Good morning, everyone.

We're now in the hands of our capable city clerk, Ms.

Lisa Carroll.

This is the pre-meeting of the Mobile City Council Wednesday, September 24th.

I have approval of minutes from September 2nd.

Any issues anyway.

Okay.

On Fauffin Street.

I don't have a date here.

Kimley night.

And it's from 12 p.m.

until 5 p.m.

November the 21st from 6 30 to 10 30 on St.

Louis Street.

November 24th from 5 30 to 10 p.m.

on Airport Boulevard.

Just get that date for Councilman Carroll.

Councilman Carroll, you are you good with the Russell?

What's it?

No, get the date.

Um this one is we'll just talk about it between meetings.

Yeah.

We'll talk about doing me between meetings.

Should get it to you.

Okay.

So public hearing today is the public hearing and fixed cost for demonstration of structures at 303 South Dearborn Street, 2150 Old Donnell Street, and 3211 Valley Road.

Presentation of petitions and other communications to the council.

Janice Lilly to express our gratitude to the city of Mobile on the occasion of her retirement.

Antonio and Tonio Maven, maybe concerns about transit workers pension plan and possible termination.

Mr.

President, yeah, uh on this one.

Um Scott, can you give us an update on that?

Um on the pension and what I'm sorry, what yes.

Yes.

So can you certainly five percent on that?

Um just in the last few minutes.

I have a quick handout.

Yeah, we can hear you.

I have a quick handout, I think.

It's still this year was a margin.

Thank you.

I have a quick handout.

I can give you.

I think we'll if we can go over for just a second, I think we'll answer most of the questions on the pension itself.

Yeah, yes.

Um, it will take just a moment to do that.

We really just we just ran through these one over again.

Okay.

So we get one more.

I'm sorry.

Let's get one more for the clerk.

Oh, just there you go.

Lisa, thank you.

So specific to the the pension um for the transit system.

We've had to go back and do a little work.

We knew there'd be a couple of hiccups as we got through some of the things, and what we determined is on the pension for the transit system.

Um, the history of that goes back to the history of that, thank you, goes back to 2002 when the city transitioned from the city operated transit system to the format that we have today.

It's a 2002 transition, the employees transitioned from a uh RSA defined benefit plan, the state retirement system, over to a self-funded uh pension plan that was similar.

It's a defined benefit plan, but it was owned and managed by the employees.

There's a pension board, it does its own investments, it manages its own money.

Um the city funded the pension through its contributions to first operating cost to the transit system.

And this first it was um first transit, I believe transdev now is the partner today, but the way that worked is the employees make a five percent contribution, just as RSA employees make a five percent contribution, and then um the city through or transdev through the city matched that percentage, and we typically get a letter each year saying what that percentage would be.

An example for RSA for 2026, we match 13 percent of the employees' retirement for RSA.

Um the similar thing happens to this transit system to this transit um pension plan as we get from uh transdev through via in that transition.

The question came about what happens to the employees pension plump fund via um does not own or operate any defined benefit pensions in throughout all of their system, all of theirs are 401k or defined contribution.

Employee puts an amount in, they match up to a certain percentage, and then it's self-managed effectively by the employee.

In an effort to make sure that we are able to transition successfully and keep the pension plan as it is today.

We've had a few conversations and we think we've hit a middle ground that would make that work.

And I'll I will kind of run over this this document with you, and I think this will answer most of where we are.

Um but under going just down the list under A, the transit workers pension plan continues to function in its current form, unchanged in any way as a fully independent pension plan.

The city, while it provides money to the pension, does not manage the pension.

There is a pension trust that manages it.

There's a board of directors.

We simply provide the funds, they manage their own.

We would continue to do that.

The transit system employees and retirees would continue to participate in the transit system pension plan as is under this proposal.

There will be no changes to their pension.

Transit employees will continue to have deducted from their paycheck the standard customary employee pension contribution amount, and that is what they pay now, the 5%.

They would just have 5% cut out of their check.

Port City Transit or VIA would then make their their contribution match.

In order to make that work, the proposal is this.

Our contract with VIA is that they charge us $666,000 a month, $666,606, rounded up.

The proposal would be that rather than submit that invoice, they would deduct from that $666,000 the amount of the employee contribution and the amount of the via contribution.

We would then pay the invoice for their operating cost for the month less that amount of money, and the city would then contribute those funds directly to the transit employees pension fund.

If we go through that model, the pension is unaffected, via is unaffected, the pension employees are unaffected.

There may be some slight net cost to the city over and above the contract that we have with via.

That's just going to be a cost of doing business to maintain the pension planned.

