I gotta ask my microphone.

Council, y'all ready?

Yeah, wait, you ready?

This is the regular meeting of the Mobile City Council Tuesday, March the 3rd.

Please stand for our invocation, led by Reverend Tom Heard, Public Safety Chaplain, and remain standing for the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence following the pledge.

Let us pray.

Holy and gracious God, source of all that is and all that will be.

In this season of Lent, help us to repent of those things that take us far from you.

Conform us to your will for the care of your creation and help us to be faithful stewards of this world we inhabit.

Help us also to care for each other as beloved brothers and sisters.

Bless the city, its residents and leaders that we may be examples of your grace and love and guide our leaders to be champions of justice and righteousness, always choosing what is right over what is easy.

These things we ask in your holy and blessed name.

Amen.

Well, as everyone remains standing for a moment of silence.

Have passed away at the age of 901, one of the oldest members of Mamga.

His legacy include his dedication to promoting the arts and science of Martigras in the Mobile area.

As please continue to keep his family and friends in your prayers.

Here.

Councilmember Fleming.

Here.

Councilmember Woods.

Here.

Statement of rules.

And good morning, everyone.

Morning.

Good morning, everyone.

It's good to see everybody this morning.

Welcome to our March 3rd, 2026 meeting.

At this meeting, we do have rules.

At this time, I ask if anyone have any type of electronic device, including cell phones.

Please at this time put on the off or the barber position, the off or the vibrated position.

Any person that is desiring to address the Mobile City Council must sign in indicating the resolution, the ordinance, or appeal, a public hearing agenda item before entering the meeting.

When addressing this council, the speaker must give his or her name.

Any person that desire to speak to the council on a non-agenda item must contact the city clerk office no later than 2 o'clock p.m.

the Thursday prior to the council meeting.

The subject that he or she wishes to express to the Mobile City Council must be identified pertaining to the city of Mobile Business.

Anyone who has not given proper notice to the city clerk office and wishes to speak on the non-agenda item would not be allowed to address this council.

Each speaker is allowed three minutes to address this council.

A bell was sound to the indicating the ending of two minutes.

One minute remain for summarizing.

The second bell indicates that your time has expired.

When addressing this council, there'll be no personal address to any individual council members.

All statements are to be made to the chair who will recognize any council member who wishes to respond.

To maintain decorum, there will be none to applause and or public outcry allowed.

Madam Clerk.

Approval of minutes of February 24th.

So move.

Second.

All in favor.

Aye.

All opposed.

Minus approved.

Communications from Mayor Cheragatis.

Good morning, everyone.

I hope everyone's seen the uh Mobile Museum of Arts new logo and website.

Uh they're already earning recognition.

The team behind the recent rebrand won three honors last week at the AAF Mobile Bay American Advertising Awards, including Gold Silver, and Best in Show.

Uh working with Hummingbird Ideas.

The Museum of Arts team redesigned its website and created a striking new logo and brand.

Manager of External Affairs, Mary Beth Lursen also won the Tim Cook 1065 Award for Excellence in Public Relations for her work on the rebrand.

I just want to offer a congratulations to the entire MMOA team.

They're making such a positive impact in the community and they're bringing art to the people and the people to the art.

I won't steal any of Councilman Penn's Thunder.

I'll let him tell you about the record sitting event he just hosted at the Museum of Art last week.

Very good stuff there.

I want to talk a little bit about our Perch Creek community meeting that's coming up.

We have exciting plans to create a network of parks along Perch Creek.

We preserved 190 acres of waterfront there and are working towards creating a connected park district.

The goal is to expand public access to water and create opportunities for passive recreational activities to get mobile mobilians out into nature.

Tonight at 6 p.m., President CJ Small will join members of our team at the Gilead Elementary School for a community meeting to discuss the future of the Perch Creek Preserve.

We want to gather input from neighbors and stakeholders alike.

If you live along the peninsula or you're just interested in shaping these future public spaces, I hope you will join our project team at 6 p.m.

this evening.

And not finally, but nearly finally, I'm uh very excited to reach a major milestone in the construction of the Mobile Arena.

Today at 1 p.m., uh our team will join OVG, Volkert, and B.L.

