We're going to get ready to start in just a few minutes.

If you all will take your seats, please.

Welcome everyone.

This meeting of the Huntsville City Council is called to order.

It is Thursday, July 9th, 2026, and we are met in the city council chambers in Huntsville, Alabama.

We welcome all the people who have joined us here in the chambers this evening, and many who are joining us virtually online.

We will begin our meeting with an indication, which will be offered by Huntsville Police Alabama Public Safety Chaplain Scott Lowry, which will be followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.

And this evening we have some scouts here in the audience with us who will be leading that pledge for us.

We have from Troop 42 Emily Domorowski and Miriam Tidwell from Troop 83, John Domorowski.

And they will come forward after the invocation.

So all who are willing and able to do so, please stand for the invocation and the pledge of allegiance.

Let us pray.

Father, we would be remiss if we didn't pause to thank you that we're blessed to live in a nation that has just celebrated its 250th anniversary.

I thank you for that.

I thank you for the way you've blessed our land, the way you have blessed our community.

I pray for your continued blessing upon our community, upon our leaders.

That you will guide us, that you'll continue to lead, that you will continue to provide.

Give us discretion, Lord, and um receptivity, Lord, to divine leadership.

And I pray for your blessings now, Lord, upon all who are participating this evening.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

We appreciate you being here tonight.

Do I like speaking to it?

Uh, okay.

One nation, under God, indivisible within the movie and justice for all.

Thank you, Chaplain Lowry.

Thank you, Scouts.

We appreciate you being here today.

Council members, you have the agenda before you.

We have one item that we would like to take out of order, and that is item 20H, which is the declaration of appointment for Ryan Renaud, who did not have any opposition in his school board contest.

If uh all are okay with that, uh that change, and are there any other changes to be made?

Is there a motion to approve the agenda as presented?

Or as changed.

Second from Mr.

Little.

All in favor, please indicate.

Council members, you have the minutes of the regular meeting of the city council held on June 25, 2026.

Are there any changes or additions to the minutes?

Seeing none, the minutes will be accepted as approved as presented.

Mayor Battle has a presentation.

5A is a presentation recognizing that Huntsville salutes America's 250th committee and its partners for their outstanding work in organizing a year-long celebration of the nation's founding.

Mayor Battle.

Thank you, Madam President.

Uh, if I could ask Sally Warden to come up with all of her Mary crew who helped put on the uh the 250th celebration, to each of you, we want to say thank you.

Y'all did a wonderful job, although you didn't handle the weather very well.

It was hot out there, very hot, uh, but it was just it was a great day.

And Sally, please tell us about some of the efforts that went on, and I have uh certificates for each of you to say thank you for doing this and being part of the city of Huntsville and part of our, I guess we would call it our Mary crew who made sure that uh we celebrated the this country's 250th anniversary in the right way.

Thank you, Mayor, very much for having us here today.

Sorry, guys, I have to have a cheat sheet.

I wasn't sure what the mayor was and wasn't gonna say.

So I have my cheat sheet here.

Come on, guys, keep on coming, keep on coming.

It's a big it's a big crowd.

We gotta get all get in the picture.

Do you want me to start here?

And introduce.

First of all, Mayor, I would like to thank you for having the faith in us to put on this big show.

Uh about a year ago, guys, the mayor and um John Hamilton came to me and asked um if I would do this, and I said, sure, as long as I have a big crew to do it with, and uh, this is only a portion of the crew, but it is a lot of the crew here, and I thank you for that.

Real quick, if you don't mind, I'm gonna run through and introduce some of the 250th as well as a few others.

Uh I'm gonna go fast, guys.

I can talk fast.

Um Donna Castellano with Historic Huntsville Foundation and Harrison Brothers, Jennifer Moore, Wave Guys when I call your name, Jennifer Moore with the CVB, Claire A from the Chamber of Commerce, William Hampton, Huntsville Revisited, uh Caressa Acosta Lee from UAH, Kate Monroe from the uh public library, as well as the Hunt Spring chapter of the DAR, Veronica Henderson, Alabama AM, Aaron Owen from the City Communications Department, Dave DeLisser.

Where is Dave?

He's probably still coming in on his crutches.

He is coming though.

Uh, and Kent Ballard from Parks and Rack.

That was uh those are the members up here of our committee.

We also have some folks up here that were instrumental in the parade, as well as Ron Petit, downtown Huntsville Inc.

Tremendous partner, we couldn't have done it without them.

Henry Thornton from Meta, who Henry financed it.

That is the other thing the mayor said here.

Sally and company throw this party, but guess what?

You have to go raise the money first to do it.

So thankfully, Meta stepped up and uh and took that challenge and did that.

Henry, would you like to say a word?

Absolutely, if that's all right.

I promise I'll go very fast.

Uh, the sponsor's main job is to put money uh in the accounts of the people who know how to do the real work, and that's the committee uh right here.

And so can we give a round of applause to everyone on the committee?

I'll close with this very briefly.

At Meta, you know, we love upholding our commitment to be good neighbors in the communities where we have a data center, and lots of communities had you know a similar event to this, some sort of America 250 event, and Meadow was involved in a few of them in our communities around the country.

We found as we checked on this on Monday, many people, you know, underestimated the interest in their events and were a little overwhelmed.

Some other cities overestimated the interest and didn't have the right crowds.

This group right here who did all the work nailed the exact level of interest in the community.

It was a very, very huntsful moment, and you should be very proud, Sally and everyone else who worked on this.

Thank you, Henry.

Um, one of the things that is one of those things that just spontaneously happened was Claire actually was at a meeting at WHNT and they said, What's going on for the 250th?

And WHNT uh stepped up and broadcast live the parade, which caused Kent Ballard, who was uh creative genius guru of the parade, um, to uh step up and uh kick it up a whole notch.

But we have here tonight three of the key players from WHT, Olivia Pennington, who's the station VP, general manager, wave guys, um Greg Baldwin, the news director, and Tracy Holsey, the community project director.

They it was all hands on deck, guys.

Uh there were several meetings where that we went to that there were 20 to 30 folks from WHNT there, and um we're so thankful that you were there and were able to capture all of that.

Real quick, I need to mention two people that are not here tonight.

One is Natasha Parker.

She's the chair she was the chair of the subcommittee that oversaw the July 4th.

Unfortunately, she was out of town.

Could not be here.

The second was Carla Palacios from DHI.

Uh and we could not have done this without the help of uh downtown Huntsville Inc.

Uh, and Carla is the one that knows where every single thing is in that park and got it all taken care of.

So she was as well as serving all the money ran through DHI as well.

So she's paying all the bills still.

Uh one of the things early on, mayor, that I told the mayor, I said, you know, we've got to have the city's help in this, and he gave me a pinky promise, literally, you know, pinky promise with your finger that said, Yes, the city will be behind you.

And I cannot thank the city departments enough.

Uh, we have one of them up here with us right now, Charles Martin.

Give away.

He is over public transit.

He's one of the ones when Philadelphia was canceling their parade.

Washington, D.C.

canceled their parade, and I was like, oh no, we're not canceling our parade.

We are not canceling that parade.

The mayor wants a parade.

That is what one of the things the mayor said we had to have a parade.

We had to have music and we had to have fireworks.

So we did just that.

Um, but Charles is just a great example of on the fly, he did tremendous work getting our parade goers cooled down quickly.

They along with and that is why we didn't even think twice about canceling our parade, because we had great backup from folks like him in the city as well as the Huntsville Fire Department that we knew were there and were worried about it, even though Kent had been, I mean, back last November, Kent was saying, it's gonna be hot, we gotta plan this right.