But we believe that even those costs are going to be less than what we're paying now for the operations of the transit system as it exists today.

This is kind of a brief outline.

We have a more formal document that's coming to you.

We've been negotiating this really for the last 72 hours.

We learned yesterday through VIA's attorney that they are agreeable to this plan.

So with that, that partnership would be intact.

There'll be no violation of the contract.

Pension stays whole.

Employees are unaffected by the transition as it relates to their pension.

So we think that answers every question, and we're able to provide that to the city council in an amendment to the via contract next week.

We think we think it's going to be about 7%.

We're using this marker.

Currently, the city matches for state retirement about 13%.

We think this is going to be similar.

The employees would put in their 5% typically, and via is working on this this morning.

Typically on a 401k, they're going to match 5% or 6% up to a certain amount.

So if we're to take 5%, right, and deduct that from the 13% that we pay for RSA, if that's our marker, we'd be paying about 8% of those employee costs.

So we don't have the exact number, but the pension plan last year was funded at $897,000.

297 of that came from the employees.

600 came from the city.

Obviously, the 600 is going to be reduced because via is going to have a percentage of money put in.

So our total net retirement pension plan contributions from the city will be less.

It will just simply be a little more than what the contract we have currently in place is.

So we still think we're in the sweet spot for the pension and the and the service contract.

Okay.

And I apologize, I may be more than you wanted to know.

I know it's early and late for some.

Well, you know, the reason I asked is after you and I had had a conversation last week because the employees had received a letter from VIA.

And according to the woman I spoke with, the letter basically said, You've got to sign this letter if you want to have a job.

And oh, by the way, your pension is going to be changed.

And so they were upset, and um, she had reached out to me about it, and Scott and I talked, and I called her back and told her what she said.

So I mean, I think that is good news for them.

They they just need to know that their pension is there, it's not going to be affected.

They will continue to get the same pension as they had been expecting all along, even with the change and ownership.

Certainly.

Companies running them.

This will result in an invisible change as it relates to the pension for the employee.

I think was was the the effort here.

Um we knew I sent an email out a couple weeks ago.

Hey, there are going to be some hiccups as we go through.

This is one of those hiccups, but the fix is relatively simple.

Uh Via's been a really good partner to help us with that.

I think this solves the the um the urgency or concern from the employees.

Via would simply recraft that letter and it would go from a 401k.

Um, and theirs will be relatively silent on the pension itself.

For any new employees coming in, will they still be on this same pension plan that current employees are, or will they be switched into a 401k?

The way this is worded, they would be on the pension plan.

We kicked around back and forth, transitioning them to a 401k.

The challenge for that is, and we're we've looked at this from the perspective of forever is a long time, and we want to make sure that we don't make decisions today that someone after us has to kind of go back and unwind.

The thinking for all this is we really had three employees to consider employees one are the employees future who don't work there yet but are come in.

What happens to them?

Second, we're employees who are currently employed, and the third was the retirees.

Even if we had gone from a defined benefit to a 401k, there's still an obligation for the retirees on the plan.

So looking backwards at that, it just made sense to make sure that the system whole stays in place without trying to go back and make those incremental changes because we're still gonna have the answers to the to the questions.

Well, and it seems like it would be easier to have everybody on the same plan rather than trying to have two different ones going on.

It gets confusing.

That's correct.

What we what we will do, we have copies of the pension audit, the June 30, 2024 pension audit, and it states clearly um that it's managed, self-funded.

So there will be an effort as we close fiscal year 2025 on the city side to relieve ourselves from that pension liability on our books because we won't own the pension liability.

The pension trust will have that liability by virtue of its oudit.

So we do think there is an opportunity to have a liability come off of our books, right?

That will help us from our financial um position as it relates to um future future benefits.

Um, so we think that there will be an offset on paper that will absorb the 300 300,000 or so dollar difference if we maintain this plan.

Thanks.

Certainly.

Uh Ms.

President, um, that was just uh my question was uh is there obviously pensions at 2025, a lot of times are anti-antiquated and just the the way it is.

I that you answered my question about the 401k about the availability for you know the future employee to have that access.

Um, but um, I do have a question.

Um, you know, obviously with the 2026 budget, we're bringing the the fire and employees pension plan up speed and uh um the viability of the transit pension.

I mean, it I mean it's at the you know, to the best of our knowledge, given all market circumstances.

I mean, it's it's taking care of itself.

They're not you know, there's no anticipated look that we're gonna have to come in and try to catch that plane up eventually, I guess.

That is correct.

They had um, if I remember the audited numbers correctly, they had roughly 1.6 million in distributions last year and 21 million dollars in assets.

Okay, so they are they're far and above where they need to be.

