currently constructing.

Any questions or comments for Mr.

Hamilton?

I think you've you have uh laid out very well uh Joy's contributions in John Hunt Park, and we certainly are grateful.

All in favor, please indicate.

You said no questions for him, but I've got comments.

I'm sorry.

Mrs.

Watkins, I didn't even have to hear you.

That's okay.

Um I am abstaining from this vote, and it has nothing to do with her character or her contributions to the city.

I don't believe anything should be named after living individuals.

That is my belief personally, and because of those beliefs, I will be abstaining from this vote.

But I want to make it clear it is nothing to do with Joy's character or contributions.

Thank you, Ms.

Watkins.

That is important to get that on the record.

Any other comments?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Abstain.

We uh please let the record show that Ms.

Watkins has abstained and all their council members voted in uh the positive.

19B is ordinance amending Section 18 of Ordinance 04-315 of the personnel policies and procedures manual.

Move to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Meredith.

Uh any comments, questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

I oppose motion carries.

19C is an ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter an agreement by and between Limestone County Commission and the City Council of the City of Huntsville for the acquisition of certain properties related to the Boeing Boulevard Extension Project.

Motion to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Meredith, second from Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Davis, would you like to uh help us understand what we are doing here?

Thank you, Madam President.

Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

So Council members, both 19C and D are related to road improvement projects out in the Western Corridor of the City.

So when we enter into Limestone County and into Madison County, we are doing road projects for which a small portion of the Railway may be an unincorporated city limits.

The majority of these projects of the road project is in the city limits of Huntsville.

We have to enter into an agreement with the County Commission, either Madison County or Limestone County to get their authority to acquire right away for a road improvements.

We appreciate our our partnership with the Limestone County Commission.

It's been very important for development in the western part of the city.

Do we have any questions for Mr.

Davis?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye opposed.

Motion carries, and then brings us to 19D ordinance authorizing the mayor to enter into an agreement by and between Limestone County Commission and the City Council of the City of Huntsville for the acquisition of certain properties related to Swancart Road improvements project.

Motion from Mr.

Meredith, second from Mr.

Little.

As Mr.

Davis mentioned, this is similar to that other one, just Swankart Road is where we're working and again working with Limestone County Commission.

Any questions, comments?

I just want to say that it's been an honor and a pleasure working with the Limestone County Commission on this.

We have had other opportunities to work together, but this one's really been a pleasure, and I want to thank all of them for what they have done to make this as uh efficient as possible in getting all of this done.

It's been a great collaboration.

Mayor, do you have anything you want to add?

Regarding Okay.

All in favor, please indicate.

Motion carries.

We will now move on to new business items for consideration or action.

These items will be approved in one motion unless any member of the council wishes to remove an item for discussion.

The reading of each item will be waived unless a council member requests otherwise.

Council members, we have a really long agenda.

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

Yes.

Yes.

Do I still need to give you my so we can get it properly?

Okay.

D.

Got it.

X.

Y.

AA.

A K.

All right.

I also have items K, O U, AE, and A G.

Those are the one.

I was going to hold A G and the other one.

So good.

Okay.

Are there any other items anyone wishes to hold that we have not called out?

So we have items D, K, O U, X, Y, AA, A K, AE, and A G.

Got it?

Then the Chair moves for consolidation and approval of items 20A to 20 C.

20E to 20J.

20 L, item M has been deleted.

20 N.

20 P to 20 T.

Told you it was a long agenda.

20 V, 20W, 20Z, 20 AB to A D.

20 A F.

20 A H to AJ.

That's it.

I am sorry to do this to you.

I thought we had uh we're going to hold AF.

We have we had discussed that.

Okay.

So would you like you like to hold it?

I'll leave that up to the Chair's discretion.

If you would wish to hold it, we can hold it.

Okay.

Then we're good.

Okay.

Okay.

Then then.

Shall I go through that again?

No, you read it right.

Okay.

You read it right.

Is there a second?

Second.

Second.

All in favor, please indicate.

Hi.

Any posed?

Motion carries.

We will move on then to those items held for separate consideration.

20 D is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into agreements with the low bidders meeting specifications as outlined in the attached summary of bids for acceptance.

The chair moves for approval.

Second by Mr.

by Mr.

Little.

Ms.

Smith.

Good evening.

Penny Smith, Director of Finance.

So before you this evening is a resolution, as she read, authorizing the mayor to enter into low bidders meeting specific specifications outlined in some of the attachments.

We had two bidders for periodic bids.

One for one was for record impoundment.

This is for the police department specifically, and it was awarded to roadside towing.

The other one is for automotive light lighting and associated equipment.

This is for our Fleet Services Department and for ProFit Alabama was the winner of the bids.

Are there any questions for Ms.

Smith?

Mr.

Clink.

Make sure and turn your microphone on.

A lot of information is out there.

Somebody had told me that the uh the low bid that did not meet specs was not selected.

And again, I don't know what is or is not true, but was the low bid who met specs selected?

So I'm assuming and I'm assuming that the other questions are going to be in regard to the towing contract.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um so let me just give some some what happened with was in regard to some of the towing um contract bids.

So there were four bidders.

Um three of the bidders, so there was a um di four different bidders, and three of those bidders were disqualified for various reasons that they did not meet uh contractual requirements and the specifications.

Um so only one of the bidders um actually met all of those specifications, and that was for roadside towing.

And um and and so that was what was awarded the contract.

Any other questions for Ms.

Smith?

I don't know.

Ms.

Watkins.

You done, Council McLean.

Um can you tell me the reasons why they were disqualified?

Yeah, there is um actually quite the list.

Um do you I don't know um as far as so there was an impound lot for noncompliant that was in noncompliance.

So the impound lot requirements did not had to meet a hundred thousand square foot requirement.

It had to have a perimeter fence that was that enclosed the structure, and it had to have certain under other requirements with regards to LED lighting and such to be sure that it was a safe area to store the vehicles that were impounded overnight and such.

Many of them did not meet those specific um specifications.

The list is kind of um for each of these, if you want me to read them all, as long as that's um okay.

Well, I would I would much rather have a copy.

Okay.

Because it's easy for someone to tell me, and I'm not questioning, but to see it in writing for yourself and to see that they did not meet the qualifications.

That would help.

As well as if Attorney Riley, do you have the bid sheets as well?

Okay.

So, in addition, in addition to the lot size and noncompliance, there was also equipment and personnel deficiencies in some regards to the different bidders and failure to disclose some prior contract terminations were in there.

There was also responsibility determination that was in regards to some of these um bidders that that did not meet.

And um and I believe that kind of covers the main portions of the different bids overall.

But again, the list it was there was very specific, it was very detailed.

And Ms.

Smith, this is the process that we go through with all our bidders.

Oh, yes, absolutely.

We work um so finance is is in charge of basically the overall compliance and with regards to having it open and secure for the bidders themselves.

Um and regards to the bids, we have it we do it at a specific time and place.

Um we do that in conjunction with the way that legal has laid out for us to be done with the with the bid law by the state.

Um, but we work specifically with each of the departments to and they they craft their own you know specs and stuff to be sure that and that is laid before the different bidders that come before us or proposers, and um and they must meet those specs.

And um, and so this was all of this that you see that that is um in regards to the different justification for not selecting these bids was put forth by the police department.

Thank you.

Ms.

Watkins.

I have questions.

Not sure if you can answer them, so I don't know if John Hamilton needs to come up or the chief needs to come up, but I have gotten a lot of complaints about roadside.

And I was actually at their business over a month ago.

They had no clue who I was.

I was standing waiting on a gentleman who was being waited on.

And the way he was talked to and the way he was treated was disrespectful.

And it was not becoming of a business.

That concerned me.

And not only did it concern me, I've been getting complaints about tolls charges.

Are they open 24 hours?

So if your vehicle is told on a Sunday or a Saturday, and you get out of jail, if you're taking the jail and you get out Sunday, are you able to get your vehicle back so you can go to work Monday morning?

I do not know the answer.

Because I know in the past, you know, they were open.

That's why I said John Hamilton.

Mr.

Hamilton.

Chief Giles.

So I don't have all the specifications in front of me.

My understanding is there is a requirement to be open certain hours, which would apply to anybody who had the contract, but that there is also a requirement for having somebody on call to respond within a certain period of time.

So I don't believe there is an expectation that you have a person there 24-7, 365, but they do need to be able to respond in accordance with the contract.

So it was changed from previous contract, right?

I believe so.

Yes.

Okay.

Obviously, this is one that's you know gone through a number of evolutions over the years.

I'm just concerned about award in this contract.

Um I don't see how four businesses, including the one that was given the contract, how they apply or they bid on a contract and they know they don't meet the qualifications.

So you mean to tell me that all three of them that applied did not meet qualifications?

So I don't know what communications there are in terms of the end of the inspection the pre, you know, prior to the bid.

They obviously obviously knew that they went through the inspection process.

Uh they obviously I'm sure are obviously familiar with their facilities.

Um I think in some cases they may intend to bring their facility up to standards if they get the contract, but the problem is you can't award the contract if they aren't at the standard.

So it's a little bit of a rock in a hard place, obviously they have to have made that investment and be prepared to meet the standard.

Uh but it uh this program is under the leadership of Deputy Chief Brooks, it's within his division of the police department, and so he I have seen a number of cases where he is personally or or his uh the captain that works for him personally engages on those issues.

So clearly if there is somebody who feels like the the service they received was not up to standard, you know, he wants to address that.

And so I would encourage folks to make sure we are aware of that.

I know some do.

I've seen sometimes I'm CC'd on the emails where where they have gone out and address concerns and things, so they should continue to do that.

So to be clear, because I am trying to understand this process, it's a little different from what I am used to.

The police department goes out and verifies if they are meeting the sp specifications of the lot size, the lighting, and anything else that is in the contract, the police department goes out and verifies that.

They do.

Not used to that.

I usually thought it would be someone in the department that is handling the bid and the contract.

Well, it's a it's a police contract.

I mean, the the finance and the procurement may handle everybody's contract, so it may be you know public works, you know, does their piece and things.

This is one that is a little bit obviously there's more stringent, you know, specific facility requirements for this contract than what we are typically accustomed to.