And they did.

So anyway, I uh thank all of you guys from the bottom of my heart.

I'm eternally grateful to you and all the city departments, all the way from the basement of the print shop, who's probably gonna be glad not to see me anymore, all the way up to the seventh floor in communications and Aaron Owen.

Aaron, well, okay, there she is.

Um her job's not over yet because our website is up and going and will continue up and going all the way through.

There are many activities still going on, and um Erin's gonna be the one that's gonna be keeping all those up and going.

Um I have to tell you a funny story.

One story, mayor, just one story about this.

And uh parks and recreation was all hands on deck.

I said that from the get-go parks and rec.

I don't know if there was a single Parks and Rec employee that wasn't working all day Friday and all day Saturday.

And that goes down all the way to uh their department head, James Gossett, who I know he's here somewhere, he's not in this room, but I know he's probably listening to me.

Eight o'clock, 4th of July.

I'm out there lugging, me and the music officer out there lugging, and Carla lugging boxes and getting things set up, and there's James Gossett.

And James has one job, but it is a very important job.

It is to get, I don't know if y'all weren't there, um, while the fireworks were going off, the Huntsville concert band played.

It was amazing.

Live music from our very own folks, but they had 71 musicians, and they had this seating chart that was very detailed about where the trombones went and where the percussion went.

So, at 10 o'clock that night, when I was going through the park and the concert band was breaking down, and I went to their president and said, how was that?

How was your seating chart?

How were those 71 chairs?

Were they good?

She said it was perfection.

So we know he can do the grunt work if he has to.

And we also know he can follow a seating chart really well.

So anyway, Mayor, we do have one thing for you.

Whoops, where'd it go?

Okay.

And uh you have to open it now.

But this, because you were um pretty insistent on a parade.

Uh the parade folks made sure that we got a really good picture of you in the fire truck riding, sweating.

Um, we we sort of we sort of, you know, did all that photoshop stuff, so you look wonderful with your hair blowing in the breeze.

But um it is a picture that you can hang.

Is that not great?

Does that not capture the moment?

That does, isn't it?

Yep.

So our fire truck right here.

That's right.

Which by the way, the fire department built special steps to get the grand marshals, were the mayor, uh, former mayor Steve Hettinger and for former mayor Loretta Spencer.

They built these like five or six steps that went up and down.

And when I got I was at the uh when the the first uh their grand marshals pulled in and um they whipped those steps up, down they came.

It was a it was a sight to see, Mayor.

So we wanted you to have that.

And again, I just want you to know it's not over yet, but I'm not gonna bother any more of your departments, probably except for Aaron, um, to um keep it going on through the end of 2026 because we still have many community organizations out there that are willing and want to keep promoting uh the 250th.

And we're very proud.

Um, and I think also um one thing it hasn't come out, Ron and I know.

We're we're working on trying to get a really good estimate.

It's really hard to get a very good estimate of how many people were there.

Uh but first scrub, 12,000.

Well, the mayor's count.

It's the mayor's count.

Well, you know what?

Mayor's off a little bit, a little bit more, Mayor.

We can we can with all uh conservatively say there were at least over 15,000 people there by the end of the night.

Um and we don't, and I'd just like to thank all the citizens that came out that shared their joy and and patriotic spirit and spin it with all of us out there sweating in the park.

So thank you guys very, very much.

All right, now I have one thing to ask the whole committee.

If you would raise your hand and repeat after me, I am looking forward to 300 years of this country.

And I promise to help with this parade when we have the 300th anniversary.

Uh yes, great job, thank you.

Thank you so much, and thank you for all your work.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sally.

Thanks to your crew.

Pictures, everybody, come forward.

You're short, you know you're short.

I don't want to find out.

Matt, you're in back.

Back row guy, always.

Like uh six and just always.

I got you.

I take it today.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you all again for exceptional work.

And I'm sure Mr.

Kling would like me to point out that while the rest of us rode in the parade, he walked the parade route.

So we're proud of him too.

We will move on to uh a couple of special recognitions from the council.

6A is a resolution honoring the exceptional life and legacy of Craig Sumner, a beloved member of the Huntsville community.

The chair moves for approval.

Second from Mr.

Little, all in favor, aye.

Any opposed motion carries.

I have the honor of making this presentation.

If the Sumner family would come forward, please.

So this was a great revelation to me, and I'm so grateful we can make the community aware of all Craig contributed.

Whereas the City Council and the mayor of the city of Huntsville, Alabama wish to honor the exceptional life and legacy of Craig Sumner, a distinguished figure in the space industry whose national and local involvement has significantly impacted Huntsville and surrounding areas.

Craig's distinguished career in the space industry began in 1969 as a college intern with the Apollo program, working on the design and build of the lunar roving vehicle.

Craig served in the Vietnam War in the United States Air Force, eventually flying C 130s before being honorably discharged in 1976 as a captain.

He returned to Huntsville in NASA, working on other pieces of the space shuttle program before retiring from NASA in 1997 as deputy project manager for the space shuttle external tank.

After NASA, he worked for the United Space Alliance and was the chief engineer of space shuttle propulsion when he retired along with the Space Shuttle program in 2011.

After his retirement, he was asked to work for Boeing as a subject matter expert on the thermal protection system for the core stages of SLS Artemis and retired for good in 2024.

In addition to his tremendous career in the space industry, Craig left a positive impact in the Huntsville community.

And most recently serving as board chair for first stop.

He also volunteered his time and knowledge with the U.S.

Space and Rocket Center as a docent, and I knew him as an active neighborhood watch uh member of his South Huntsville neighborhood.

In addition to his NASA career, faithful service to his country and remarkable volunteerism, Craig was a devoted husband to his supportive wife Linda, a 52 years and loving father to two children, Aaron and Carrie, and grandfather to three grandchildren, Savannah, Pippa, and Autumn.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the City Council and the mayor of the City of Huntsville, Alabama, do hereby recognize and celebrate the extraordinary life, service, and legacy of Craig, Craig Edmund Sumner, whose remarkable contributions to the advancement of space exploration, and his unwavering commitment to the betterment of the Huntsville community have left an enduring impact.

May his dedication to his profession, country, and family serve as an inspiration to all.

Ensuring he will be remembered with great respect, gratitude, and admiration by the residents of Huntsville for generations to come.

And Linda, I will present this resolution to you.

And I believe Aaron's going to say some words.

Thank you very much.

First off, uh, you you uh covered 100% of what I was going to say.

Um Dad did have a big heart.

Um his legacy wasn't just in his accomplishments at work, but in the lives that he touched around Huntsville.

Uh he inspired many through his acts of kindness, his passion, his dedication to making a difference.

And so thank you again to the city of Huntsville, and uh for honoring my dad.

Uh it's a beautiful tribute to the man I knew, and and we really appreciate it.

Thank you for sharing him with us.

Thank you.

Thank you again.

Thank you, Aaron.

Those are you very much forward.

I think Michelle gets this next.

Thank you.

We'll move on then to the resolution.

Six B is a resolution honoring the North Alabama Railroad Museum on the occasion of its 60th anniversary.

Is there a motion to approve?

So motion.

Would you like to make this presentation?

Good evening, everyone.

Can I get the members of the North Alabama Rail to come up, please?

Okay.

So whereas the City Council and Mayor of Huntsville, Alabama recognize North Alabama Railroad Museum as a treasured historical and educational institution that has preserved and promoted the reach rail heritage of North Alabama for six decades.