Harbor to mark the completion of the building's structural frame and to end in the end of vertical construction.

Today's beam signing and topping out celebration will put us at the halfway point of construction for the arena as we work to have the arena ready for Mardi Gras in 2027.

Uh we are, I've said this a lot of times, but I'll say it again, we are still on time and on budget for that project.

Uh I'm incredibly thankful for the fantastic team driving this project forward, both within the City of Mobile and with our partners from Volkert, B.

L.

Harbor, and OVG.

I look forward to celebrating our progress this afternoon and continuing to see this beautiful facility take shape downtown.

There are a lot more exciting news about the arena coming soon, and I can't wait to share it with you and all Mobilians.

Now, finally, uh it is my honor to announce a proclamation today in recognition of the United Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.

And I know I have a few folks here, uh, Jennifer Cooley, Wayne Dean, Kristen Hedgey, and Alison Gilliard.

If y'all want to go ahead and come up to the podium, I'll read and then I'll join you.

Uh all right, this proclamation from the Office of Mayor, whereas recent statistics statistics indicate that there are more than a million people in the United States impacted by cerebral palsy.

And whereas the United Cerebral Palsy of Mobile in Central Alabama is one of the area's oldest and most respected charities, and whereas, founded in 1947 by the Junior League, it has grown from a small local clinic to a large organization that provides services for over 700 families each month in 32 counties throughout Central and South Alabama, and whereas the primary mission of UCP of Mobile in Central Alabama is to promote the independence, productivity, and full citizenship of people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.

And whereas UCP of Mobile offers programs that start at infancy and continue through adulthood.

And whereas these programs include early intervention, CCEP, preschool, camp smile, employment services, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, respite, and adult day programs.

And whereas UCP of Mobile raises funds to assist in service for people with disabilities by annually sponsoring an inshore fishing tournament, golf tournament, food and folly, 5K and fun run through the Christmas lights, and the sale of seasonal themed t-shirts.

And whereas the month of March is designated as national cerebral palsy awareness month.

Now, therefore, I, Spiro Charagatis, the 109th mayor of the City of Mobile, to hereby designate the month of March 2026 as Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month in the City of Mobile and urge all citizens to learn more about how they can help to promote awareness of this disorder.

Thank you.

And if anybody wants to say something, feel free.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

Thank you for shining a spotlight on the children and adults that we serve on a daily basis.

Thank you for making the City of Mobile a community where all people can be supported and thrive.

And thank you for everything.

Thank you all, and thank you all so much for your hard work in the community.

And that concludes my remarks.

Councilman Penn.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

I have a proclamation for Christian and Youth Service.

I have Ms.

Heel come down.

Okay, you come.

I just the information I receive, you come down.

And then I believe they would like to have a picture with the council as well.

And so if we can get the Christian and youth um to kind of line up as I read the proclamation, you can come down and line up front.

Um Ashley, right here, will guide you.

So I have a proclamation whereas Christian and Youth Service has been an operation since 1918, serving as a home for the unwed moms until 1990.

In the early 1990s, the Crinton closed the home and became an educational partner for schools and community youth sites.

And whereas Christian and Youth Service provide instruction for strengthening the emotional and social skills of the students to cope and build resilience for life situations.

And whereas the Youth Health Ambassador Program is the most creative component of the program that targets youth since 2010.

It reaches approximately 1712 youth in schools and community sites annually.

And whereas being a Cretin and Ambassador is a positive exit for youth.

Points are awarded for each ambassador performance, attendance and involvement.

Now, therefore, I councilman Corey Penn, District One and the members of the Mobile City Council do hereby recognize the Christian Youth Services in Mobile, Alabama, and urge all citizens to join us in celebrating this amazing occasion.

Can we give them a big hand?

You have anything you'd like to say before we take it.

Just a few months.

We're teaching life skills to grades five through seven.

And we're teaching them in many public and parochial schools.

So I would like you to know that Auburn University evaluates our progress.

And this year's results from uh 25 were outstanding.

Uh we appreciate and we tell them every day.

We appreciate our ambassadors.

They represent 14 high schools.

They're juniors and seniors, and what they do in the classroom is amazing.

And what they do in a classroom is amazing.

The kids love them.