Uh but a lot of that obviously has to do with public safety, and it's a service that they are providing to uh to the community, and we want to make sure it's done to a certain standard, but actually most of the transactions are actually between a private citizen and that company and the police are not directly involved in that.

So uh obviously we want oversight uh over those things.

The actual impounds that are done on our behalf, we actually have our own, you know, the the the company tows it to the city impound lot and then we take physical possessions, which is a little bit different for those types of situations.

But for example, the gentleman that was here spoke earlier where his vehicle was towed.

Uh and you know, that's one where obviously it stays in their impound lot, so we are concerned about the the safety and the legality and things, and and Deputy Chief Brooks is meeting with him to get his understanding of his concerns and address his issues.

So I appreciate you answering my questions, and I don't want anybody to get offended when I ask questions, because if I don't know, I need to understand.

Thank you, Mr.

And if I can, let me add one other thing.

Um for all of our bids, there is an opportunity and a time for people to what they call protest bid.

We did receive one protest, we have responded to that.

And so that is open to any time that is bid and don't understand why they were not selected, they can respond and and um and appropriately.

We will we will give them a response back.

Thank you, Ms.

Smith.

Are there any other comments or questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

No.

Let the record show that Ms.

Watkins voted in the negative.

Other council members have uh voted in in favor.

And the motion carries.

We will move to 20K.

20K is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into contract between the City of Huntsville, Alabama, and apparent low bidder Lambert contracting LLC for pedestrian access and redevelopment corridor park along Pinhook Creek, Project No.

71-26-SP03 and Federal Aid.

Project number raise 4523252.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion from Mr.

Kling, second from Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Davis.

Thank you, Madam President.

Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

So this is a much awaited construction project for our city.

It has been in the process.

So what you have on the screen is the section of the project that you would approve for construction.

As uh you read, the low bidder was Lambert contracting.

The total contract amount is 20,092,195 and 14 cents.

Uh Council, I do want to remind you that uh through a competitive grant process, a raised grant, we are awarded 20 million dollars to put towards this project.

So uh the grant will cover 20 million and then uh city capital plan will cover $92,195 and 14 cents.

Uh I want to kind of walk you through what will occur in this project.

So uh certainly there are uh more sections of this project that will come before you.

There's a railroad trussle bridge that will be replaced.

Um we will bring that project to you later this year, and then certainly the pedestrian bridges, uh the one bridge that uh or actually three sections of bridge that will uh clear span U.S.

231 and uh U.S.

431 or Governor's Drive, and then there uh other pedestrian bridges that link the VBC or around the Thrasher Fountain into Big Spring Park.

There is one that goes into the medical mall.

We will be bringing those to you later.

Uh and also as part of those projects, uh we were awarded in December another uh Safe Streets for All grant that will actually fund those bridges.

Uh so it is a good project for our community, and uh it's good when uh our team are successful in being competitive in the grant process to help fund these projects.

Uh so as you can see on the screen, the cross section of of the channel improvements.

So the red dotted line is the existing Pinhook Creek, and you can see where uh we are widening that with decorative uh stone block uh retaining walls and stream restoration.

Uh the if you go today and look, it's really a a red clay drainage ditch, not a lot of uh aquatic life, and we want to to do that working through the Army Corps of Engineers and bring back uh stream restoration as part of this project.

So includes um about eight tenths of a mile of of stream improvements, uh 3200 linear feet of of the stacked stone wall that you would that you see on the screen, uh about 90,000 square feet of additional walls, uh and then various weirs and ledges within the stream and vegetation planning uh is part of that stream restoration.

The excavation that you see of the Channel Y is part of the flood mitigation project uh that helps uh not only the immediate area in and around uh the the Von Braun Center, but stretches all the way into the Andrew Jackson area, uh, the northern part of our city.

Uh that whole drainage system comes through this area.

Uh so the flood mitigation improvements are widespread for central and northern part of our central business district uh all the way up into the Oakwood area.

Uh so I'll answer any questions council members may have.

Council members' questions.

Mr.

Kling and then Mr.

Meredith.

You mentioned flood mitigation.

I mean, is this a beautification project?

Is it a greenway project?

Uh is it going to be used to have boats going up and down it or what is the future purpose going to be?

I would say everything but navigable that you just mentioned.

So it is paddle boats.

That's right.

So you know it is a flood mitigation project.

You can see that the Pinhook Creek area almost doubles in size.

But the part that we are excavating also becomes a when during a non-flood event, almost 13 acres of new linear park downtown that will uh the last phase that will bring you will have landscaping, park benches, greenways, uh bike repair stations and activity type areas along this linear park, if you will.

So this first phase is really focused on the flood mitigation, uh new seawalls, mainly on the eastern side of along the Von Braun Center, the high side of Pinhook Creek.

And then as you go from Pinhook Creek over to Hart Huntsville Drive area, that's the linear park area in the flood mitigation.

And then the last piece of the park that you are approving tonight is the stream restoration to bring aquatic life and and vegetation back into that channel.

Mr.

Meredith?

Any other comments?

I do have one question.

I remember this was 20 some years ago when there was really historic rainfall and Poonhook Creek flooded into Blossomwood and five points at flooding.

Is this project going to help mitigate any of that flooding that we see with Pinhook Creek in those areas?

It is part of a lot of flood mitigation that we have been doing over the years.

That that storm event that uh uh that you are referring to actually, Huntsville Hospital Emergency Room had four feet of water in it.

Um then where constellation is today was was a strip center.

I remember the front page of the Huntsville Time water was over the windshield of cars.

So this flood mitigation project is desperately needed, knock on wood that that hasn't occurred.

Uh but the right storm event, and given the capacity of our channels, uh that could happen again.

This helps start to alleviate that.

Uh some things that we have done up and around the interstate area for storage has helped.

So it is a combination of a lot of things that our engineering department continues to do.

Thank you.

All in favor, please indicate.

I'll be able to do that.

I oppose.

The motion carries.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis, and your team as well.

Thank you, Councilmembers.

20 oh is a resolution authorizing Mayor to enter preliminary engineering and construction agreement between the City of Huntsville, Alabama and Alabama Department of Transportation for Bailey Cove multi-use path and safety improvement projects number 71-26-SP13 and LDOT, project number TAPHVTA 26940.

Motion to approve.

Motion by Mr.

Meredith, second by Mr.

Kling.

Thank you, Councilmember Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

So this is our continuation of the City's focus and continue to annual investments in greenways and trail systems and continue to link existing gaps of greenways.

So what you say on the screen is the general greenway network of this area, which uh the portions you see in green are paved uh greenways, the the uh magenta or pink are more of a natural unpaved trail system.

Uh and the orange uh dashed lines are a mix of of both.

Uh what you see highlighted in white and red is the project that you are uh considering tonight.

So this would uh connect about 2.4 miles of additional greenways along Bailey Cove.

Part of the issue with the Otters Creek Greenway is is there a pro there's a private golf course in between that section with Aldridge Creek, and it it is uh very challenging for the city, but also for a golf course to operate to allow uh you know a public uh greenway to go through a private course that is a paid type operation.

So engineering has worked to create some cross connections to the existing Bailey Cove sidewalk, but it's not conducive to biking and and greenways due to its width and some uh accessibility issues.

So you can see uh intersection improvements and a multi-use path uh that gets you all the way up to four-mile posts, get you into that shopping district, and then along uh the western uh side of our western direction of the south side of Four Mile Post, connecting back to the Aldridge Creek Greenway at Jones uh Jones Farm Park, excuse me.

So this also has Federal funds through our MPO, so it's an 80-20 project, so it would be uh the total project cost for design and uh engineering construction is estimated a million dollars.

Federal funds will be 800,000 with our local funds coming out of our annual greenway funds of 200,000.

Questions or comments?

I will ask one of the intersection improvement there.

Is that similar to the others that have been made on Bailey Cove?

Yes, ma'am.

Thank you.

No other questions.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The motion carries.

Thank you all.

I I do want to point out, Madam President, if I can just one moment, we actually have two of these tap grant funds for greenways.

The second one is our Miller branch greenway in the western quarter out near the airport.

That will add an additional 2.2 miles of greenway to our overall network.

It's the same top top funds.

Very similar $800,000 and then 200,000 of our Capital Fund Greenway funds.

So we are doing good.

Absolutely.

Thank you.

20U is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute modification number one to the agreement between the City of Huntsville and Verde Technologies for the City of Huntsville's audiovisual services and support for City Hall.

Chair moves for approval.

Second from Mr.

Little.

Good evening, Council members and mayor.

What you have in front of you is an addendum to a current contract that we have with Verda Technologies.

When City Hall was presented to the City of Huntsville, diversified did the installation of all the audiovisual equipment in approximately 75 locations.

That has since expired, and they presented us with a renewal to that contract.

Their cost was about 108,000.

We decided that we could probably open this up to competitive bidding and get a better price to support those 75 locations.

So we opened it to a the bidding process.

Three candidates applied for that, and we went with the lowest bidder, which turned out to be the incumbent that we currently have a contract with Verda Technologies.

So this is just an addendum to that contract to support that audiovisual equipment if in City Hall that has lapsed on the build contract.

Questions for Mr.

Ewell?

Mr.

Meredith.

So by doing it the way we did it, we saved what, roughly.

Over three years, 120,000.

Awesome.

Well done.

Thank you.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Opposed?

Motion carries.

Thank you.

20x.

Thank you, Mr.

Ewell.

20x is a resolution authorizing there to execute a corrective deed between the health care authority of the City of Huntsville and the and the City of Huntsville to correct an error in the legal description contained in a deed, which was previously accepted by the City of Huntsville and authorizing the mayor to execute a quick claim deed pertaining to the conveyance of the same.

Motion to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Meredith, second from Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Davis, please explain this to us.

Yes, ma'am.

Shane Davis, Director of Urban Economic Development.

I know that sounds really confusing.

I will make it very simple.

So when we were doing some uh turn lane uh work a few years ago at the intersection of Slaughter Road and Madison Boulevard, a very busy intersection, we had the intent to uh for Huntsville Hospital Systems to provide more right away.

And uh now that we are starting to design that project and have applied for some grant funds and actually appropriation that Congressman Strong has recently announced to make further improvements there.

We realize that deed did not pick up that additional right-of-way.