Whereas the North Alabama Rail Museum was founded in July 1966 in Tuscumbia, Alabama, by dedicated volunteers committed to preserving the rail war railroad history.

Whereas the museum relocated its home where it's currently located, 694 Chase Road in Huntsville during the 1980s.

Whereas throughout the purchase of five miles of abandoned railway right of way and the successful restoration and reconstruction of that rail line, the North Alabama Railroad Museum created a unique opportunity for residents and visitors to experience authentic history train excursions throughout the year.

Whereas the museum serves as an important educational resource by hosting annual field trips that teach young people about rail history, rail safety, and the significance of the railroad.

Whereas the North Alabama Railroad Museum preserves and displays an impressive collection of historic railroad equipment, including a railway post office car, a military hospital car that served during the Korean War, a Baldwin locomotive, a 1949 Pullman Sleeper Coach, and a 1945 locomotive originally built for the United States Army, providing the public with a tangible connection to our nation's transportation and military history.

Whereas for 60 years, the North Alabama Railroad Museum has enriched the cultural life of the Huntsville community through the dedication of its volunteers, the preservation of historical artifacts, and its commitment to education and heritage.

Now let it be resolved that the City Council and Mayor of Huntsville do hereby recognize the North Alabama Railroad Museum on as it celebrates its 60th anniversary and express sincere appreciation for its longstanding commitment to preserving railroad history, educating future generations, and enhancing the culture and historical heritage of the Huntsville community and the state of Alabama.

You get him a hand clap.

And I will let the President, Mr.

Hilpart Hillgartner, right?

I'll let him say a few words.

On behalf of the entire membership, thank you for this great honor.

Since 1986, we've been at our current location, the budding north and east of Alabama AM on Chase Road.

This enables Huntsville's citizens to be able to ride in a historic train without having to leave our city and go up to Chattanooga.

In addition, they'll be able to see the very historic trains that were mentioned in the resolution.

If anyone is interested, our next excursions will be the 20 different countries come see us within the last eight years, including Wales and mainland China just in the last 60 days.

We do ask and are grateful for the support of our citizens as over 90% of our budget comes from coming to people coming and riding on our trains during excursions.

And again, thank you so much for this recognition.

It's an honor, thank you.

Thank you for sharing that presentation, Miss Watkins.

We will now move on to 6C.

Six C is a resolution recognizing Louise Garmin's.

Listen to this.

106th.

I promoted you.

106th.

It's still impressive.

106th birthday and celebrating her extraordinary life of civil service accomplishment and adventure.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion to Mr.

Kling, second from Ms.

Watkins, all in favor, please indicate.

I oppose the motion carries.

And Mr.

Kling, would you like to present this resolution to Miss Garmin, who has 106 years of the city?

It would be my honor.

Be my honor.

It is still my honor.

Come on, I will come to you.

Uh Madam President, I'd like to read uh this resolution that was just unanimously passed by the City Council.

And Louise, let me tell you, all of the good words that we are saying about you and your family, they will go into the permanent record of Huntsville City Government.

Thank you so much.

So that way when we have those future uh 300 year uh parade workers uh coming down to City Hall, they can look at the minutes and they'll be able to read about their great great great-grandmother.

Well, thank you so much.

Whereas the City Council and the mayor of Huntsville, Alabama wish to extend a heartfelt 106th birthday to Louise Garmin for an outstanding citizen whose life was marked by civil service accomplishment and adventure.

Louise uh was married to her late husband Robert Garmin, though their honeymoon was cut short when just three days after their wedding, he departed to serve in World War II.

During this challenging time for our nation, Louise supported the war effort by working in the payroll office at Mayo Clinic, an organization that played a significant role in assisting service manner members and caring for returning veterans.

Whereas after Robert's return from the war, they began a new chapter together, growing their family and creating a lifetime of memories.

They own several airstream trailers, they traveled extensively throughout the United States, achieving what may only many only dream about by visiting every state.

They were also active members in the Shriners, an organization closely affiliated with the daughters of the Nile, where Louise rose through the ranks and was elected Queen of the Nile, guiding members and overseeing activities, ceremonies, and philodraphic uh activities.

Sadly, in 2003, Robert Garmin passed away, leaving behind an esteemed legacy and a beautiful growing family.

Whereas in 2005, Louise moved to Huntsville, Alabama, where she began a new chapter in her life and continued to embrace life's adventures.

She attended the adult space camp at the U.S.

Space and Rocket Center, and she became active in the newcomers club of Huntsville, establishing many meaningful connections and deepening her roots through the community.

Whereas Louise is the proud mother of two loving children, Karen and Diana, and grandmother of five grandchildren, and great grandmother to several great grandchildren.

In her free time, she enjoys crossword puzzles and playing cards.

Now, therefore, be it resolved that the city council and the mayor of Huntsville, Alabama, hereby congratulate Louise Garmin on the celebration of her 106th birthday, a milestone that reflects a life filled with stories and many loved ones and a great remarkable spirit for living life to the fullest.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

I'm going to give you a chance to have the final word.

You can say make whatever comments you'd like.

If you'd like to introduce your family, you're welcome to do so.

Yes, I'm very happy that my family is here.

Sitting on my right is uh Karen Measles, her grandson, Michael Measles, my son-in-law, Mike Measles, and my great-granddaughter, Lena, and um Michael, my grandson's wife.

What was that?

Bianca.

I'm sorry, hon.

I get a little confused.

I'm so happy to be here tonight.

It's been a long journey and a pre uh pleasant one all along the way.

I have so many memories, and I'm just so happy to be here tonight and just share my good fortune with all you people.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Here's a result.

Yeah.

Okay.

Oh, okay.

We'll get our picture.

Okay.

Thank you.

We are grateful that we could be part of your journey tonight, Miss Garmin.

Many more.

Thank you.

Um that concludes our uh resolutions.

And now we will take item 20H out of order.

20H is a resolution to declare Ryan Renaud to be elected to the Board of Education, District 4 of the City of Huntsville, due to single cat due to single candidacy, pursuant to code the code of Alabama 1975, Section 11-46-26.

Motion to approve.

Mr.

Meredith, I made the motion.

Mr.

Kling has the second.

Thank you, Council.

Mayor Battle, Chandrika Edwards, City Clerk.

You all received an official written statement today, letting you know there was only one individual, Mr.

Ryan Renott, to declare candidacy for Board of Education District 4.

And pursuant to Alabama Code Section 11-46-26.

We are due to issue him a certificate of election for a term that will commence on November 2nd, 2026.

And he is here tonight with his family.

Mr.

Renard, would you like to say a few words?

Come to the podium there.

Yeah, should we have a recount?

No, I don't think so.

Dr.

Robinson, Councilmembers, thank you all.

Uh appreciate the vote of confidence.

Um, we're gonna chalk this up as a hundred percent turnout and a hundred percent support, despite the state statute.

I I do want to take this opportunity, Miss Edwards.

Y'all have a treasure and a gym and Shondrika.

Uh we talked at length during the qualifying window, but the work she's doing as city clerk is phenomenal and certainly remarkable.

So I want to say thank you, Miss Edwards.

Um, and I'll just briefly because I know we like to stick to business and decorum, and I'll thank you all for giving my two and a half-year-old daughter a uh great exercise in decorum tonight.

Um, but I do just want to thank you all for your continued leadership and collaboration.

The progress and momentum that Huntsville City Schools is experiencing right now is not without all of your support, your collaboration uh as a former colleague with Ms.

Watkins and two other former board members with Councilman Kling and Councilwoman Robinson.

I appreciate all of your support and collaboration over the years between revenue share agreements with N SSUT and your collaboration on TIFF districts.