They're there to support the kids, and they're there to teach them the skills.

I think this is one of the most important aspects of our program.

And we thank you.

We don't get to say that as much as we should, but we thank them for their support.

Thank you.

Isn't that good?

Yes.

Yes.

And as we recognize some students, I would like to recognize one particular student that has shadowed me on this morning.

We have Mrs.

Marie Richardson from the University of Mobile.

She's a nursing student at the University of Mobile, and we're glad to have her on this morning.

Okay.

Good morning.

So this is the monthly financial report for the month ending January 31st, 2026.

If you turn to page one and you look at the middle column there, you can see the current period earnings for the month of January at 40.7 million dollars.

Remember that January is the month that our business license renewals are due.

So typically January is a really good month for us.

That brings our fund balance to 187.6 million dollars.

And as you see, the reserve is there at 64.4 million.

And the general fund operating balance, that brings that to 123.2 million dollars.

If you turn to page two at the top, we can look at our sales tax revenue for the month.

20 point one million dollars, basically.

Year-to-day actuals at 74.3 million dollars.

That brings us uh year-to-day percentage at 34.84.

So this is the fourth month of the year, and so that number that that magic number we want to see is at least 33 percent.

Anything over the 33 percent means that we're you know, we're over what we budgeted, and when we get to the expenses, of course, we want that number to be below the 33 percent on page three at the top.

You can see business license revenue for the month at 40.6 million dollars.

Year to date actual is at 42.2 million dollars, and so that brings us to right at 76 percent of what we have budgeted on page four at the bottom.

We can look at total revenues.

Total revenues for the month is 77.5 million dollars for the year 162.4 million dollars.

That brings us to 42.78 percent on page five.

That starts the expenses.

I have on page five, six, and seven highlighted uh the variances on there for you to look at those totals, and you can see that each department uh is overall is running below budget, so which is really good.

So you can see that for instance the mayor's office is at 27.39, uh city council 27.79, and then public safety on the top of the next page at 20 26.6.

So that's falling underneath the 33%.

Total departmental, and that's on the bottom of page seven expenses for the month at 24.9 million dollars.

Year-to-date actual is at 69.9, and uh the year-to-date variance is at uh 24.64 percent.

We turn to page eight.

You can see again for net income for the month, we're at 40.7 million dollars, which brings us year-to-date uh net income at 47.4 million dollars.

And if you have any questions, I'll be glad to answer.

Uh counseling the question from this council or comments.

I have just one question.

It looks like we're up substantially in room tax.

What's contributing to that other than David Clark just doing a great job?

So obviously, you know, we did go up on lodging tax this last year, so you're starting to see that money come in for the lodging.

Thank you.

Okay, another question or comments from this council.

Ms.

President Woods, um, staying on that thing, because that's kind of that was actually what I kind of had a question about.

Um, are we are we also collecting more?

Um, I know that we were making a push to collect more, do better job of collecting Airbnbs and short-term rentals.

Um, are we seeing an increase in that as well?

Probably so we're actually have uh Mari King, who is our revenue director, has done a fabulous job uh working on collecting that lodging tax income.

We've had uh we've had really good success with that.

Uh obviously, uh you know, the topic of business license related to short-term rental is still an ongoing topic that we're working on, and we'll be you know we'll be getting with all of y'all to discuss that further.

But yes, we have been successful with getting um some of the short-term rentals to pay lodging tax where we we didn't in the past, so gotcha.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Yes, okay.

Um again, thank you uh for sharing this and seeing that we are definitely where we need to be in terms of revenue and um expenses.

I do have a question on the sales tax.

When you compare the month actual to the prior year month actual, it looks like it's a two million dollar difference.

Can you share what that might be attributed to?

So we'll tell you that, and if you look on page the top of page two, uh I did add some additional information for each of you, uh, and and the mayor kind of wanted to see this as well, so that you can actually see the total sales tax that's coming into the city, and then you actually see that capital transfer.

As you know, the five percent that we receive, 20% of that is goes gets transferred to capital.

We are we did budget that a little differently this year.

In the past, we have set a budget for the total.

This year, what we did was it's based on actual numbers.

So once the revenues come in, we take 20% of that sales tax and we move that.