So the easiest way to do it in talking with Huntsville Hospital, soon they just want to do a corrected deed and give us that additional right-of-way at no cost to the city, so we can make those intersection improvements at Slaughter Road and uh Madison Boulevard.

Any questions or concerns here?

All in favor, please indicate.

I opposed.

Motion carries.

21 is the resolution authorizing the mayor to enter a license agreement between the City of Huntsville and Mid-City owner LLC for Orion Amphitheater Parking.

Motion to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Mayor to second from Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Hamilton.

Councilmember, what is before you is actually renewal of an existing lease that we have in the mid-city district to provide on a temporary basis parking to support the Orion Amphitheater and other public uses there?

So as you may recall, we have as part of the overall development a plan for more public structured parking there.

You have recently approved the design contract for that garage that was always planned to come in a later phase.

And so Mr.

Davis is now prepared to move forward with that, and he is.

But to bridge the gap between when the Orion opened and when we build the uh that that regional public parking, uh the owners of the property there have uh have two undeveloped parcels they allowed us to establish temporary parking on to support the public uses.

And so this is just a renewal of that lease.

Uh it refers to it as blocks 11 and 14.

Those are the designations that RCP, the developers uh applied to those uh so it is two temporary parking facilities that are available to the public that we manage.

Questions for Mr.

Hamilton regarding the I guess if we don't do this, then it becomes paid parking to the public.

Is the reason we are leasing this is that the city's way of saying, come on here to mid-city, you can park free, or I guess what I am getting at is why are we having to pay $25,000 for the public to park?

So it is private property, and so they have agreed to leases uh that for the duration of time.

It is really a below market, uh, but it does give them a little bit of income off of the land.

There is actually a parking fee that goes on your ticket when you go to the Orion, and so ultimately uh there's much more than $25,000 coming back into uh into our budget for the Orion that comes from those parking infrastructure fees.

Uh and so you know, we this is again, this is the same agreement we have had for I guess three three years now, so this is a renewal of that agreement, but it is public parking.

It is important that if we encourage the public to park on a facility that uh that uh that we are encouraged to do so, that we provide that public parking.

The Orion is a public facility, and so we want to provide public parking there, same reason that uh you have approved Mr.

Davis to move forward with the parking garage, which would replace this.

This would go away once the parking garage opens.

No, I I get it.

I'm I I don't I am not opposed to subsidizing the public getting things.

I just want to be able to, in my own mind, realize acknowledge this as being a subsidy so that folks can park.

Absolutely.

Yes.

It is public parking.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments?

All in favor, please indicate.

I'm opposed.

Motion carries.

20 AA is a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a plat entitled Huntsville North Village Phase 1A.

Chair moves for approval.

Second from Mr.

Little.

Mr.

Davis, we're giving you a workout tonight.

It's quite okay.

Um good news stuff for our community and something that uh I'm always willing to talk about.

Uh Shane Davis, Director of Urban Technologic Development.

So uh Councilmembers, as as you are well aware, we uh brought to you a new retail mixed-use development, North Huntsville Village at the intersection of the Northern Bypass and U.S.

231 North.

Uh as we get ready to sell those tracks to both Target and Home Depot, uh, we have to allow the mayor to sign a plat to create those lots because they were it, you know, when we you agree for us to purchase that and enter those agreements, it's one large track, so we need to create both the track to sell to target, the track to sell to Home Depot and the other users, and also there is a public right-of-way that would be the main entrance to go into this new retail development.

So what you are authorizing is the mayor to be able to sign that plat so we can record those tracks uh to get ready for those to be sold.

Thank you.

Any uh comments?

And uh just for Ms.

Watkins and our general public, uh we have issued on our uh the initial purchase order to start uh clearing and grubbing and moving some dirt to get ready for this sale.

So next couple of weeks, the public is going to start to see some real activity for this project, and things will really pick up as uh the weather breaks.

So this is the first step in a really exciting project.

Yes.

One of the most exciting projects we have seen in North Huntsville.

Thank you.

All in favor, please indicate motion carries.

20 AE is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into an independent audit agreement between the City of Huntsville and Sound Diplomacy Incorporated for music ecosystem analysis and economic impact assessment services.

The Chair moves for approval.

Second.

Second from Mr.

Meredith.

Council members, uh as you may recall several years ago, we entered into a music audit to determine the feasibility of the City of Huntsville, growing our music economy and how to do that in a way that benefits our citizens, adds quality of life, but also supports itself in the economics that would come to our city.

Uh what we agreed collaborative, but as the Council and Administration as as the VC made investments to Mars Music Hall, and we made investments to things like the Orion Amphitheater and the Huntsville Music Office, Matt Mandrell is here.

Those investments uh periodically the council requested for us to do an independent audit to see our efforts and what type of benefit they are bringing back from lodging and sales tax and and all the different things that come in.

Uh Sound Diplomacy does those across the U.S., so the contract amount is $25,000.

The last time we did it was 2018, so I'm excited to see what and how we've grown, and hopefully I believe it will yield good numbers.

I don't know that, but I mean uh the Ryan Amphitheater certainly has had great success.

The VBC and how they've stepped up with their remodels and things have come in.

I think the numbers uh I'm excited to see what they look like, but it's $25,000 uh and it's a 12-week assessment.

And we'll come back and certainly give this council and the public a full report of that assessment.

Questions, Council members?

So this is really going to look at impact as well as effectiveness.

Yes.

We look forward to hearing that.

All in favor, please indicate.

I'm opposed.

Motion carries 20 A.G.

is a resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a project development agreement among the city, Eli Lilly and Company, and the Industrial Development Board of the City of Huntsville respecting a new pharmaceutical facility to be located within the city, and a property transfer agreement between the city and Eli Lilly and company for the transfer of the facility site.

I feel like there should be trumpets or something.

But is there a motion to approve?

Motion to approve a second from Mr.

Little, Mr.

Davis.

Thank you, Madam President.

Shane Davis, Director of Economic Development.

So it it's been a while since the announcement.

We uh certainly have been hard at work finalizing documents, and tonight is the night to bring this project before this body.

Uh certainly, as you know, it's the largest single economic development project in the history of our state.

And everybody knows the company uh surrounding that this project.

But as you know, I want to take you through our normal process administration and the general public here tonight and those that may be watching.

So uh the project overview process, Project Delaney was a national competitive site selection process, about 18 months worth of that.

Evaluated multiple states and over 80 potential communities for the selection of this project.

Project represents a Fortune 200 life science company, certainly Eli Lilly, uh, to construct active pharmaceutical ingredient API as it's known, drug substances for manufacturing facility in the United States.

Uh they're a very large company and and a well thought of company in their sector, operating in 18 countries and worldwide sales in over 125 countries.

So I took this out of the RFPs to kind of show a little bit behind the curtain of uh the success or the opportunity to secure new jobs and private investment in the community.

This was actually in the initial RFI that we had to respond to.

So the site selection factor was the goal of the site selection process was to develop and determine a comprehensive location solution for the company, including the optimal site together with strong economic development experience, a city that had done that before on a large scale, but also a city that could support and ensure both its locations, cost competitiveness, and timeliness of a project execution.

So what does that tell you?

Quality of life, workforce, experience, speed of the market.

So community qualifications, uh you had to have a site between 200 and 250 acres, but also adjacent acres for future expansion.

So that towed uh community wishing to uh respond that Eli Lilly's investment was long term, that they were going to put roots down in the community for a very long time.

Uh project had to have uh either the ability to zone or be zoned for research and development manufacturing.

Certainly the site that we propose already had that.

Constructability had to be shovel ready, uh, due diligence completed, speed to the market quickly.

Adequate utilities immediately available to support the project, be within five miles of a major interstate uh for logistics and employee access, access to rail service, and access to a major airport.

Certainly our site checks that box.

Uh all communities must have available workforce and experience uh to to show established workforce recruitment and development programs in place.

We certainly have a track record of doing that.

Uh the project site, so it's the northeast corner of exit three of I-565 and Green Bar Parkway.

I think this project tonight shows the strategy and the pace that the administration has said that we want to grow at a measured pace.

We purchased this property in uh 2017 and actually close early 2018.

Uh we have passed several projects over the years and wanted the right type project.

Uh certainly has great visibility, but at a measure pace as Polaris has grown, and then Mazda Toyota comes, you know, being very patient uh to do this in a measured pace.

We thought certainly with a project like this, and the timing was good.

Everybody in this area has stabilized their ramp up of employees.

And uh we we thought uh also as I'll get into what this a project like this could do to advance our city in addition to the jobs and the capital investment.

I'll uh speak on that momentarily.

So again, site control, it's under City of Huntsville ownership.

It has been for uh since 2018.

Total acreage under our control is about 510 acres.

Currently zone commercial industrial park certainly allows for the uses of Lilly's intent.

So what you are approving tonight is for us to uh be able to subdivide our existing property.

Right now it's one large track into a primary site.

That's the initial project that Eli Lilly announced.

It's 260 acres, and then we would retain the remaining balances about 245 acres that we would still own and control the future of that.

So the company commitments, uh, the capital investment as as it was publicly announced is six billion dollars.

Uh they uh want the ability to do that in a phase approach.

So we're saying the initial investment must be a minimum of 4.2 billion.

We fully uh have have no doubts of the full investment.

Um this is a long construction project.

3,000 construction workers to build, it will take.

This is not a single building of a manufacturing building that you know some people may be accustomed to.

This will be a very high-end campus with multi-buildings almost as a college type research center with manufacturing type campus.

It will take a while to build out.

Create 449 jobs in this initial uh phase investment.

Minimum average wage annually must be 112,700 in change.

That's exclusive of any overtime and benefits.

And then operational requirements.

They must use the campus for research, development, manufacturing, distribution of existing and new technology uh API drugs.

Uh what's the our commitments uh to provide the 260 acre site to the company?

We will reserve the adjacent property that I just showed you that we will retain ownership.

Uh we will take that off the market for a period of five years.

And why five years?

Um they expect their full campus construction, that's what we give them to to be complete.

During that time, they want the ability to come back to the city for possible purchase of this to expand even further, uh, which is a good idea for our community to show that partnership right off the bat.

Well, workforce development recruitment as I showed you that was a key uh point.

So we do this on very large projects.