I'm really proud and excited to live in a community that doesn't just highlight the importance of great public education, but collaborates with us and invests in those opportunities.

So thank you all for tonight, and thank you for your continued support.

Thank you, sir.

Congratulations.

Don't go far.

You have to get your certificate of election.

You can bring your family up, our communication department.

Would like to take a picture.

I just don't remember this happening for me, and I won three elections.

Well, never got invited down here.

Never got invited, never got recognized.

At the record show.

Councilwoman Watkins, we're gonna make sure if this opportunity come again, we're gonna treat you the same way.

While we get ready for the picture, Mr.

Little informed me we have not yet had the vote.

We have had the discussion.

All in favor, please indicate any posed.

Okay, now it's official.

Madam Chairman, I just like to say that uh school board member Renault has been a great person to work with, done a lot of great things for all those different schools within the district, and I commend him on his good work.

That's not what you say at breakfast.

We congratulate you.

Um running unopposed really is the best way to run.

Uh thank you all for for joining us, and best wishes to you.

We now have the pleasure of receiving a presentation from the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council.

Their charter uh requires them to give a yearly presentation.

And so joining us tonight, we have the board chair, Becky Schmidt, and I believe she's joined by some colleagues, and we will let you give that presentation and uh introduce your colleagues.

All right.

Good evening, Mayor, Council, and we also have Chief Giles here with us tonight.

I'd like to introduce uh some of our members who are able to come tonight.

Dan Odin is our vice chair, uh Ryan is our Ryan O'Connor's our secretary, and Missy Hanks is uh been a member of HPCAC for several years.

We appreciate them being here.

The mission of the HPCAC is to strengthen the relationship between HPD and the community through transparency, communication, and trust.

This year, I believe we've made meaningful progress towards that goal.

HPCAC remains engaged with Chief Giles and command staff by providing citizen perspective on department initiatives, including recruitment and hiring.

We've been especially supportive of the department's recent recruitment efforts, and it's been great to see the early hires in the precincts.

That seems to be going really well.

Community engagement remains our top priority.

We've hosted three public meetings this year.

The first covered the internal affairs process.

The second was a community listening session, and the third was about protecting seniors from elder abuse and fraud.

While the internal affairs meeting was very well attended, the other two had much lower participation than we hoped.

We do view this as an opportunity though to continually improve how we engage with the community.

Throughout the year, council members have completed their write-alongs.

We have all met our annual training requirements.

We have reviewed the department's annual report.

We've reviewed quarterly internal affairs complaint summaries, and we stand ready to serve on incident review boards when we're called upon.

I also want to recognize our new members who you've all appointed who have brought professional expertise and really strengthened our discussions.

We're proud to celebrate three of our members for graduating from the citizens police academy this year.

That's a huge time commitment.

We really appreciate them making the time to do that.

One of the highlights of this year was a new initiative.

We recognized Officer Thomas Massey as the inaugural HPCAC officer of the year award.

And his background, he was perfect at talking about being a bridge between the community and the police.

The work he does every day exemplified that.

Looking ahead, one of our biggest priorities is to continue to seek meaningful civic engagement.

We know that our work is strongest when we're hearing directly from the citizens, and we're committed to creating more opportunities for meaningful dialogue.

We've also improved how residents can communicate with us.

We discovered a very outdated old city email address.

And thanks to Lindsay Smith and Captain Clardy, we've been able to update our website.

So our new HPCAC email address is HPCAC Connect at Gmail.com.

And we encourage anyone with questions, concerns, or ideas for future meetings.

We would love to hear from them.

Before I close, I would just like to say thank you to Chief and his leadership and his confidence in the HPCAC.

He is such a blessing to our community.

Captain Clardy, he oversees HPCAC from the HPD side, and Lindsay Smith from the communications team and the command staff has been wonderful.

We appreciate their outstanding partnership.

And I also want to thank my fellow HPCAC council members for their commitment.

This is a very unique volunteer opportunity, and it's a pleasure to serve with them.

And finally, want to thank all of you for your continued support and belief in this program.

While citizens advisory councils are not uncommon, I recently had the opportunity to speak with leaders from across the country at the All America Cities uh conference.

And other chiefs that I spoke to, other mayors, they were genuinely impressed with the transparency that our department and the HPCAC have.

That's something that our community should be very proud of.

And lastly, want to thank uh all the officers and professional staff for their service every day.

It is just incredible every single ride along to get to see the work they do.

We look forward to continuing to build on our accomplishments this year to strengthen the partnership between the police department and the citizens of Huntsville, and I'm happy to take any questions.

Thank you, Miss Schmidt.

Council members, do you have any questions for Ms.

Schmidt?

Ms.

Watkins.

How are you doing, Ms.

Smith?

Good, how are you?

Good.

So I just have a few questions.

Yes.

Um, how are your community meetings being?

Are they well attended?

Honestly, it depends on the topic.

If we have a timely topic like internal affairs process, that was well attended because it was something that the community was interested and engaged in.

When we have something that's a little more general, like a listening session where we we want community members to come share their experiences with us, that's a little harder to get attendance.

So we're looking for ways we can make civic engagement fun again by, you know, maybe going to them and meeting them where they are versus having these meetings where they come to us.

Is it a marketing concern?

Is it something that communications department can work on with you to get the message out?

We actually met with them a couple weeks ago and had a really productive meeting, and they're doing everything to market like they would any other parks and rec event.

What we need to do a better job of as a council is communicating who we are, because we do have a lot of new people here, and we have a lot of people who may not have heard of HPCAC.

And so I think through that their help with that too, that will help drive attendance to our meetings.

Okay.

My next question is how does your council measure whether community trust with law enforcement is improving?

Whew, that's a good question.

Um, we don't necessarily have any statistical measurements for that.

Um we do is review the quarterly um internal affairs reports, and so you get a good idea as to what is the community uh concerned about, what kind of experiences are they having with police?

And so through that we we might get a glimpse into those relations, but we don't necessarily have any statistical things, and that is something that we'd we'd like to do.

We've talked about putting out a survey, but I had to get that email fixed first.

So that's that's a great suggestion.

I think that would be important because they're gonna give you a measurement of how well, you know, the council is receiving information or um how well we're doing in the police department.

Not to say that they're not doing a great job or bad job.

Just say that would be a great measurement.

Yes.

Um my next question is do you have any recurring concerns brought to you from the residents or from community members?

Um I hear most frequently that, you know, just general, oh, an HPD officer didn't use his blinker, something like that.

Um we have some community members who participate regularly and and share their concerns.

Um I wouldn't necessarily say we see any trends.

We just don't have enough people engaging enough to really say that.

Um, on the flip side, I would say the HPD has worked really hard this year to change how they're presenting us, our internal affairs reports, so that we can better see trends within that information on what's going on within the department.

Okay.

When I have town halls, you're always welcome to come.

Thank you.

I can always put you on the agenda.

If you want to attend my townhouse, please let me know.

I would love for you to come and be able to engage and communicate with the public.

Yes, absolutely.

I would love that.

Thank you.

I think that's a great suggestion.

Perhaps all of us in our town halls could have someone from HPCAC come and report on the role of the HPCIC and how to communicate with you.

Great suggestion.

Mr.

Meredith.

Thank you.

I would suggest reaching out and working with the community watch organizations and the CROs.

I think that'll give you a much better indication of how the public looks at the police force rather than internal affairs documents, which to my understanding come with complaints.

So all you're getting are complaints from citizens that for whatever reason feel affronted by the police force as opposed to those that are not being arrested and therefore come at it from a completely different perspective.