So there would be no unfunded pension liability, it would just be the city's match of that that gap um percentage in between.

Awesome.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

And what else?

Thank you, Mr.

Scott.

Yes, sir.

Um continuing presentation of petitions and other communications to the council.

Beverly Cooper regarding addressing the upcoming change in city governance and how the city runs elections.

Sabrina Mass, Alabama Supreme Court report that shows the unredacted Kenyan Brown report, Reggie Hills, citizen environment at regular council meetings, amendments to council rules, investigation into taxpayers' resources, equal execution of laws, public safety and performance contracts.

Ordinance is held over 52046, the dive chapter 52 real property maintenance and enforcement article eight vacant structure registry for Henry Aaron Luke.

Mr.

Okay, uh been talking with with Paul uh and also councilman Penn about some some issues that had come up.

And Paul had recommended that we lay this over uh at least another week to get some answers on this.

Um Corey shared a letter that he received from a property owner downtown.

She had a lot of questions and concerns that I thought we should at least try to provide a response to and get some answers.

And then I think Paul, there were a couple other things that we were working on as well that we needed to um get resolved before we voted.

That is correct.

Okay, anything else we need to add to that.

Uh no, that uh we've circulated some.

I've circulated some proposed revisions and um and we'll have to to talk about that.

I just want to make sure that all the council members had had a chance to review that.

Uh councilman Reynolds is out of the country, so uh this will give him a chance also to come back.

Yeah, because he had a lot of he had a lot of questions.

Well, a lot of his questions were mostly wordsmithing.

Yeah, wordsmithing, but yeah.

As I mean, I've talked to you, Paul too, and uh just a reminder to the council that uh state of Alabama is a land right state.

Uh the 1901 constitution of the state of Alabama was written on premise of land and property owners, which makes it very hard for us to do some things that are specific to one group of people and not all groups of people.

Again, that's been one of my biggest concerns.

So that wording is going to be critical to make sure that we can move forward and do whatever we would like to do.

Uh the cost section right there.

I don't know what you guys as a whole are gonna want to do as far as costs and funds and how that's gonna be implemented.

Uh, I had a conversation with you this morning about first right of lien.

Uh, when the city imposes a lien on a property and it's with the owner of the property, but the owner of the property is the also the developer of the property, and it develops the property with lien on it, then what happens to the lien?

You know, first right of lien if there's uh development money involved, putting no bank involved, then where's this?

How's the city recovering its fund or does it need to recover its fine once it's developed?

Those types of things need to kind of be answered or also talked about before the next weeks up.

Uh that's all I really had this morning.

Uh, I'll take a look at it again once it comes back, but I'll send out whatever I need to to whatever council members I need to so that everybody can take a good thought about it.

But I think we're on a on a good straightened forward path.

I just think that we need to be again cognate of the fact that we're talking about one specific area, not the whole city, and be aware of the fact that I, you know, I'm kind of disagreeable to you know, just penalizing one group of people, but not having a way to get the things we need to done get done in other parts of the city that have some of the same issues.

That's it, Mr.

President.

Uh Councilman Davis.

It seems like there's still a great many issues uh having to do with this piece of legislation.

Perhaps it'd be wise to have another committee meeting.

We can do that.

Well, I don't have a problem with that, but I'd like to see us.

It's uh we're getting short on time.

I mean, I'd like to see this go away before you know the end of October.

I mean, some of us are on the clock here, and if we're gonna do something, you know, we need to be able to do it in a in a in the right amount of time so that it's correct.

And as I said before, the the biggest thing is making sure that whatever we do is gonna not pose a burden to this council or to the next administration, and also not to the people downtown uh in a in an unintended way as we move forward.

So such a day, and just let me know.

I've got the time off the two.

And then it will it's your committee as well.

So we have to invite council member reynolds in can we do it while he's still at the time.

Uh first week in October.

Uh last year.

Yeah, that's what I was looking at.

That if y'all want to just to hold us over for two, three one, two, three weeks.

If y'all want to try to have a committee meeting on next week or next Tuesday, and that will be hold over to the 14th.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

All right, Madam Clerk.

CIP resolutions held over 2112, authorized contract with Iker Construction Corporation for splash pad at Crawford Murphy Park.

Consent resolutions held over 4974 declares structure at 2660 2066 Josephine Street and one in 616 Pettit Avenue.

Public news is in order at demolished.

Uh Mr.

David.

Hey, good morning.

I just have an update.

It's mainly for Mr.

Penn since hopefully in his district.

They're held over so that the property owner could take some action.

Um, we're hoping that they get a permit or begin demolition or begin repair.