We have done this uh throughout the years in partnership with the Alabama Industrial Development Training through the Alabama State Commerce, our two-year and our four-year college system.

So we said we would provide two million dollars to assist our business partners of uh the two-year and four-year colleges, AIDT uh for workforce development, recruitment training efforts.

That ramp up of those 450 jobs is like seven years, so we're not expending these funds very quickly, okay.

Uh very manageable in our economic development fund, the 2014 plan.

The first million dollars uh limit is uh on the first two hundred FTEs being hired.

Uh then we don't go any further.

And then once they've hired the next 200 or 400 total on campus, uh, that we would uh expend the other million over time.

So very manageable.

Uh the 10-year non-educational tax abatement, that is a qualification under the Alabama Constitution.

They qualify by default based on the number of jobs and the capital investment by our constitution.

Uh the assurance of public utilities available at site, as this site is and the previous TIFF districts that we have done, all utilities are there.

That's what made us so competitive was we had prepared for a project like this over the years.

Uh so not a lot to do in utilities or road work.

It it's time for our return on investment to this community.

Uh the lastly the project permitting, provide ex-bodied building permit reviews, our one-stop shop and online submittals allow that to happen naturally, not just for Eli Lilly, but anybody doing business in Huntsville is very expedited.

And then provide a project engineer or coordinator on all of our large projects, we do that by default.

Uh mainly for us to know what's going on, make sure companies' commitments are on schedule, but uh we always assign a dedicated project engineer for a project like this.

Uh can't uh do projects of this sky uh scale without community partners, so uh want to take a quick opportunity just to show you and the public uh uh a glimpse of our project team, certainly Alabama State Commerce, the governor's office, uh City of Huntsville, Limestone County Commission.

Uh I think Chairman Daly is here.

I know he had another engagement.

Uh maybe still been able to be here, but I think we may have ran a little long.

Uh certainly the TBA uh AIDT, that's the statewide industrial development training or our chamber of commerce, uh, Limestone County Economic Development, Huntsville Utilities, Hudson Alpha was was I can't sing enough of their praise to what they were able to bring uh through site multiple site visits and just that partnership and collaboration of you know have the Hudson Alpha campus and what they're doing to try to solve new diseases, and here's a company that leads the forefront in developing drugs for solving health issues so uh that really uh fit like hand in glove for our community, Calhoun Community College and uh RTP robotics technology part.

Answering any questions.

I know I flew through that.

Didn't mean to go fast for any particular reason, uh, but the part I want to get to is any questions you may have.

Questions, comments?

I have a comment.

I was just gonna say the the requirements page you showed.

Yeah.

I don't know if if you had asked Eli Lilly to design a site that fits so perfectly.

You know, with like the mileage to the airport, you know.

I mean the access to rail, the workforce is pretty pretty amazing.

And how many states do they visit?

Did you cover that?

I love this.

I think it was 16.

Um how many cities?

Uh over 80 communities.

So, you know, when you send off that first RFI and it's you know 200 pages and you spent our you know, our project team has spent two weeks putting it all together working late at night.

Your odds of getting a return phone call in that first down select.

Uh you just hope to be there.

So each one, I think the pressure for us increases, and uh I I'd rather finish last than second.

Um just my competitive nature.

But uh I think it shows why uh and the council should be proud of you know years ago allowing the city to have the vision to secure this property.

It was a special piece of property.

We knew it.

Um we've waited for the right project.

It's great.

Congratulations.

Shane, I know that a couple of months ago you told me you felt like you were an air traffic controller with all the planes circling, and your job was to get them to land, and I think you landed us at Jumbo Jet.

So good job on that.

We got a great team, and and kudos to the mayor.

I always call him the closer.

Um there's nobody better that can illustrate what this community can provide, uh, corporate leadership and and kudos to the mayor.

We really do have a good team, and and Limestone County Commission is part of that team.

They're outstanding outstanding.

As councilman mayor said tonight that you couldn't ask for better teammate.

And and all the all the players that were uh that shared in this.

Um congratulations to all the anybody else?

Comments, questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

Uh any pose.

The motion carries.

Now go forth and do good work.

Now the work really begins.

Thank you, Council members.

Thank you, Mr.

Davis.

28K resolution authorizing the mayor to enter into a special employment agreement between the City of Huntsville and Patrick Moore.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion from Mr.

Little, a second from Mr.

Meredith.

Any discussion, questions?

Okay.

Mr.

Hamilton, share with us what this is about.

Council members, this is uh an action you see occasionally, not real often fortunately, because it uh it represents the fact that one of our police investigators retired.

Uh but in uh pretty much every single case when they retire, there's still uh still cases that they work that are working their way through the judicial process.

Uh and so both both prosecution and defense needs uh the investigator to be available as the case moves forward, be prepared to come in and testify, lay out the case, those kinds of things.

Uh and so that is for them an official duty, and so we uh we put them under our special employment agreement with other retirees so that they're available uh to uh to come in and testify on those cases.

Any more questions for Mr.

Hamilton?

All in favor, please indicate.

All right.

Are you opposed?

The motion carries.

Thank you, Mr.

Hamilton.

Thank you, everybody, for your patience in working through that very long agenda.

We are now at 7 30, and it's time oh, I'm sorry, we have one more item.

That's 21 new business items for introduction.

21A is introduction of an ordinance declaring certain property surplus to be disposed of per agreement with managed asset resource recycling solutions LLC ordinance number 26-146.

Um this uh item is only for introduction.

It will be considered at the February 26th council meeting.

Now we're at that point in the agenda where we um hear comments from the public, but it uh we probably all need a break.

So we'll take a 10-minute break.

We will reconvene at 7 um let's say let's call it 7 7 40.

Is that 10 is that 10 minutes?

7 yeah, we'll tell it take 740.

So everybody come back at 740 and we will um open with comments.

We would appreciate it.

You got a few more minutes.

I mean, got like 30 seconds.

It is 740, and um this uh the Huntsville City Council has been called back into session.

We will now move on to second roster public comments.

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

Um several people have signed up to speak on these the second uh public comments roster prior to the meeting, and when called, when your name is called, please approach the microphone and state your name, home address, and city of residence.

I will also call the name of the next person who will be speaking, so be prepared to come up.

We have a long list of people.

It will go much more smoothly if you're ready to come and speak up when your time comes.

Uh so when called, approach the microphone, state your name, home address, city of residence.

Each speaker may address the council for three minutes.

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

The first person to speak will be Harold Kemp.

Is Mr.

Kemp here.

All right, we'll move on then to Bailey Benton.

Uh topic is immigration enforcement.

Ms.

Benton.

Ms.

Benton will be followed by Sarah Myers.

Hello.

Um my name's Bailey Benton, and my home address is the one listed on the sheet.

I'm not super comfortable saying it.

If you can give us your city of residence, please.

Um, Huntsville.

Thank you.

Yes.

Um I was born and raised in Huntsville, and I care very deeply about the city and the people in it.

And I want to start off by affirming Huntsville's current position on the 287G agreement, which is non-participatory, and I ask that this remains the case.

Opting into the 287G program can cost taxpayers upwards of tens of millions of dollars annually.

And studies have shown that when local law enforcement and federal immigration become entangled, public safety and community trust suffer deeply.

I understand that the mass deployment of ICE agents is a federal decision that unfortunately cities do not have much say in.

But I urge you, Mayor Battle and Council members, to please not turn over our local law enforcement and adjacent resources to ICE in order to help them target our local immigrant communities.

I know that as civil servants, the safety of the city is deeply important to you as it is to me.

And I do not believe that indiscriminate deportations are the way to go about prioritizing safety in Huntsville.

Just last year, my Jones Valley neighbor's son-in-law was wrongfully detained by ICE.

He has no criminal record, has been in America legally for 14 years and has a wife and children.

He was held for several months, has since been released, but the ordeal never should have happened in the first place.

His case is not unique and it makes a mockery of safety.

The National Institute of Justice funded a study that found that undocumented immigrants are arrested at less than half the rate of native-born U.S.

citizens for violent and drug-related crimes, and a quarter of the rate of nature native-born citizens for property crimes.

Additionally, less than 14% of nearly 400,000 immigrants arrested in 2025 by IS had any criminal criminal charges or convictions.

This high quota has gamified the deportation process, leading to innocent people being detained, families being destroyed, and children being traumatized, all while doing almost nothing to keep our city safer and in many cases making them actively more dangerous.

A fate I do not wish upon Huntsville.

I finish by saying that my life is richer and more meaningful because of the people of all different backgrounds I have had the pleasure of meeting and knowing.

Diversity is what makes places interesting, beautiful, and worth living in.

And I want all people in Huntsville to feel safe, welcome, and at home here.

And there's no sure way to prevent that from happening than by entangling our local law enforcement with ICE.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you, Ms.

Benton.

The next person to speak is Susan Myers.

Is Ms.

Myers here?

She will be followed by Elliot White.

Good evening, Council members.

My name is Sarah.

I'm a Huntsville resident.

I wanted to thank you.

For the record, Sarah Myers.

Sarah Myers, yes.

And city residents.

Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you.

I wanted to thank everybody for your service.

I am also here to encourage and affirm Huntsville's decision to refrain from formal cooperation agreements with ICE.

This decision is important to me because it affects government efficiency, public safety, and quality of living for our families and neighbors.

In some cities, 287G agreements have cost millions of dollars annually, even with the reimbursements factored in, because although the federal government reimburses local cities for training, uh local cities are often inspected, expected to cover costly things like per diem, the cost of detaining people until they are under federal care, et cetera.

Some examples include uh Prince William County, Virginia spending $25.9 million over five years and $5.5 million for startup in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.

A working paper from the Cato Institute written in 2018 found no causal relationship between the 287 program agreements and measures of crime rates.

But they did find a significant relationship between the activation of these agreements and assaults against police officers.

This suggests that these programs can not only be costly for local governments, but that they may also threaten the safety of both residents and public officials.

Our officers and city staff already work hard to make Huntsville a great place.

I want to live in a place that re respects their time and effort by feeding valuable resources back into our community.

I urge the council to continue prioritizing local needs over federal directives.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Elliot White is our next speaker, and Elliot White will be followed by Amanda White.

What's it?

Name, address?

Name name and address, please.

Okay.

Name is Elliot White.

Um, address is correct on the sheet.