And with community watch, it is about protecting the neighborhood.

So I think you're going to get a better input from those folks than internal affairs.

That's a great great suggestion.

We've seen early results of those.

I think they've only been doing it for about a year.

But of course, you only get that that code if you've interacted with the police.

So want to make sure that we're having opportunities for people to give input who maybe didn't have a direct interaction.

Any other comments?

Thank you all again for your service.

I know it uh is more than maybe you had bargained for, and we appreciate your continued um commitment to doing that.

Well, thank you all for your support and would be happy to come to any of y'all's meetings too.

Thank you.

Uh, we council members, we will now move on with the business of the council this evening.

We have no matters with outside legal representation, but we do have a couple of public hearings.

9A is a public hearing in order to hear, consider and act upon all objections and protests, if any, for removal of a public nuisance at 6026 Lincoya Drive Northwest on Swell Alabama, and consideration of a resolution ordering abatement of a nuisance located at the same property, Mr.

Irwin.

Uh yes, Mayor Battle, Council members and Scott Irwin Community Development Department.

This public hearing is in reference to the property located at 6026 Link Horia Drive Northwest.

The property was in violation of the state public nuisance act regarding junk.

Community development issue a notice to the property owner and interested parties, and the property remains in violation.

Community development is seeking your authorization to abate this junk public nuisance.

The condition of the properties before you on the video screen, including photos when the property was initially determined to be a nuisance last month or in May, and photos as of yesterday.

Property owners as identified by the tax assessment records were notified of the time and place where any objections may be heard involving the abatement of this public nuisance.

Councilman property owners and his family have made substantial improvement on removing this junk nuisance.

However, the conditions of a nuisance still do exist.

Upon your approval of this resolution, we will continue to work with the property owner to allow them the opportunity to complete the cleanup.

However, failure to do so, uh failure to remove all the junk and to bring in a reasonable time will result in the city moving forward with our standard abatement process.

The public hearing on item 9A is now open.

Is there anyone wishing to comment on this item?

Please come forward to the microphone right here.

And if you'll give us your name and address for the record, please.

Hello.

Hello.

My name is Trent Griffin, 3607 Nathalie Avenue.

Thank you for joining us.

The property is the property at 6026 belongs to my brother, Nathaniel Griffin.

And I first want to uh say thank you for the opportunity to address the council.

Um people do not change except for extreme situations.

Um and striking rock bottom is one of them.

Uh a desire to change is another, and boundaries are another.

Gene has, we call him Gene, has faced all of those recently, and it is part of the reason he is not here.

Privately, Jean has expressed remorse about the way he maintained his property.

And this is an opportunity to publicly express remorse to his neighbors for the conditions that he has subjected them to.

Uh we have been working since we got the notification to to clean up.

You saw some of the new pictures, but we still have some that remain uh to be done.

I've talked with Mr.

Webster and Mr.

Irwin, and we will work diligently to resolve what is left to be done.

Thank you, sir.

We appreciate your comments.

All right.

Is there anyone else who wishes to comment?

Hearing none, the public hearing is now closed.

Is there a motion?

Move to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Little, second by the chair, oh second by Miss Watkins.

Is there any discussion?

Ms.

Watkins.

Yes.

Um Mr.

Um, we call him Gene as well.

But Mr.

Griffin reached out to me last week and he did express remorse for how his property looked, but he is unable to do anything.

So he's dependent on the kindness of his brother and other IV friends that are helping getting the property cleared off.

But he he did express how sorry he was and that he will get it cleaned off.

So I had talked to Mr.

Irwin, and Mr.

Irwin has been talking with his brother as well.

So we we hopeful that it'll get cleared off soon.

And thank you for working with them, Scott, and uh show last name.

Webster.

Thank you.

And Mr.

Irwin, how long do we have?

So 30 days normally the time.

That's why I communicated to Mr.

Griffin.

So uh we'll work with them based on the needs.

They have made substantial improvements.

Uh the cars and some of the debris, it is a small amount remaining.

All right, very good.

Council members, any other comments?

All those in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed, the motion carries.

Thank you.

We will move on to 9B.

9B is a public hearing on authorizing the demolition of an unsafe building constituting a public nuisance located at 3208 10th Avenue Southwest Huntsville, Alabama, consideration of a resolution pertaining to the same.

Mr.

Irwin.

This resolution will authorize the demolition of an unsafe building constituting a public nuisance located at 3208-10th Avenue.

The owners and interested parties were notified of the public news for the public hearing by certified male and first class male.

The entry parties may be present to present any objections.

We have photographs of the property for review on the screen.

The property was initially inspected by an independent contractor who determined the house was not structurally feasible for repair.

It's scaled at 83% loss.

The independent assessment noted extensive damage to the siding, roofing, walls, floors, and the ceiling.

The property has been declared an unsafe structure for nine years with no permits or repairs or demolition permits requested.

An official notice was sent by certified and first class mail requesting the demolition or removal of the structure by June the 22nd, 2026.

No action was taken by the owners or interested parties.

And so we're now requesting your authorization to abate this public nuisance.

The public hearing on item 9B is now open.

Is there anyone wishing to comment on this item?

Anyone wishing to comment?

Seeing none, the public hearing is now closed.

Is there a motion to motion from Mr.

Little, second by um Mr.

Kling?

Council members, do you have any comments or questions?

Seeing none, uh all in favor, please indicate aye.

Any opposed motion carries.

Thank you, Council members.

Thank you, Mr.

Irwin.

Thank you, Mr.

Irwin and Mr.

Webster.

We appreciate your good work.

We have several hearings to be set.

10 A is a resolution to declare a public nuisance located at 2117 Ridgway Street Southwest Huntsville, Alabama, to set a date for when objections will be heard.

Is there a motion to set the hearing for July 23rd?

Second.

Motion from Mr.

Clink, second from Mr.

Little.

All in favor, please indicate.

Is a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 24.67 acres of land lying on the north side of University Drive east of Providence Main Street to Highway Business C4 District and introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Is there a motion to set the hearing for August 27?

Second, or so moved.

Motion from Mr.

Lil, second from Ms.

Watkins.

All in favor, please indicate.

He posed the motion carries.

10 C is a resolution to set a public hearing on the zoning of 1.98 acres of land lying on the north side of Capshaw Road, west of Walt Triana Highway, the neighborhood misses C One District, and introduction of an ordinance pertaining to the same.

Is there a motion to set the hearing for August 27th?

So moved.

Motion from Mr.

Lil, second from Ms.

Watkins.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

And he posed the motion carries.

This brings us now to agenda related comments.

We have one person signed up.

Is Mr.

Howard Ross still here?

Then we will move forward to council member comments, and we will begin.

We will turn the time over to Mayor Battle.

Thank you, Madam President and Council.

Um about spending most of my time on the 4th of July celebration, but we do want to thank each and every person who came out and enjoyed and helped celebrate, and especially those who helped organize the celebration.

Today we just came from uh reception for General Lieutenant General John Rafferty, who is our new space and missile defense uh command uh commander.

Uh he um he's new to community and uh it was great getting to meet him and have a conversation with him and uh get him to and uh he was able to meet meet uh much of our community there and also yesterday we had uh uh grand opening of the Keller Williams out in uh Hampton Cove.

Uh they must have you know 150 agents out there.

Uh you could have bought a house real quick if you'd wanted to.

Uh, but it was a it was a great day and uh and a lot of fun watching uh companies grow and grow with our city.

Uh so uh that was great.

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

Thank you, Mayor Battle.