So in past years, you may have seen where that the amount that was transferred or budgeted was higher than then what it currently, you know, what it's we're doing this year because we're doing doing it this year.

We're basing on actual numbers revenues that we receive.

So then that difference is due to the fact that last year was not based off of the actual numbers.

So yes, so it that's correct.

That's exactly what it is.

Thank you.

And other council members, Mr.

President, uh Mr.

Penn.

Thank you so much for the information.

Um, I know you stated about the percentage um like we're a revenue and expensive.

You you stated that um in revenues we want to stay under 35 percent revenues, anything over the 33 percent for January, that means that we're doing better than we anticipated for the budget.

Okay, and then an expensive side.

I mean we want to stay under that's correct.

Okay, perfect, Mr.

President, Vice President.

Thank you again for coming and sharing with us.

Uh you had mentioned the short-term rentals, and I know we just passed a contract with Granicus.

Have they started working on this?

So we we've had a contract with them.

We have extended uh some additional services with them to help us.

So that yes, they have been working, but the new contract is uh currently being signed, and they're gonna assist us more.

So they really have not started doing the work.

Well, uh they're gonna try to help us do more on the collection side because we've had some issues with that.

Okay, so uh, but yes, that's correct.

It and it it's just now getting going.

So hopefully we'll hopefully it'll be helpful.

We can their track record shows that they are able to collect more with municipalities that contract with them so we'll see that.

Yeah, thank you.

And other council members.

All right, thank you so much.

All right, thank you.

Madam Clerk.

Adoption of the agenda.

So move.

Second.

Property move and second in discussion.

All in favor, aye.

All opposed.

Agenda is adopted.

Appeals, we have requests for away with the noise ordinance on March the 7th in Cathedral Square, March 14th at Lyons Park and Marine Street, March 14th and March 17th on Dauphin Street, March 11th in Mardi Gras Park, June 13th on South Royal Street, and April the 25th in Lincoln Park.

Some move.

Second.

Probably move and second in discussion.

All in favor, aye.

All opposed, appeal passes.

Presentation of petitions and other communications to the council.

Cheryl Newman.

Can you hear me?

Yes.

Good morning.

Council President and members of the council.

My name is Cheryl Newman, and I'm with a nonprofit here in Mobile County called Roar, reach out for animal rights.

And Roar wants to come here today to publicly express our deepest gratitude for the entire team at the City of Mobile Animal Services.

We see firsthand that Director Robert Bryant and his leadership team, including Officer Michael Crabtree, along with Stacey and Martin, are truly the heart of the city.

They don't just work at the shelter, they work diligently, often against overwhelming odds to ensure every animal is treated with dignity.

Their compassion is frontline of the community's mercy, and Roar is proud to stand beside them.

We want to publicly highlight the incredible collaboration and partnership that we have built with the city.

This isn't about moving animals out of the shelter.

It's about shared mission.

When the city works hand in hand with nonprofits like ROAR and our fellowship rescue partners, we create a unified safety net that actually works.

The partnership is our strongest tool for minimizing negative feedback and public frustration.

When the community sees the city and the local rescues and nonprofits working together, they see a plan, not a crisis.

By using the collective platforms to edit educate the public, clearly explaining the how-to's of volunteering, fostering and adoption, we stay ahead of the narrative.

We turn our community into a powerful resource.

The importance of an informed commute community and public.

The key to this success is transparency and education.

When people understand the process, they stay informed and empowered rather than frustrated.

We believe a system of clear communication where the public knows exactly where the needs are and how to meet them by showing the community a massive volume of work provided by Robert and the rest of his team and volunteers.

We build trust.

Transparency reduces the number of repeated calls to the shelter and to your offices.

Allowing the staff to focus mainly on the animals, which is what their job is, and transforms the public from crisis into active partners in our mission, and that's what we all want.

If we provide clear information and stay productive, the community will step up to help.

ROR is fully committed to this partnership.

So that we all may work together to make Mobile a leader in animal welfare.

Thank you for your time and your commitment to the people, the animals, and our city.

And the question of comments from this council.

Is animals and everything.

But I do appreciate you coming down, give us some kudos, especially Mr.

Robert and his team.