And city of residence.

And I am a citizen of Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you, sir.

All right.

Welcome.

Uh thank you, members of the council and mayor.

My name is Elliot White, and I have proudly called Huntsville home for the past ten years.

Before that, my home was a city.

It's Chicago.

That city had made a conscious decision not to aid ICE in the persecution of our neighbors.

A city that understood that public safety is built on trust, not fear.

I am a first-generation American.

The American dream is not theoretical to me.

It is personal.

I have friends and family members who are still navigating the long exhausting process of becoming citizens.

They pay taxes, they raise children, they contribute to their communities, and right now they are afraid for their lives.

I live in a highly concentrated Latino neighborhood here in Huntsville.

These are not strangers to me, they are my neighbors.

I see them at the grocery store, at local restaurants, having birthday parties in their yard.

And when they live in fear of being targeted, our entire community feels it.

For the last decade, I have watched Huntsville grow.

I have watched it attract new industries, new families, and new opportunities.

I proudly told friends from around the country that Huntsville is different, that we are thoughtful, forward-thinking, and not defined by the stereotypes that many people attach to the rest of Alabama.

Please let that be true.

Please don't make me a liar.

Public safety should mean that people feel safe reporting crimes, safe sending their kids to school, safe asking for help, and when local government aligns itself with federal immigration enforcement in ways that create fear, that trusty roads and trusty roads communities suffer.

This is not about politics for me.

This is about humanity.

It's about my neighbors.

It's about whether we choose to lead with compassion or with fear.

I would also like to address how the last meeting was handled.

A public forum should remain public and open to the public.

I understand the need to maintain order and respect that, but clearing the chamber felt impulsive and detracting from the spirit of democracy.

When emotions are high, that is exactly when transparency matters the most.

The people of the city deserve to be heard even when it's uncomfortable.

I am here not in anger.

I am here in love for the city.

I chose Huntsville.

I built my life here.

It's where I met my wife.

I want it to be a place where families are families that can thrive without fear.

We have an opportunity to show who we really are.

I hope we choose courage.

I hope we choose compassion, and I hope that I continue telling people across this country that Huntsville is different.

Please don't make me a liar.

Thank you, Mr.

White.

The next speaker is Amanda White.

Amanda White will be followed by Larissa Thomason.

She's not here.

Thank you.

Ms.

White is not here.

Thank you, sir.

Then we will proceed with Larissa Thomason.

And Ms.

Thomason will be followed by Megan Dempsey.

My name is Larisa Thomason.

I live at 3202 Panorama in Huntsville.

Thank you.

Since we last gathered here, masked armed agents of the U.S.

government dressed in paramilitary garb killed two American citizens in Minneapolis and rounded up young children, including a five-year-old in a bunny hat.

Federal policy allows ICE board and border patrol officials seemingly to operate outside the law with impunity and immunity, masked with no badges and no consequences.

They target American citizens, people here without legal status, and shamefully non-citizens who are here legally while seeking asylum, attending school, who receive temporary protective status, and even non-citizens who served this country in our military.

This is absolutely shameful and wrong.

Nobody wants violent criminals loose on the street, whether they're citizens or non-citizens, but neither do we want an armed paramilitary force who randomly targets anyone who looks foreign or speaks another language.

Secret police belong in dictatorships, not in free societies.

We know America is not perfect, and neither is Alabama.

We have a terrible history of violence and discrimination against non-white, non-Christian, and non-European immigrants.

We need to do better, and we can, right here, right now.

Our children and grandchildren will judge us on how we meet this moment.

Will we be hypocrites or heroes?

Immigrants and refugees don't leave their families, homes, jobs, and everything they've ever known on a whim.

My Irish ancestors decided this place was better than starving to death during the potato famine.

My Scottish ancestors preferred American freedom to the boot of the English landlords who stole their land during the Highland clearances and then charged them rent for it.

My husband's great grandparents fled Eastern Europe before the Nazis could kill them and their children.

If you live in a country where you can't protect your child immigrants and I'm sorry, if you live in a country where you can't protect your children from gangs and sex traffickers, can't feed them or get them a decent education.

What kind of parents would just shrug and say, sucks for you, kid.

I can't get a visa.

We should be proud that so many people want to come here because they believe in the idea of America and they want to be part of it.

That's the most amazing compliment anyone could ever pay us.

They have such courage.

Instead of welcoming them, our government is terrorizing them.

I know you can't keep Ice and border control out of this city completely, but you can refuse to cooperate with their heavy-handed violent tactics.

This is a time to stand up for what is best about America.

Our grandchildren and our great grandchildren will learn from us, and yes, they will judge us.

You don't get a second chance to be on the right side of history.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Thomason.

The next person to speak is Megan Dempsey.

Megan Dempsey will be followed by Molly Grimm.

Hello.

My name is Megan Dempsey.

I'm at 3320 Highland Plaza.

Um, Huntsville.

Um I'm a Huntsville native and teacher in Huntsville City Schools.

I'm here tonight because my students are currently too afraid to speak for themselves.

As a Title I educator, I see a reality that data points often miss.

A school is meant to be a safe haven, but the presence of ICE in our neighborhoods has transformed our hallways into places of anxiety and classrooms into places of mourning.

When ICE is active, my student my classroom changes instantly.

Attendance drops.

Students who are usually vibrant become withdrawn.

We know the science of toxic stress.

A child's brain cannot prioritize algebra or literacy when it is in survival mode.

By allowing a climate of fear to persist, we are undermining the millions of dollars the city invests in public education.

We cannot teach children who are terrified.

This fear also destroys the partnership between teachers and parents.

Families are retreating into the shadows, afraid to attend conferences or walk and uh walk their children to the front door.

When local government is seen as an arm of federal enforcement, the trust required for public safety and public health evaporates.

This isn't just a moral issue, it is a pragmatic threat to Huntsville's future workforce and social fabric.

Because the safety of my students cannot wait, I'm asking this council for two common sense actions.

One, a priority of public safety.

Pass a formal resolution stating that HPD resources will be prioritized for public for local safety, not federal immigration enforcement, that should explicitly commit that Huntsville will not enter into a 287G agreement.

Let's put that commitment in writing to restore community trust.

Two, um, advocacy for sensitive location.

Um I asked the mayor and the council to formally demand that the ICE field office represent sensitive locations, including our schools, bus stops, and playgrounds.

Our children should never wonder if a patrol car uh at uh at the school gate is there to protect them or take their parents away.

In closing, our students deserve to dream about their futures, not fear for their family's safety while they try to learn.

Please stand with the families of Huntsville City Schools and ensure our city remains a place where all children can thrive.

Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Dempsey.

We'll hear now from Molly Grimm.

Molly Grimm will be followed by Molly Clook.

Good evening.

My name is Molly Grimm.

I live at 2117 Buckingham and Huntsville.

Thank you.

On January 24th, 2025, a tragedy occurred.

It was the third such tragedy in Minneapolis in as many weeks.

It was an emotional day for me, and in my grief and fear, I sent an email to my city council representative.

I told her that I was concerned that the actions of ICE in Minneapolis.

I told her that I was an abuse survivor, that I understood the tone of the agent's voice after he murdered Renee Good.

I pleaded with her to make sure our city is as safe from this kind of activity as we can make it.

And this was her response to me.

Thank you for taking time to share your concerns.

The county sheriff handles all immigration cases in Madison County, and HPD has no contracts with ICE.

There is nothing we can do to keep ICE from coming to Huntsville.

I am concerned that the recent protests will put us on the federal radar and wind up drawing attention to our immigrant population.

This will be a very sad unintended consequence of the actions of well-intentioned people.

Our Hispanic community has expressed this concern, but the protesters are not listening.

Thank you again for your time to reaching out.

Not to speak is to speak.

Not to act is to act.

I expressed concerns with Americans having their rights stripped away.

And the response was asking me to surrender more, to abdicate my right to speak out, to peaceful assembly, to say what I want, all in the name of not making waves.

I spoke it as an abuse survisor, and I was spoken to straight from the abusers playbook.

Stay quiet, don't anger them, make yourself small.

You are buying your comfort at your constituents' oppression.

And I do not like that.

You were on the wrong side of history, and history will judge all of you that do not keep us safe harshly.

I leave you with this quote from Edmund Burke.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to keep quiet.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Grimm.

We'll now hear from Molly Clark.

Ms.

Clark will be followed by Brandon Richardson.

Hi, my name is Molly Kluck.

My address is correct on the forum, and I'm a resident of Huntsville.

Thank you.

The removal of Mr.

Angle during the last city council meeting was disgraceful to anyone who claims to support First Amendment rights.

Profanity does not void constitutional protection.

Profanity is protected speech.

What followed exposed the motive behind his removal.

While cheers for previous speakers were tolerated, booing at the council's decision to remove Mr.

Engel was not.

When the public objected, HPD cleared the chamber at this council's direction.

If the issue was disruption, public approval and dissent would have been treated the same.

But this was not about disruption.

It was about silencing criticism, limiting public participation, and preventing constituents from easily hearing further commentary.

Those are not the only rights violations I'm here to address today.

We are repeatedly told that if you are a U.S.

citizen or if you are here legally, you have nothing to fear from ICE.

Justice Br Justice Brett Kavanaugh said so in 2025 when the Supreme Court ruled that ICE could use racial profiling to determine who to detain in LA.

Secretary of Homeland Security, Christy Gnome has also said this, ironically, in response to the killing of Renee Good, a U.S.

citizen murdered by an ICE agent.

A citizen was dead, and the response was not accountability, not restraint, not reform, but a polished statement that citizens are safe.

That is not reassurance.

That is propaganda delivered over a body.

And Renee Good is not the only one.

Alex Paretti, another U.S.

citizen, was shot at least 10 times in under five seconds by ICE agents who chose to act as judges, jury, and executioners.

His crime, assisting a woman who was pepper sprayed and exercising his second amendment right to carry.

Beyond these murders, people are being assaulted and unlawfully detained.

What follows is a non-exhaustive list.

January 5th, 2026, Edwin Godinas and Jaheer Napolis went to a work site to retrieve a company vehicle after their co-workers were detained by ICE.

Agents stopped them, illegally seized their property, and assaulted Edwin before leaving.