We'll move on to council member comments, and we will hear first from Councilmember Bill Clinton.

Well, thank you, Madam President.

I'm gonna be very brief.

Uh I appreciate the good work that Scott Irwin and others have done with a couple issues that we just dealt with.

Uh somewhere in the horizon, I think we're going to have Serenity Apartment Building coming to us, and I want to just encourage uh the legal department to let that move through as quickly as possible.

Uh that has been a long-standing blight in that neighborhood area over there, and it has a history that uh I think has been pretty obvious.

So I just want to kind of wave a flag to cheer on uh our departments uh taking everything through the courts and going through the legal process, but uh please bring it to the council for whatever action is needed uh at the appropriate time.

And uh again, let me congratulate everybody for what I think was a phenomenally great uh fourth of July celebration.

Uh we had thousands and thousands of people that came out and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people that had been working and are still continue to work on on this very special celebration that we have in our country, and it's a bit a great event, but please take a moment just to kind of think what the 4th of July is all about, what it means, and the freedoms that we have.

Uh we are blessed with so many great things in this country.

We have challenges, of course, but again, I like to look at a glass of water as being half full, not half empty, and we have so many great things to celebrate.

So thank you for everyone who participated thus far at our celebrations that we've had, and it looks like there's still some more great events that are going to be coming up uh over the upcoming months.

Thank you, Madam President.

Thank you, Mr.

Kling.

We'll hear from Councilmember David Little.

Thank you, Madam President.

Just want to quickly thank uh Huntsville Police for Engineering, Planning, and Zoning Departments and Community Development for being responsive to some citizen concerns over the last few weeks.

Thank you.

Thank you, sir.

Mr.

Meredith.

Thank you.

Um I wanted to point out or comment on the fact that we made changes to the minutes of the meeting in conjunction with the Huntsville City School Board.

When you look them up, the minutes online, they do not reflect any of the changes made.

I think that that needs to be changed.

Thank you for making us aware of that.

Any other comments?

We will follow up on that and make sure those changes take place.

Councilmember Michelle Watkins.

Okay.

First, I want to thank Parks and Rick, had a community health fair of two weeks ago, and Parks and Rick played a big part in getting everything ready for the health fair at the Johnson Legacy Center.

I also want to thank Sarah.

Sarah did an extremely phenomenal job with bringing together all our community partners.

So thank you for that, Sarah.

I want to thank Scott Irwin and Community Development for always being responsive to my emails to my request.

And you're always so patient and kind, and I appreciate that.

Chris McNeese and Public Works.

I bothered them a lot too.

Brian Walker, I appreciate you and landscape management as well.

And uh parting out, my family is in town.

The Lanier family is having their reunion started today.

We'll go through Sunday.

This is our 50th year celebrating together as a family.

So I want to just give my family a shout out and uh welcome to the great city of Huntsville, Alabama.

Wonderful.

Um and I will simply conclude by adding my thanks to those already expressed to the 250th committee.

July 4th was incredibly memorable, and um, just so grateful to have been able to be there to celebrate the 250th birthday of this great country.

The parade ended with a big birthday cake float, and it was really quite quite memorable.

So thank you for that.

And then this Saturday, another fun event, Summer Haze.

This is going to be a program of the South Huntsville, Maine Business Association.

It's the inaugural event at the park at Hayes Farm.

It will take place this Saturday, July 11th, 10 a.m.

to 1 p.m.

There will be activities, there will be food trucks, there will be a cooling zone, there will be vendors, and we just invite everybody to come out.

This is a rain uh rain or shine event, so we will look forward to seeing everybody at the park at Hayes Farm.

It is one of our newest city parks, and uh this is a great way to inaugurate all fun activities that are going to be taking place there in the future.

So we hope everyone will join us there.

We will move on now to 14A, the Finance Committee report.

14A is a resolution authorizing expenditures for payment.

I move for authorization and approval of expenditures in the amount of 21,800 uh 92,647.73 cents.

Second from Mr.

Little motion from Mr.

Meredith, second from Mr.

Little.

All in favor, please indicate aye opposed, motion carries.

14B is an ordinary yes.

There is no report from uh the finance uh director, Ms.

uh Smith, but I do want to remind folks that there will be a budget work session here in Council Chambers tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., thank you very much, and that will be an input session.

The budget will not be presented, but we will have input from council members.

Uh thank you for for uh providing that announcement.

14B is an ordinance approving appropriations, goods or services for district one council improvement funds.

Is there a motion?

Mode to approve, second.

Motion from Ms.

Watkins, second from Mr.

Little.

Ms.

Ms.

Watkins, would you like to share with us?

Yes, sir.

Everyone knows extracurricular activities are essential to the growth and development and character of our young people.

I'm investing this money, the city money, into a program out at Northwoods where we're trying to get the community in and around Northwoods Public Housing involved in recreational sports.

So this is what this money will be utilized for.

Thank you.

Any questions from Ms.

Watkins?

Comments?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Opposed.

Motion carries.

14C is an ordinance approving appropriations, goods or services for District three council improvement funds.

Um chair moves for approval.

Second.

Second from Mr.

Little.

Uh what we're doing here is we're actually transferring $30,000 from the council Improvement Funds back into uh the Capital Plan to fleet Services, and this will be used to help provide funding for a fire truck for the Green Mountain Volunteer Fire Association.

They have raised over 100,000.

This will go to supplement that, and then the city will from the fleet services budget make up the difference to get that fire truck up there.

It's a very unique fire truck.

There are some long driveways, there's a lot of trees, and this is one that can navigate those really difficult drive, those 400 foot driveways to get water there.

And then also an allocation to for the summer haze community event.

Again, it's inaugural at a new park just to get people there and to build that sense of community.

Any comments or questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

We have no board appointments to be voted on.

We do have several board appointment nominations.

These will be nominations only, and they will be considered at our next meeting on July 23rd.

16A is a nomination to reappoint David Nass to the Museum Board of the City of Huntsville to its current seat for a six year term to expire August 13, 2032.

16B is a nomination to reappoint Joyce Griffin to the Museum Board of the City of Huntsville to her current seat for a six-year term to expire August 13, 2032.

16C is a nomination to reappoint Mark Harburger to the Huntsville Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Group C, his current seat, for a six-year term to expire July 26, 2032.

16D is a nomination to reappoint John Burbach to the Huntsville Downtown Redevelopment Authority, Group C is current seat for a six-year term to expire July 26, 2032.

And 16E is a nomination to appoint Sharon Beauclair to the Huntsville Downtown Redevelopment Authority Group C to the seat previously held by Joseph Clark for a six-year term to expire July 26, 2032.

Again, those will be considered at the July 23 meeting.

Are there any nominations from the floor?

Mr.

Clink.

I'd like to nominate Barbara Hughes Reappointment Human Relations Commission.

Barbara Hughes, the humans relations commission to her current seat.

Thank you.

Any other nominations?

Alright, we will go on.

We have no Huntsville utilities items.

We have no legal department items.

Brings us to unfinished business items for action.

19A is an ordinance to amend Chapter 15 license and taxes.

Article 3 Sales Use Rental and Lodging Tax, Division 5 Lodging Tax, Section 15 of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Huntsville regarding license fees.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion from Mr.

Little, second by the chair.

I know that this item is linked to the TIF 9, which we are going to be considering in just a little while.

That is correct.

This will this for your consideration before you this evening is adding a percentage 1% to our lodging tax fees.

We currently local locally charge 9% plus a $2 service charge.

That 1% will be dedicated to the Von Bern Civic Center for Repairs Maintenance and Expansion.

Very good.