Thank you so much.

Anything we can do to help.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk.

Brooke Whitehurst.

Hello, my name is Brooke Whitehurst.

I'm also here today to speak regarding my experience with the City of Mobile's animal control services.

I first began animal rescue many years ago, but heavily got involved in the last year when I began documenting the animal issues we have in the city and county so we could have proof that there was an issue within our state and we could hopefully make changes at the state level.

Over the last year, I've developed a professional working relationship with many people at the city shelter.

I've been extremely pleased with the documentation that the city provides for those who give reports.

Written communication provides a paper trail for complainants to follow and holds all accountable for their actions in each case.

I've worked closely over the last few months with Mike Crabtree, communicating weekly regarding animals that are located within city limits.

Due to my documentation, when animal control is closed, many times people come to me for help.

Mike has been instrumental in allowing me to report these things to him and him dispatching them, even if it's after hours.

He has spent a lot of his time off duty looking into the concerns that I've brought to him.

I believe that his willingness to communicate with people in the public has directly influenced the lives of many animals in the city of Mobile.

I'm not here to say that the city's animal services are perfect, but I do know that they are willing to work with people in order to make the lives of animals better.

Many times they take a lot of heat from the general public when they are just doing the best with the resources that they have been given.

I believe that with more support and funding from the city council, the program can continue on the positive path that it is currently on.

There are many times that negatives are displayed all over social media regarding the inaction of our city's animal control officers.

I fully believe that most of those situations do not tell the entire story around what happens in each case.

Many times our officers aren't given the full story.

They are given conflicting information or are told partial or half-truths.

I know this to be the case because I've dealt with this myself when people come to me for help after hours.

I attempt to stick up for our animal control officers online and have developed quite a reputation with few of the animal rescuers here in Mobile County because of this.

While I understand that Mobile County Animal Control is doing the best, I'm sorry, the animal control in Mobile is doing the best they can.

I believe that our city council members can help by providing support to the program.

Robert Bryant and Michael Crabtree are currently working to rewrite the ordinances that involve the animals within city limits.

However, when our officers complete investigations and bring them to court and our judges dismiss the perpetrators with a slap on the wrist, I imagine it makes officers feel as if their work was done for nothing.

I think that our city council members can do a job uh do can help by holding our judges accountable.

That means that you will have to stay up to date on what is going on with the cases involving animal abuse and neglect.

But if we look at statistics, I believe it's worth it for you to stay involved.

The FBI classifies animal abuse and neglect as a crime that is prevalent amongst career criminals.

In almost every case where animal abuse and neglect is taking place, other crimes are occurring as well, whether that is drug use, child abuse, or any other criminal activity.

So you see, focusing on the people who commit these crimes can lead to a better community for us as a whole.

We have to stop viewing them as just animals and view them as a gateway to a better tomorrow for the city of Mobile.

I applaud all the changes that have been made thus far, and I'm here to ask City Council to offer support, accountability, and funding that's needed.

The animals don't have a voice, they don't have a choice, but we do.

Sorry, I was almost there.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you so much for coming.

Appreciate you coming down and offering your support of what uh Robert and his team were doing.

And you mentioned the the rewrite of the ordinance.

Robert and his group have sent us a copy of the draft, so we will be looking at that very soon and making some changes.

We appreciate y'all.

You're working Mr.

President.

Uh Mr.

Penn, I want to join in with my colleagues and just thank y'all too for coming out and your service and all the work that you're doing through your nonprofit to assist the city.

Um, thank you to Robert and Michael as well.

Thank you for everything that you're doing with animal service.

We've seen a major difference.

Um, and we need to highlight that.

And thank you so much for coming down and highlighting that.

We'll be working to make sure that we can move forward with making um the ordinance stronger or and better.

So thank you.

That's all we have.

Mr.

President.

Uh Miss Ingram.

Yes, I would also like to join in and thank you because you represent what how we should work across the uh all actions and needs in the uh city.

It takes a village, it takes all of us, and for you to volunteer and to be a part of this and understanding that you want to be a part of the solution, it means a lot.

So thank you for taking time out of your schedule to do that.

And and again, thank you, Robert and Michael, for the work that you all are doing.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk.