Regretfully, for the first one, the 2666 Josephine Street.

We've seen no action.

The condition of the building is the same, still a public nuisance in my opinion.

And I do recommend that we move forward to declare it a public nuisance with the demolition.

Good news is uh 616 Petite Avenue.

Um, we do have the property owner.

They decided they want to demolish the property and they do have an active permit right now.

I do recommend that we table um that particular application this morning.

Okay.

All right, thank you.

Madam Clerk.

Resolution.

Resolution is held over.

08 1200 approved purchase order to time clock plus for timekeeping account software biometric readers for MIT.

13 1202, authorized change order number one with wirecrest construction for Western Bayfront resurfacing.

21 1203 authorized contract with James H.

Adams and Sons Construction Company for the repair and stabilization of Azalea City Golf Course in 12 Mile Creek.

37 1204.

Amend Katan amidst uh certificate of public convenience and necessity.

Consent resolutions being introduced.

40, 1208, 1209, 1210 are fixing the cost of demolition of structures.

46 1211 honorarily renamed diamonds to honorary mother Bessie May Grace and Way 58 1229.

Declare we're not just group 1670, 371230 recommended approved in the ABC board for issuance of a special events retail liquor license to L Jaffe Jaffey uh House of Cigar.

Yes.

A fan okay houses cigars on Virginia Street.

This no problem.

Okay.

Resolution is being introduced.

21 1212, authorized contract for Kimley Horn and Associates for design of signal signalized intersection improvements citywide, 65,516.37 cents.

211213 authorized contract with Kimley Horn for design signalization intersection improvements on OSHIL ROS, 62,734 cents.

081214 approved award item based bid for medical oxygen for mobile fire and rescue.

081215 approved purchase order to Cummins Mid South for fuel pump and engine gaskets for fire pumper truck 25,795 and five cents.

Um 2,047,470, 2,286,458.50 cents and for four Chevrolet Tajos totaling 24,7474 cents.

Ms.

President.

Yeah, Mr.

Woods.

Um just for the sake of transparency and knowledge, because I I do do know that I did some, I did see some um comments or um in uh in the media.

Um, as far as this large person uh purchase of vehicles, um can you just uh just kind of briefly give some color of um you know why we're purchasing 96 100 vehicles?

So there's a state bidding process, and and what happens is they open up a portal and we put our orders in for the year.

If we don't do it this year, it's gonna be of the following year before we can actually order them.

So we actually front load and put them all in.

And what I would happen to this at the plant, they'll stop production on normal passenger Tahoe's and only fill those those amount of orders for not just the City Mobile, but for across the state across the country, and that's why we have to do it at this such a bulk uh purchase.

Gotcha.

Thank you.

Wait, wait, wait.

I got uh uh Mr.

Days and Mr.

Carroll.

Uh Mr.

Lasky are all these vehicles for the police department.

Yes.

Okay.

And how many um how many patrol vehicles do you do you have?

Off the top of my head, I can get you that number by um by 10 before 1030.

Don't know off the top of my head.

I know uh there we have about a 15, 10 to 50 percent overage because police officer police vehicles are probably the most uh driven and the most uh involved in an accident in the city.

Uh so we try to keep us spares, but um, it's tough keeping them going uh because of that and the fact that parts sometimes are still a pro an issue, and uh we have some vehicles that should probably um should have been retired, but aren't yeah, my the reason I ask is because my recollection is that there were about 500 patrol vehicles in the police department, and they had about a five-year expected life, and so we were going to replace about a hundred of them a year.

So this number does not surprise me, but you know, I that's my recollection.

I don't know if that's correct today, but so I just want to come back to what uh councilman Wood's question was kind of really headed at, and that is uh we we have to replace about a hundred patrol vehicles every year.

Absolutely.

Um then we figure we're also we might as well do it at a time when we can do it least expensively.

Uh and I and this year we're also adding an additional 24 officers, so that's 24 additional vehicles that need to be added.

Thank you, Councilman Carroll.

Um it's how does the bid process work?

Uh is this a low bid situation or based on specification, or is this uh you know?

So for the state bid each year, um, the state of Alabama through its purchases department opens up a series of bids, and they can be for patrol vehicles, passenger vehicles, tractor equipment, office supplies, what have you on vehicles, they're typically good for 24 or 36 months.

Um, so they would guarantee those prices for that long.

Um, those manufacturers, in this case, Chevrolet, uh, you would they would open up that bid would know for a certain period of time, and you can purchase vehicles through the authorized dealer, the the dealer across the state that won that bid and purchase through them.

Does it work the same way for trucks and dump trucks and all that stuff?