Any questions or comments?

All in favor, please indicate.

Motion carries.

Thank you, Ms.

Smith.

19B is an ordinance amending chapter 2 administration Article 4 Financial Policies, Division 1 generally of ordinance 96-864 to add Section 2-160, thereby establishing a formal vendor gratuity policy to provide clear guidance for the authorization and disbursement of gratuity payments related to the provision of goods and services.

Is there a motion to motion from Mr.

Little?

Second.

Second from Miss Watkins.

Ms.

Smith.

Yes, to be for you this evening is just an enhancement to the current policies and rules surrounding gratuity.

We've been asked by the departments a number of months ago to come up with some guidelines around that.

There was confusion on how to do gratuity, and specifically when we brought in large meals for different people.

So this is providing that guidance.

We worked closely with the HR department and administration to craft this and what you see before you now.

Thank you.

Questions or comments for Ms.

Little, Mr.

Meredith?

Not questions for you, I've got some amendments to this when you're ready to.

All right.

Would you like to make an amendment?

Yes.

It's son of an English teacher.

Yeah.

Second line.

It should read code of ordinances, not ordinance.

So it needs to be plural, not singular.

Under section C, first line, no city department employee or agent shall not promise.

You need to scratch the knot.

And then in section D, second line, it has shall comma require a comma.

Need to strike the commas.

Do you have that in writing for us?

Sir.

Okay.

Okay.

We will include that then.

Um are any questions about this amendment?

The motion has been made to amend with these corrections and they are all basically typographical or wording.

Is that correct?

Not really in terms of context.

Correct.

Again, son of an English teacher.

I will second that.

Thank you.

All in favor of approving this amendment to uh to this ordinance, please indicate by saying aye.

Any posed?

Then uh we accepted that amendment, so now we will go back and we will um go back to item 20 or I'm sorry, 19B.

Um all in favor of approving this ordinance as amended, please indicate by saying aye.

Aye.

Any opposed?

The ordinance is then amended and accepted as amended.

Thank you.

Thank you for spotting those correctly.

Yes, ma'am.

19 C is an ordinance declaring certain equipment surplus to be sold at public auction.

There are motion.

Motion from Mr.

Little, second from the chair.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

19 D is an ordinance declaring certain property surplus to be disposed of per agreement with managed asset recycling solutions LLC.

Is there a motion to approve motion from Mr.

Little?

Second from the Chair.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any pose?

Motion carries.

19E is an ordinance amending chapter 2 administration article 8, boards, commissions, committees, and authorities, Division 8 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Huntsville, Alabama, to make changes to the City Tree Commission.

Is there a motion?

Motion from Mr.

Little.

Is there a second?

Second from Ms.

Watkins.

And I believe this is just cleaning up titles and language.

Does anybody have any questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Opposed.

Motion carries.

19 F is an ordinance amending chapter 27, vegetation, Article 2, trees of the code of ordinances of the City of Huntsville, Alabama.

Is there a motion to approve?

So move.

Second.

Motion from Mr.

Meredith, second from Mr.

Kling.

And again, this is simply changing language from city forester to city arborist.

All in favor, please indicate.

I opposed the motion carries.

19 G is an ordinance annexing 2.62 acres of land lying on the north side of Old Monrovia Road, east of Wayne Road.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion from Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Meredith.

Do we have any questions for Mr.

Nunez?

We have a map.

Mr.

Nunez, you want to tell us what we're seeing here?

Absolutely.

Thomas Nunez, manager of planning and zoning services.

So thank you, Council members and Mayor Battle.

This item is located north side of Old Monrovia Road and east of Wayne Road.

This is a 2.62-acre parcel that kind of has set right in the middle of our city limits.

We've been waiting on this procedural action to come through and it is now petitioning to annex into the city limits.

So thank you for the consideration.

Any questions?

Mr.

Meredith.

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye.

Any posed?

The motion carries.

Thank you, Council.

That brings us.

Thank you, Mr.

Nun.

Yes.

Uh that brings us to new business, 20 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.

Are there any items anyone wishes to hold for separate consideration?

Do we want to 20 D.

20?

Yes, 20 G will be held.

Okay.

Any other items?

Okay.

And why?

Any other items?

Okay.

So we have G.

Okay.

And okay.

Chair moves for consolidation and approval of items 20A to F, 20H to J, 20L to X, and 20 Z to 20 AC.

Second.

Second by Mr.

Little.

All in favor, please indicate.

I think opposed.

The motion carries.

We will now move to 20 G.

20 G is a resolution to name, create, and establish tax increment financing district TIF 9 and to adopt the project plan for TIF 9.

Is there a motion to approve?

Move to approve.

Motion from Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Kling.

Mr.

Davis, this is long awaited.

We're glad to have you here to present this to us.

What has happened in the last month shows continued collaboration within this community?

The joint effort with Huntsville City School School Board and this council talking through this, Mass County Commission working through and passing unanimously, and now tonight is before you.

And tomorrow morning, we would send over the legal description of the district boundaries to the tax assessor, Cliff Mann, and establish the district.

And that was established the district for what the future proceeds of growth that would occur in that district would go into the TIFF district to pay the warrant or the cash if we were to pay for one of these projects with cash and not debt.

Those annual proceeds would come from the tax assessor's office.

Is any other TIFF district be captured in here just for these projects?

Once these projects have been paid for, either through debt or through just cash, uh the TIFF would expire, and those new proceeds, those new revenues created in that district would go to the deferred tax recipients through uh this process.

So the five projects is uh the Von Braun Center North Hall expansion, uh North Huntsville Belt Line Greenway, uh the new Mill Creek Park, that is part of our choice neighborhood affordable uh residential projects in partnership with the Huntsville Housing Authority, uh Low Avenue improvement improvements and uh construction of the new Huntsville Middle School with in partnership with the Huntsville City Schools and then renovations uh for the federal courthouse for future use of the Mass County Commission is as they get into their new facilities as they work through that process.

So it's a very balanced uh project.

I know from a uh capital expense, the BBC is the very heavy lift in it.

But if I think if you look across the board, uh we're addressing different community needs in this growing community and helping our partners, helping the county commission, certainly helping our school system uh Von Braun and that board and also our our housing authority.

So I think it's uh well balanced.

Uh it's one that we're confident in that uh based on the model that we put together should pay off early, like most of the tips we have brought you before.

And I do want to remind that there's a portion of the millage, so there's 58 mills if you live in Huntsville that you pay.

There's six and a half mills a state.

We do not capture the state millage, and there's a five and a half mil countywide educational tax that goes to Huntsville City Schools, Madison County Schools, and uh Madison City Schools that is uh split by population of student enrollment.

I believe the state rule is the 15th day of school.

That is the population count.

Uh so that revenue that's collected by the Mass County tax assessor.

When they get those numbers, they take that five and a half meals that were that were collected and disperse it to those education systems.

We were not capturing that uh in this TIFF.

Answer any questions you may have.

Oh, Mr.

Cling, Mr.

Mary.

I'd like to go last because I don't really have questions.

I just have a comment.

Okay.

Mr.

Clint.

Okay, this is gonna be redundant, but let's go back to square one.

Yes.

Is this a tax increase on the public?

No, sir.

Okay.

Can you explain how this money is raised without it being without it being a tax increase?

It's not a tax increase.

I understand that.

I mean just for public benefits.

Absolutely.

People ask about it.

How does the money where does the money come from?

Absolutely happy to do so.

Um and thank thanks for your asking.

So one, the city of Huntsville, you as a governmental body of City Huntsville has no authority to raise tax.