January 7th, Reverend Kenny Callahan witnessed ICE agents threatening a young Hispanic woman.

When he said, Take me instead, I'm not afraid of you.

Agents pointed a gun in his face and detained him.

They asked him, Are you afraid yet?

January 8th, Jose Roberto Ramirez was detained and assaulted despite providing identification.

January 13th, William Vermi, Iraq war veteran, was detained for observing an arrest, denied a phone call, and denied access to his attorney.

And if you're thinking that doesn't happen here, Leonardo Garcia Venegas was detained in Foley, Alabama in 2025.

ICE agents called his real ID fake.

These are not isolated incidents.

They are patterns of state violence.

And when government bodies silence dissent, whether in this chamber or on the street, they enable those patterns.

The First Amendment exists for accountability, and I demand accountability from this council.

I demand you keep your hands clean through non-cooperation with ICE, the jobs program for losers.

Thank you, Ms.

Cluck.

We'll now hear from Brandon Richardson.

Mr.

Richardson will be followed by Vanessa Martin.

Good evening.

My name is Brandon Richardson.

My address is as on the forum, and I'm a resident of New Market.

Good evening.

ICE is no longer an immigration enforcement agency.

It's been turned into something closer to a domestic army.

This rogue organization is not enforcing immigration law.

They were supposed to go after the worst of the worst, but instead they are, regardless of immigration status, terrorizing the American public by kidnapping minorities, ripping families apart, and putting them into detention centers under horrific conditions, which is a total violation of the writ of Hopeus Corpus.

People are dying in detention centers.

And we cannot forget to mention the murders of American citizens, Renee Good, Alex Pretty, and Keith Porter, as well as those we do not know about.

ICE is also very obviously being used as an intimidation tactic to suppress the minority vote.

If ICE was truly trying to enforce immigration law, the large number of agents would have been deployed in states like Florida or Texas instead of Minnesota, where the undocumented population is much lower.

They want people scared to leave their homes, and we already know they are planning on station stationing ICE agents at the polls via Steve Bannon.

ICE is not here to enforce the law.

They are here to terrorize and intimidate.

Do not assist or cooperate cooperate with these criminals.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

The next person is to comment is Vanessa Martin.

Vanessa Martin will be followed by Jeffrey Comell.

Good evening.

My name is Vanessa Martin.

I'm a resident of Huntsville.

Thank you.

I'll be brief.

A lot of what I wanted to say has been said by the awesome people that are here.

But I am a resident of Huntsville.

I'm a research scientist and a proud daughter of Mexican immigrants.

Very happy to be here in Huntsville, building community.

And I am here to, like so many people before me, ask that the city of Huntsville not cooperate with ICE.

ICE has acted with impunity across the country, as we have seen, as people have mentioned here.

I'm here to speak for my neighbors and loved ones.

I live in also a very Latino dominated neighborhood.

Um I have wonderful neighbors.

We cook each other food, we exchange food, they mow my lawn when I forget to or get too busy to do that.

They mow my lawn when I forget to or get too busy to do that.

These are the people that I speak with on a daily basis.

And despite watching the horrors that ICE is committing across the country, they would still rather keep their head down and work here than to go back to their native countries where they are going back to danger.

They are going back to extreme poverty.

People really believe in the American dream here.

They believe that they have better lives here.

And ICE is ripping that away from all of us.

I know people that have been arrested and their family members cannot get in contact with them.

They do not know what detention facility they are being held at.

This goes across the board.

It's not just Latinos, it's immigrants of all kinds.

It's people that have sought legal asylum.

They're being lost in the system.

And I find that to be terrifying, and I think we should all be concerned about that.

So thank you for not cooperating with ICE thus far.

And like everyone here, please do not cooperate with ICE in any way, shape, or form.

I think that would ravage Huntsville.

We have a good thing going, and let's protect our neighbors.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Martin.

We'll hear from Jeffrey Kamell.

Mr.

Kamell will be followed by Reverend Will Ennis.

Hello.

My name is Jeff Comer.

I live at the address I put on there from right here in Huntsville.

Thank you.

So I live about 10 minutes down the road.

I went to Weatherly.

I went to the Academy for Science and Foreign Language.

I graduated from Grissom.

I served in the Alabama National Guard before I served on active duty.

Why am I here tonight?

Well, it's pretty simple.

Last night I watched the top U.S.

attorney in the United States of America tell this entire country that she does not care about the sufferings of the victims of child sex trafficking.

She does not care about people who have been executed on our streets and bringing their murderers to justice.

She said it loud and clear.

I've sent these concerns to my state representatives.

Dale Strong, Tommy Tuberville, Katie Britt.

What do I get back?

AI-generated messages or something that their secretary typed up.

They're not interested in engaging with us.

They're interested in coming to the VBC so they can make money from their donors.

That's why I'm here tonight.

If I can't trust the federal government, and I can't trust the state government to have the citizens of Alabama in their heart in their best interests, if they're not going to consider us first, then I have to come to y'all.

And I know some of these topics don't, y'all have no control over them, but I'm going to tell you anyways.

You know how many times I was able to wear a bacalava in Iraq and Afghanistan?

Zero.

None.

I was never able to hide my identity from real people that were trying to kill me.

It's a cowardly thing to do.

You don't do that when you're executing laws.

But we allow that.

We allow our law enforcement and our federal officers to do it.

So they can execute people on the streets and get away with it.

It seems to me that at the upper echelons, the government has lost the people.

The people do not trust the government.

The people don't trust the state government.

The people don't trust the federal government.

Can I trust y'all?

Can I trust that you are going to direct the Huntsville Police Department and our County Sheriff's Department to protect the people over doing the federal government's job for them?

This is only the second time I've ever stepped foot in this building.

I spent most of my time unable to execute my constitutional rights of free speech because of military requirements.

But I'm here now and I'm doing it because my conscience leaves me no other choice.

What is the council member expect me to do if I walk out of my home and I see masked men dragging my neighbors out of their homes?

Who'd call?

Mr.

Comer, your time is up.

Thank you so much.

I'll come back next time and Reverend Will Ennis is the next person to speak.

Reverend Ennis will be followed by David Snyder.

Good evening.

Good evening.

Will Ennis.

Oldwood Road, Huntsville, Alabama.

Thank you.

As a minister and as a U.S.

Army veteran, I have three commitments.

Love, human dignity, and the U.S.

Constitution.

Love and human dignity are the basis of that Constitution.

These are the source of our common history and our strength.

These three have seen us through every crisis and defined us as a people for over 250 years.

They have carried us through every dark hour and prevailed and moved us as a nation towards a more perfect union.

That's why we're here.

When we ignore any one of this, these three, we have a problem.

When we have a government in Washington, D.C.

that ignores all three, we have a crisis.

A crisis of conscience and a constitutional crisis.

We've seen a government we've seen government agencies become tools of abuse and political retribution.

We've seen their inhumane, abhorrent, and unconstitutional actions in video after video, testimony after testimony.

We must find the courage to say out loud that this uh is unconscionable, unacceptable, and unallowable here and anywhere in the United States.

We must reject any action, any executive order, or any legislation that supports this abuse of power.

This includes HB 13 in the Alabama House of Representatives, which empowers local law enforcement to become a tool of that abuse.

At the hands of an agency that has already proven that they cannot be trusted with public safety or the rule of law.

They, along with their leadership in D.C.

have shown their blatant disregard for the Constitution and human dignity.

This is not about political parties or personal beliefs anymore.

It's about reclaiming our humanity in the face of inhuman abuse of power.

It's about recognizing the active power of love in support of the Constitution and each other.

It's about recommitting to love, human dignity, and the U.S.

Constitution.

We must be led by them in a powerful combination.

Without them, actively engaged the United States will cease to exist.

On the practical side for locals, this proposed law, HB 13, is bad for business.

Huntsville is a global city, the only one in Alabama.

We have been a magnet for global business for over 80 years.

We have finally overcome the plantation mindset that rules the State House.

Reverend Ennis, I'm so sorry, but your time is up.

Thank you.

Thank you for joining us.

We'll hear now from David Snyder.

Mr.

Snyder will be followed by Susan Stewart.

It's uh Mick Snyder.

Thank you.

It says David Snyder.

Thank you.

It's the uh honorific.

My name is David Snyder.

I live in Huntsville.

Um I would like to start out by saying how humbled I am by the speakers that have come before me.

I am not the uh speech giver that I think many of them are.

Um but I would like to get into a few things that has been an ongoing uh issue here.

There have been statements by City Council about uh things that people have come forward and said being untrue, and be that as potentially they may or may not have, I think that we need to address at some point.

I have repeatedly come here about a records request that uncovered agreements that the city has with ICE, Homeland Security Investigations, HSI.

I went to a meeting, um, and this is this is after having been repeatedly told by the city that there is no agreement, right?

I've met in person with council members and been told that directly to my face, even though I've had evidence to the contrary.

Then I had a meeting with our city administrator uh Hamilton, and I went with representatives from 5051.

I went with a representative from Indivisible and several other uh concerned members of our community.

And um I was told then that in the document with Resolution 23-382 and the seven accompanying pages that are under a memorandum of understanding uh with the Huntsville of uh the City of Huntsville and Immigration Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations.

That even though nowhere in that document that it was actually mentioned that that was about crimes against children, then that is why we have a documentation that enables the city to have, you know, Huntsville police uh officers uh bill for the you know uh you know ICE Bill ICE uh HSI for you know funds like fuel and different things with investigations.

Nowhere in that document did it say that this was about um child crimes and if even though I filed another request which says, okay, so we have no officers under this agreement, but we can at any time.

This is an actionable agreement that we have.

We have been lied to, being told that there is no agreement here.

There is an agreement, it is still actionable and under a scope that is totally arbitrary.

Nowhere in this document does it say that it is for uh crimes against children.

So if you do make it actionable again, who's to say what that scope will look like?

What will they be doing?

We don't know.

So there is a termination clause in that understanding where all you have to do is sign for a 30-day notice to rescind that agreement.

Even not agreeing to things that Invisible is proposing, which this city absolutely needs to do moving forward.

We absolutely have to do that.

One of the most bare minimum things that we could do is rescind an agreement like this.

It is a 30-day termination, right?