So on trucks, passenger trucks pick up things any of the pasture vehicle, yes.

Typically on dump trucks of that nature, they'll do two ways.

One, you'll do just the truck and the chassis, and the box will be separate because of the need of the box, or they'll let you upfit on state bid, and you can purchase a specific um predetermined box that would be on state bid separate from the actual vehicle itself.

Yeah, I was just looking at the next two items on the agenda, whether actual trucks that were were buying with those part of the same bid process, is that process different?

So those trucks would go through the state bid process as well.

And you would pick from a vendor that was part of the the process.

Is that vendor local or is it anywhere in the state?

So on so on state bid, it can be across the state, and typically you'll have a different vendor.

One will be a Chevrolet, one be a Ford, one will be at a Dodge or whatever that whatever that vendor is.

So typically have one vendor.

The only offset is um there's occasionally where you'll have instances where police pursuit vehicles will be won by one vendor and pasture vehicles will be one by another vendor, but it's it's done by vendor by state bid for that particular purchasing socket.

The next two items don't don't appear to be uh police items, I don't think they uh just seem like everyday work vehicles, right?

They they are, but then when you go through truck equipment sales, they would have been an authorized bidder for that for that vehicle or type.

Just about everything we're gonna buy, this can be a vehicle is gonna be off of state bid.

Um there's no incentive financial or otherwise to do that.

There are some provisions in the law where you can buy locally, um, but on their rate that we purchase, it doesn't make fiscal uh sense to make us purchase.

So it's not like I open up three tabs and I see the lowest bidder and I take one from those.

It's no sir.

It works where you click on the state bid, you search for the vehicle that you're looking for, and then it gives you the prescribed winning bidder or bidders, and but all the prices will be the same, and you pick regionally where that would be.

All right, thank you.

Yes, sir.

08 1223 approved purchase orders to send some equipment for a dump trailer for public services department, 63,500.

09, 1224 transfer funds from general funds to capital improvements fund 21, 1225, authorized contract of Osprey initiative for citywide school litter education program 50,000, 21, 1226, authorized contract with Anderson Delaney for market.

Oh racket, yeah.

Racket stringer services for parks and recreation department.

21 1227 authorized contract with McCarron services for parking shuttle services for the cruise terminal, 100,000 per year.

09 1231 authorized memorandum of understanding report city transit for services to operate the city's transit system.

Call for public hearings.

41 1228.

Call for public hearing to revoke the business license at 1608 St.

Stephen's Road schedule October the 14th.

Announcements.

Under 50,000 on the resolutions if y'all want to look.

081215.

Now 21 1225 is right at 50.

Josh.

Yeah, no, Mr.

Slater asked if we could take that today.

I think there's a time constraint.

This one, the Osprey.

Okay, that's fine.

Um then do you want to include 011231 or go ahead and just lay that one over for another week?

That's the memorandum of understanding.

Okay.

All right.

Okay, so it's just three.

All right.

All right.

Um, Councilman Daves.

Um, I would say the clerk had mispronounced a couple of words this morning because she's tired from yesterday.

But I want to uh stand congratulations to Mary Aleck uh Spiro Terragottis uh for being the Nest Mayor of Mobile.

And also I would like to congratulate Jennifer White.

Uh she uh got her seat back as councilwoman of Chickasaw on yesterday.

Yeah, she did.

Uh congratulations.

Uh anything else from this council?

Uh Mr.

President.

Uh Mr.

Woods.

Um, I just want to recognize uh some folks that uh I have today.

Um I'll uh obviously um my other job uh is the exec director of the Greater Gulf State Fair.

Um, a little bit about the the fairs nonprofit organization and all my board have to be under 40.

So um you can imagine at times given all the the things that exist to do for under 40s, um, finding board members at times gets hard.

Well, um, about two years ago, three years ago, we started a um junior leadership group, and uh, this is uh taking high school seniors across the city and uh bringing them in, showing them things that they otherwise might not get to see as far as experiences, and then also uh ultimate goal is to keep them uh focused on eventually maybe being part of the organization as a board member.

So um, I have our our our students here today from the junior leadership group, and I just want to recognize them.

They're they're from across the city and um uh various schools, and you know, the ultimate goal of this program is to uh is to teach them a little bit, uh, make them love the city of Mobile, and whenever they go off and get an education, they want to return here, find the numerous jobs that we have in the city of Mobile and get plugged into our uh our local our local city.

So I just want to recognize them uh for a moment.

All right, hey, y'all stand up.

Thank y'all.

Happy to have y'all this morning.

Anything else from this council?

Anything from administration?

All right, we see each other at 10:30.

Nick, uh okay.

What's the hold up on?