You have the authority to go create something and put a referendum for the general public to vote on a new millage.

So we're we're set at 58 mills unless there's a vote of the people to raise that.

That is your ability to quote if we're going to raise taxes, it's a vote of the people.

Uh this body also, nor this administration uh does an assessment on anybody's property.

That is actually done by the Madison County tax assessor.

So you have no authority on placing value on anybody's property.

So the process that occurs, whether you're in a TIFF district or anywhere else in the city, that process of uh an individual or business paying annual property taxes, you are not in control of that.

All the TIFF district does is capture a boundary of when that assessed value is done by the Mass County tax session, as it's done anywhere else in the city or in the county uh within that boundary.

Those proceeds from here forward, should you vote and create this would go into this district to pay for these projects.

Once these projects are paid for, that district uh goes away, and those proceeds flow to the entities.

Uh so it is not a tax increase.

You are not able to assess somebody higher because they're in a TIF district.

You have no authority as a body to do any of that.

Thank you.

You're welcome.

Any questions?

Comments.

My comment is um, thank you, Mr.

Davis.

I know you put a lot of time and personal uh sweat equity into this, as you do so many other projects, and um a lot of folks handout or acclimates here, and I think you strongly deserve one for your work on this particular TIFF, but also so many other urban development projects and economic things that you do to better the city.

So thank you, sir.

Thanks, sir.

But uh it doesn't come without the legal department, the administration, Penny Smith, her team in finance.

We we're all a team.

I'm just hired help, I'm just one of many.

Thank you for recognizing them as well.

A great a great team doing great work, and we should also recognize that the county commission unanimously approved this plan as well.

Uh at their meeting last week.

We thank them for their support.

The BBC board has been tireless advocates.

They have as well, and has been a very active part of this process, and we look forward to seeing some really great things happen as a result of this.

I was interviewed before the meeting, and and Council President, I'd reiterate that this this is an example of collaboration of a good community and how this community is moving forward because everyone understands the needs.

They understand the needs of each other, and each other supports.

I think Ron Renard said it best in his acceptance of how you support the school system and vice versa, and the Madison County Commission supporting this body and you supporting them.

Uh it's what makes this community different.

And I don't think we really appreciate how unique that collab, that genuine people talk about collaboration all the time.

But to see it really happen here.

Put it in motions hard sometimes.

And to see it happen here over and over and over again with these projects is really quite remarkable.

So uh thank you for leading that team and for making all this happen, Mayor Battle.

Thank you for um having the vision to put that forward as well.

Um, other comments?

All in favor, please indicate any opposed motion carried.

Council members, thank you very much.

Thank you.

20K.

20K is a resolution authorizing the mayor to execute change order number three to the agreement between the City of Huntsville and Wiregrass Construction Company Inc.

for Huntsville Northern Bypass Project Number 65-10-RD08 and LDOT project number C RSA.

STPHV-PE 10 917.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion for Mr.

Little, second from Mr.

Clean.

Mr.

Davis.

Thank you, Madam President.

Shane Davis, Director Urban Economic Development.

So this is one of these good change orders, although it's not a lot of money, but it's in the negative direction.

Okay.

So change order number three would decrease the contract amount by 31,440 dollars.

So uh this was for unneeded storm drain that was in the quantity bid items.

Uh if you've been to the northern bypass, you've seen the target home depot grading.

Uh they're going to start footing in foundation sometime in late August.

But if you've driven the Northern Bypass, we're getting really, really close.

Uh most of the curbs in, uh most of the layer asphalt really between um Mount Lebanon and Toyota Motor Manufacturing is the heavy lift piece that's left, but the rest of the road, if you drive out in that area, it looks pretty much complete.

We're still on track to uh have all lanes of traffic open for the end of the year.

So uh as you understand there's a there's there's a lot of different funding here.

There's some uh grant funds that Congressman Strong provided, there's some MPO funds, there's some city cash, uh so a lot of funding sources.

So the reason we're bringing you this change order midstream is we close out certain sections of those federal aid products like this the storm drain, we need to uh close out and identify the final cost of those because we get audited and we we do all the the books uh to send into Al Dot and Federal Highway.

So the storm drain is all finished, so we're working on closing that out, uh, and they was some quantities not used.

So we'll go ahead and process this deductive change order.

Any comments, questions?

All in favor, please indicate.

Aye, opposed, motion carries.

And finally, 20Y.

20 why is a resolution authorizing mayor to enter into memorandum of understanding regarding the Nibb in Enforcement Support System NESS between the Huntsville Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

Is there a motion to approve?

Motion from Mr.

Lil, second from the chair.

Uh questions or comments anyone has on this.

Yes, I do want someone to come up and explain what this is.

Chief is going to do that.

Because I know that I'll get an email in the morning talking about ice.

Good evening.

May I introduce Ronnie Dika, who's our administrative services manager.

What question can we have?

You can just tell us what this is.

Yes, ma'am.

I've been is a it's a acronym that stands for a national integrated ballistic information system or network.

Every firearm that we take in, whether it's evidence or found property, we do a test fire, we take the uh take the shellcase in and we analyze it and we catalog it so that if it's used in any type of crime, we can match it to that crime.

And so, NIST, uh the agreement NEST is an Ivan Enforcement Support system.

It's a network set up by the ATF for all law enforcement who participate in it too.

MK is a gun used in a crime environment.

And if it's the same weapon, we can connect those to a crime occurred in other places.

Is anything in this agreement has anything about ice in it?

No, ma'am.

Thank you.

And there's no cost to this.

Is that right?

Thank you.

Any other comments?

All in favor, please indicate aye.

Any posed motion carries.

Thank you, Chief.

Thank you.

That concludes uh old business.

We'll move now on to new business.

One item for introduction.

This is for introduction only.

Action on this will be taken at the July 23rd meeting.

21A is the introduction of an ordinance concerning a franchise agreement between the city of Huntsville, Alabama, and the Limestone County Water and Sewer Authority.

Again, we will take that up at the July 23rd meeting.

That concludes our business, and now to our second roster public comments, I'm sorry.

Did I miss some?

Those were taken off.

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

Individuals who wish to speak have signed up previously.

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

Each speaker may address the council for three minutes.

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

And a subject is public library funding.

Hi, it's me.

Hi again.

Um I reside in district three.

My address is on file.

Last time I was here, we were there was a presentation from the library about the downtown building renovation.

And I'm not gonna try and undersell that as a very important project, but I did want to come back because I know it's budget season and um reiterate that the people, the actual like Huntsville people who work at the library system have not had a cost of living raise in two years.

Our collection budgets are stagnant, and it's impacting how many folks we can hire and how well we can serve the rest of the people of our county.

Um, obviously, I don't know anything about renovating or rebuilding anything.

That is way above my pay grade, but I do know that as cost of living is going up for everybody I work with across the board, right?

We all see it gas, food, electric, water, all of it's gone over the past two years, and we're still stuck at the same salaries we've been, and it's difficult.

I've seen so many of my co-workers leave because they can't raise their kids, they can't um pay their bills.

Um they're full on leaving the state, and I don't think any of us want to see folks who are otherwise committed to serving the county leaving because we can't afford to stay here.

Um so I really just want to comment and pour again to please.

Even if we can't fund this whole renovation project, please consider increasing funding enough so that we can get that cost of living, we can stay here, we can keep serving um our county and our communities that we love so much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Miss Kimion.

Um, we have no other speakers who have signed up.

Is there a motion to adjourn?

So moved.

Motion from Mr.

Kling and Mr.

Little.

We it is 6.57, and we are adjourned.