And if no one is actively doing anything under it, I don't understand why this city, first of all, lied repeatedly about what was happening here, and then refuses to terminate that, much less do something which is just the bare minimum of doing that.

Mr.

Snyder, your time is up, thank you.

Putting the resolution that Invisible proposed on the Susan Stewart is the next speaker, and she will be followed by Michelle McCray.

Good evening.

I'm Susan Stewart.

My address is on the file, and I'm from Huntsville, and I'm from Indivisible Fifth District.

And thank you for the opportunity to speak.

Thank you, Stewart.

I was alarmed this morning to learn that Alabama Attorney General and U.S.

Senate candidate Steve Marshall has asked ICE to send more agents to Alabama.

He did this in response to a recent case where the Mobile County Sheriff's Office, in collaboration with the FBI, did their jobs admirably and caught a kidnapper who is undocumented.

More ICE agents and inflammatory statements from the Attorney General would not have helped these law enforcement agencies do their job better.

In fact, it would make it harder.

The chaos and illegal actions that ICE brings everywhere they go will increase fear and distrust of all law enforcement in our communities.

Mobile County's sheriff and their district attorney know this because while the Attorney General is elevating the immigration status of the suspects, I have seen several news stories where the sheriff and the DA are actively downplaying the undocumented immigration status of the suspects and victims because recent ICE policies have made it dangerous for witnesses to come forward.

The sheriff is asking the community to pass on information to help them find the woman and two children who are still missing.

It is a well-documented fact that local cooperation with ICE leads people to not report crimes to local police.

And it stretches the resources of local police departments who have found themselves responding to situations that ICE has caused rather than doing the work that keeps us safe.

So I am asking the Huntsville City Council and the mayor's office to contact the Attorney General through whatever channels would are most effective and ask him to tone down his rhetoric and withdraw his request.

A leak of DHS documents reported yesterday shows that less than 14 percent of individuals arrested by ICE had convictions or charges for violent crimes, and that's just ICE.

Customs and Border Patrol has been even less targeted and more aggressive in their sweeping arrest operations far from the border, scooping up even documented immigrants and citizens.

There are those who say it is worth it to get that 14 percent, or that being undocumented justifies being deprived of your constitutional right to do process.

I want to remind them that protecting individual individual liberty is a foundation of our legal system that has its origins as far back as the Roman Empire.

We all know the Benjamin Franklin expressed it this way: it is better 100 guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer.

Beyond the moral imperative, John Adams gave us another reason why it's of more importance to community that innocence should be protected than it is that guilt should be punished.

When innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, especially to die, the subject will exclaim, it is immaterial to me, whether I behave well or ill, for virtue itself is no security.

And if such a sentiment as this should take place in the mind of the subject, there would be an error to all security.

Thank you.

Miss Michelle McCray is the next speaker who should be followed by Vera Vegara.

Is Ms.

McCray here?

No.

Then Vera Vergara is the next person to speak.

Is Ms.

Fergara here?

We'll go on to Dr.

Marissa Allison.

Marissa Allison.

Domin.

Oh.

This is Ms.

Vergara.

Hello.

My name is Vera Vergara.

I live in Madison, and my address is correct.

Thank you on the sign and sheet.

I don't have anything formally written.

I'm here to speak about my fears.

And I'm asking City Council to please make no agreement or to work in any way with ICE and to ban them from coming into our city and to protect those of us who live here.

As we have seen, I will detain people who look like me, whether or not they are citizens.

We have seen the cruelty.

A few weeks ago we were here and we had a protest outside, and there was a person who came and started trouble.

It's the same person who constantly starts problems here.

Nothing ever happens to him.

Yet we are told to be silent.

This man, when he looked at me, and he told me to leave his country because I don't belong here, look at me with such a look, so full of hate.

And when I turned and looked at the truck, I could tell that is what his intentions were.

I am scared to leave my house.

Although I'm a citizen, because of what has ICE has been doing.

Those of us who look like me are scared.

And I'm asking you to please, please, in no way work with ICE.

Let no taxpayer money go to helping ICE.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ms.

Vegara.

The next person to speak will be Domenico Valentine, followed by Alisa Eichelberger.

Good evening.

I'm here to ask you all to end the partnerships and cooperation between our city and ICE.

Across the country, people are waking up to the deep harms caused by policing, incarceration, and surveillance.

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

I received an email from Dr.

Robinson that stated that the city has no power to control ICE and that no local tax dollars are used to fund ice.

Yet HPD utilizes flock cameras, which integrate with federal databases.

So the city does, in fact, support ICE.

Makes our city complicit in tearing families apart, detaining people in inhumane conditions and criminalizing existence.

ICE is not about public safety.

It's about control, racial terror, and the violent policing of borders that were drawn by colonizers in the first place.

Because our city cooperates 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.

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

Biologist Hamina Odette 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 a migration story in our history, and every single one of us will have migration in our future.

There is no future for the human species without migration in it.

And you may not have migrated yet but our descendants will whether because of crop failure, climate change, rising sea waters, political instability or conflict, people in our future will migrate.

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

I come here to ask you all to end all of the city contracts with flock safety and to end the voluntary security camera program.

Choose care over cages choose people over policies that punish them for surviving.

Our immigrant neighbors deserve better thank you the next person to speak is Domenico Valentine followed by Alyssa Eichelberger is the name is Dominica Valentine.

Thank you.

I come here to suggest that the city refrains from working with ICE in order to keep this community safe and away from danger.

The beauty of Huntsville lies within all of the different communities and cultures within our city every corner you turn you meet someone from a different walk of life with an incredible story.

The best parts of the city are community and immigrant built the hard work of these people show on the walks and on the sidewalks in these immigrant communities I'm always greeted with a smile and a warm welcome but sadly these smiles have faded and been treated in with fearful eyes.

Ever since the sightings of ice coming into town started to spread the community has been afraid to leave their homes I think it is very forgotten that these people are human beings they're being hunted like animals just because of the color of their skin even being targeted and stopped in their work trucks on the way to their jobs.

It is also forgotten just how long excruciating and unforgiving the system is to become a citizen.

A lot of these folks are trying but it takes years and in a lot of cases decades to get anywhere with the process immigrants make this city great there's beautiful communities and families here with their futures planned and bright.

I love the people here and so should you as a Huntsville resident it would be incredibly disheartening and disappointing if I saw my community be terrorized and torn apart by IC.

After hearing talk of HPD working with ISC I ask you to hear me.

Please see your diverse communities and help them in this war against them.

Remember that they are people too they are people with lives, families and a soul.

Please keep the Huntsville police department and the city of Huntsville out of these inhumane operations and as clearly as I can possibly say this keep ICE out of Huntsville.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Alyssa Eichelberger will be followed by Alex Alex Arcee went and windy drive in Madisonberger.

My name's Alyssa Eichelberger I'm a resident of Huntsville, Alabama and my address is correct on the form.

Thank you.

I'll be reading a letter written by Ender, a 12 year old from Venezuela who was living in Austin, Texas and was detained for 60 days at the Dilly Immigration Detention Center.

They've drawn this their hand drawn little letter they've drawn a little family portrait.

Hello I am Ender and I am 12 years old.

I have been in this center for two months I arrived here for an immigration appointment.

I don't think they should grab immigrants who are innocent like instead of grabbing criminals because I mean they prefer to lock up children other than look for people who really shouldn't be in the U.S.

They told me I could only be here 21 days but I've already spent more than 60 days waking up eating the same repetitive meals going outside and the majority of guards never pay attention to people eating dinner is always the same as the day before seeing people cry every day for the same reasons trying to sleep in that horrible uncomfortable bed to the doctor and the only thing they tell you is to drink more water and the worst thing is that it seems like the water is what makes people sick here.

Going to wait for the bad answers from the judges hearing the bad news from people who no longer have hope having to share a room with minimum three families and all that so they send us back to our countries.

Clearing the chambers over the concern of a child possibly watching at home and hearing a speaker say a bad word shows the council's passion for child safety.

One would hope this passion extends to all children, especially the ones being abducted by masked strangers, deprived of their human rights, and as was the fate of eight-year-old Anadith Danay Reyes Alvarez, being denied necessary medical care for pre-existing conditions and dying before release.

Huntsville must refuse to work with criminals responsible for the suffering and the death of innocent children.

Surely the benevolent council agrees.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The next person to speak is Alex Arce, followed by Nedia Pandora.

Good evening.

Good evening.

I'm Alex Arce.

I am a resident of Madison, but a school teacher in Huntsville.

And my address is correct on the form.

Thank you.

I will be reading a letter from Ariana V, a 14-year-old from Honduras who was living in Hicksville, New York, and detained for 45 days.

Hello.

My name is Ariana V.

I'm 14 years old and I'm from Honduras.

I've been detained for 45 days, and I have never felt so much fear to go to a place as I feel here.

Every time I remind myself that once I go back to Honduras, a lot of dangerous things could happen to my mom and my younger siblings haven't been able to see their mom in more than a month.

They are very young, and you need both of your parents when you are growing up.

Since I got to this center, all you will feel is sadness and mostly depression.

When people have their courts, the longest they will last is 15 minutes.

Our rights are not being provided.

Arrests are happening when people don't have any type of order.

Arrests are happening illegally.

Every single person in here had their jobs.

They aren't any danger for this country.

I've been in this country for almost seven years, and in those seven years, my mom and I found a home and made a bigger family.

I've never been separated from my siblings, and it's honestly sad because they are little and they need their mom and their sister.

Yeah, they're with their dad, but it's still different for them and my mom and I.

Since the day my mom and I got detained in Manhattan, my life was instantly paused.

From my knowledge, you can't be under custody for more than 15 or 20 days.

Well, here in Dilli Immigration Processing Center, people have been in this place for seven months and five months and forty-two months.

It's not fair that ICE officers are not following the laws.

All kids are being damaged mentally.

They witness how they've been treated.

They don't have schools, a doctor.

If you need medical attention to get any medicine, pill or anything, it takes a while.

There are various viruses.

People are always sick.

Serious situations happen, and the officers don't take them serious enough.

There are no consequences.

Beautiful drawing from a child.

As a teacher, this happening in Huntsville is my worst nightmare.

Please take action to prevent that from happening.

Thank you.

Well now here from Nadia Pandera.

She followed by Lily Winters.

Hello.

Uh my name is Nadia Pandera.

My address is correct, and I live in Madison.

Thank you.

Alright.

Um I'm reading a letter from Maria Antonia Guerra Montoyo, who is currently detained in Dili.

I am Maria and Antonia Guerra Montoya.

I have been in 113 days in detention.

I miss my friends, and I feel they are going to forget me.

I am bored here.

I already miss my country and my house.

I came on vacation for 10 days and they took me into an ICE office.

An officer interrogated me two hours without my mom.

I was traveling with the flight attendant because my mom lives in New York.

They only wanted to arrest my mom because my mom didn't have any documents to live in the USA.

I have always traveled with my tourist visa, but ICE used me to catch my mom.

And now I am in jail and I'm sad.

I haven't thin I hunted two times in here.

When I arrived every night I cried, and now I don't sleep well.

I feel that being here was my fault, and I only wanted to be on vacation like a normal family.

They don't give me my diet.

I'm a vegetarian.

I don't eat well.

There's no good education, and I miss my best friend Julieta and my grandma and my school.

I already want to get to my house.

Me and Dilly, I am not happy.

Please get me out of here to Columbia.

Antonia.

And I also have a drawing of, I believe, to be Antonia and either her mom or her friend.

Anyways, I just want you to remember that these are real people, real children who are currently detained without their families, without proper education, without proper food diets, and it's just inhumane and not right.

So please keep ICE out of Huntsville.

You will hear now from Lily Winters.

This winters will be followed by Taylor Adams.

Hello, my name is Lily Winters.

My address is listed correctly, and I am from Huntsville.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Um this is my first time speaking, so I'd like to say hello, especially to Mr.

Um Battle.

Um I am 19 years old.

I was born and raised here.

Um, Mr.

Battle, I remember you coming to my kindergarten class and reading Hopon Pop to me at Lakewood.

Um I have since graduated early and am now attending Drake classes for cosmetology.

Um back then I was promised a unified and just future, and today I am not seeing unity, equality, or justice.

Tonight I come to you with a letter from a 14-year-old girl who was detained for 20 days in a Texas immigration detention facility.

Um I hope that you all please listen um as I read out her experience.

Hola, my name is Gabby.

I'm 14 years old and I'm from Colombia.

I've been detained in Dilly Immigration Processing Center for 20 days, and I haven't been getting the right education due to being here.

I haven't been able to see my family and friends since I got here.

I also started to feel sad.

I haven't felt happy since I got here.

The officers have a bad manner of speaking to residents when they are asking anything.

The workers treat the residents inhumanely verbally, and I don't imagine how they would act if they were unsupervised.

I really want to go home.

I don't care if I have to go to Katie or Columbia, because in both places I have a home and school.

I get bored a lot, and I don't really know what to do.

I made friends here, and they've told me how they've been here for seven months, and I get really surprised because I can't imagine how bad, sad, and stressed they are being here.

I want to tell you guys how I feel, and it is like hell.

Like I really want to go.

The food is bad, I'm tired of almost the same thing.

I feel so much sadness and depression of not being able to leave.

It's really sad to hear that people people's cases are being denied and they're getting sent back to their countries.

I hope you listen to what I say tonight, and as the rest of everyone else has said tonight.

Um just keep ICE out of Huntsville.

Thank you.

Thank you.

We'll hear now from Taylor Adams.

Taylor Adams will be followed by Mara Vasquez.

Hello, my name is Taylor.

Um my full name and address is correct on a sheet.

Uh I'm from Florence.

Uh Did you know how Ann Frank died?

She was fifteen when she died of typus fever in a Nazi concentration camp Birgan Belson.

Last time we were here, you told us to watch our language because families were watching the filming.

But if you really cared about families, you wouldn't back ice.

There are over three thousand eight hundred children locked up in ice concentration camps across the country.

Marie Juarez was a Guatemalan child who was just nineteen months old when she contracted a fatal respiratory infection due to subpar medical care and unsanitary conditions in Tamin.

And eighty an eight-year-old named Annadith Alvarez, who had sickle cell anemia and a known heart condition, died from a 104.9 degree fever when her cries for help were disregarded.

These events are part of a larger campaign of deliberate terror and vindictive and callous disregard to human life inflicted on the people who live in the United States.

Smashing their windows, breaking into their homes, threatening to murder people, filming them, shooting people indiscriminately with less than with less than lethal ammunitions and murdering U.S.

citizens.

But the Department of Home Security is claiming that billing them is that filming them is violent.

And then ICE agents possess absolute immunity.

In these ICE concentration camps, there have already been reports of people being sexually abused and raped, and small infants and children are being detained in facilities where people are sick and starving from food with bugs and worms in it.

In these concentration camps, people have no choice but to mix baby formula with the dirty water they are provided.

Other often people are detained and deported without any form due process granted by the Constitution.

When people are departed, usually it is a death sentence, especially for people seeking asylum or reprieve from the d terrible conditions in the countries they originate from.

I don't believe that there is any significant difference between the deportation and a state-sanctioned death sentence, especially in the case of four Haitian women whose bodies were found decapitated by gangs near the Dominican border.

All of my claims can be backed up by online footage or news reports.

Myself and my neighbors have come here to beg the city council not to cooperate with ICE or DHS.

If you have any regard for human life or the constitutional protections for the people living here, you will not back this deliberate campaign of ethnic cleansing.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Next person we will hear from is Mara Vasquez and then Carl Landers.

You can you can pull that microphone down.

There you go.

Hello, my name is Mara Vasquez, and I live in Madison, Alabama.

Thank you.

I don't want to scare you all by speaking a non-English language, but no somos criminales, no somos animales, somos humanos, which simply means we are not criminals, we are not animals, we are humans.

Are we immigrants not worthy of America of the American dream?

It is rather distasteful that I have to mention money loss in order for you guys to get your attention.

I don't believe that our lives equal money.

I come from a border town in Arizona.

I fear every day that I will get a call that my parents will be detained and I will no longer see them again.

My family and many others in the community are good people.

They not only do their American duty, but they help those around them.

Working the jobs that most Americans want should not justify their eligibility to stay in the United States.

The brown and black community are already scrutinized and targeted by our presidents and the ones before.

We do not feel safe.

ICE are not law enforcers.

They are Nazis.

Ojalá que me escuches.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Our final speaker will be Carl Landers.

Carl Marx Landers address is correct.

City of residence.

Florence.

Thank you.

I'm going to be reading a letter from a 17-year-old from Venezuela named Scarlet.

First of all, I want to introduce myself.

My name is Scarlet, and I'm writing this to express how I feel in this place.

Since they detained my mother and me, I feel really, really bored and overwhelmed because even though I am someone who doesn't do many productive things, being locked up against my will is quite overwhelming.

I also feel deep down about the idea that I couldn't finish my school year, and that I bet I'm going to end up in a worse school in my own country.

In my opinion, what I think about this place is not a big deal, since it's a normal and ordinary camp.

One of the things that I could complain about is that they don't have varied food, and it's almost the same and it bores me, and I lose my appetite.

And I'm not going to even mention the store food because most people can't even afford it.

And also some food tastes like cardboard.

Also in the store, it seems a little unfair to me that they buy things that are high priced and bad quality, like for example, the notebooks and colored pencils.

In my opinion, this place has to change several things like its cleanliness.

And I know it's not necessarily the workers' fault, but the people's.

And I know that even though there are rules, nobody is going to care about them, and that is why people are going to be against the workers here, because it seems that there will always be conflict.

They should keep their word of keeping people a maximum of 21 days, because if this continues like this, this camp is going to get worse for many people.

So this letter, you know, this could be written by someone just over the bridge.

And I'm not gonna beg you to keep ICE out.

I'm gonna let you know that the citizens, if you don't do your job, will keep ICE out.

Yes, sir.

If I may, um, you had called Harold Kemp earlier.

Yeah, he's okay, Mr.

Kemp.

Yeah.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Madam President.

My name is Harold Kemp.

I reside at 3900 Tall Wheel Drive.

I came here to express an issue that I have with my auntie who's getting put out of her place that she has dementia.

And uh I just come to the council to get some help.

But uh just hearing the issues that's going on, I kind of want to address those as well.

I do want to say that you know, for the activists in protest, I've been an activist for five years.

I think I've paved the way for you guys to be able to speak today.

Umordy Battle is a good mayor.

And if you want to get a hold of a great politician, you have Bill Clean right here.

You have Ms.

Boskins right there, you have John Merit right there.

In the world that we live in today, politicians are fake.

They are fake to the bone.

So when I call these politicians out, these are great people, and I can give you examples.

When my son ran away from school, I was able to call Bill Clean.

He was able to get the police department, they showed up like that.

When my auntie was behind on her light bill, I was able to call him, he showed up like that.

It didn't take one day, it didn't take two days, it didn't take three days.

When I came to this council and I gave Mayor Tommy Battle a grade of an F plus because I felt like he put the city's money into white activities, hockey, volleyball, swimming, and now we have a recreation basketball court where it can fit four or five four or five courts on it right there in John Hamilton Park.

So you're dealing with a mayor that will answer your issues and will take care of your problems.

You just gotta kind of be patient with them.

It took me five years to get something like that basketball court to the point now, people don't even live in Huntsville, are able to come in here and protest in Huntsville.

I can't go to the Madison City Council and express my issue.

I can't go to Florence and express my issue, especially being a black man, I'll be put out the first day.

I say I'm from Huntsville, so you guys have come a long way.

And I would say to an activist, if you really want to express your issue and you really want to make a change, you have to run for a position.

Because we're sitting here, I've been my whole family's been activist since 1865 when we were free from slavery, and no change has really been made.

So if you want to make a change, run for a position.

Run for an election.

Don't just sit out there and protest and everything.

If you want to make a difference, go in the pockets.

Because if it don't make dollars, it don't make sense.

So you can do all the talking you want to, but if you don't go for the money or go for an election, you ain't doing nothing but talking.

So I want to give you guys all props.

Bill Clean keep doing a good job.

Tommy Battle, Mayor Tommy Battle, you keep doing a great job as well.

Same with you, Ms.

Watson.

Thank you, Mr.

Kemp.

That concludes our citizen comments for the evening.

Do I hear a motion to adjourn?

Thank you.

We're adjourned.