Reggie Hill regarding resolution 08212, 09213, 08215, and 21235.

Thank you, Madam City Clerk to the citizens and stakeholders of Mobile Greetings.

Reggie Hill is my name.

Arise today to continue these pertinent conversations pertaining to city business.

Um, there was a saying the elders used to have about uh uh killing two birds with one stone.

Now we remember when some agenda items came up before I'm not necessarily for the shooting of the doves and quells and things, but I want to use that same analogy as to apply to agenda items we have today with what I intend to continue presenting to this body.

Uh and those items today, let's begin, please, with uh Sage Park 08 212.

I want to commend uh the gentleman for district one for securing these resources.

Uh, this to me is a way that we start with eradicating some of the conflict and hostility we see in the community, these type of investments because it impacts all seven districts, not just one district, one area.

So it's good to see something like that on the agenda.

Um doing the same analogy from before to say is when we're looking at things like the sports hall of fame, uh, just build out.

I don't want it to be misconstrued.

I'm not against increasing tourism in the city, but us taking resources from the unassigned fund balance.

That's the concern.

We have so many other issues that are going on within the city of Mobile, and we don't see ourselves putting at least a thousand or two thousand or twenty thousand dollars out of there to go towards this.

And I'm for encouraging young people to go and pursue things, but certain careers might not be as accessible as what we could do to put them on the right path just with literacy and understanding how to be good citizens.

So we should be considering that as we move forward.

This looks at this piece about the uh the mobile um civic center here, and we just got the uh the finance report, and it's saying that every department is under budget, and so to me, what it appears to be is that and Mr.

Barber said this from years ago, that we take those resources that are left over to put in the unassigned fund balance.

So we're if we're intentionally doing these things to get additional resources for matters, we should have the capital in place to actually eradicate some of the issues that we're seeing.

And we know how this process went through, so I'm not gonna beling that.

We had the opportunity to go through course, but we know how resources can move and justice can be thrown out the door.

We know how that goes too, but we're here, and so if we're gonna continue doing this, we want to see the issues actually eradicated.

These are the processes that we need to use.

Uh, we have some young people come down here today, uh, these ambassadors, and a lot of times we see them we've even seen this with the yes initiative and other initiatives.

Um children have to pay to be a part of things, or they're already on the right track.

They can get references, they're able to get the scholarships, but the young people who are not on that pathway, there's really not anything there for them.

And the ones that are in place, there are some issues as to why we can't get the resources there to those individuals.

So I like to see us use our investigatory powers to look into how we can equal the or level the playing field rather of where we're spending these resources.

If we want to see the things actually change as communities, not the materialistic things or the uh pretty projects that are going to do it.

We're gonna have to invest in the things that might be the ugly project and the things that are gonna cause tough conversations.

So we can continue this in the uh later weeks.

Thanks to be on the floor, Mr.

President.

Yes, let me just correct the statement he made.

There was the $500,000 for the sports hall of fame was not from the unassigned fund balance.

It was an unnamed allocation in the Capitol.

All we done, all we did currently is we named the project, which is the Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.

Thank you.

Madam Clerk.

Ordinance is held over.

64010.

Consider the proposed conditional use permit for property located at 1356 Government Street, 120 Espijot Street, 1356, 1358, and 1360 Contai Street.

64011, consider the proposed modification of a previously approved plan unit development for property located at 6151 Marina Drive South.

So move.

Second.

Proper move and second unit discussion.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed, ordinance passed.

CIP resolutions held over.

Approved purchase order to Warner's Athletic Construction Company, LLC for artificial turf replacement system for Herndon Sage Park 09213.

Transfer funds from Capital Improvement Fund unallocated projects to general fund account for the build-out of Mobile Sports Hall of Fame.

So moved.

Second.

Prophet moving second unit discussion.

All in favor, aye.

All opposed, item passes.

Resolutions held over.

Of the show of shoals.

That needs to be taken separately.

Oh, okay.

Um 37220.

Consider the application of favor of residential care for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to operate a shuttle service.

So moved.

Second.

Prop the move and second ending in discussion.

All in favor.

Aye.

All opposed.

Resolution passed.

31219.

Amend resolution 311001 adopted on July 29th, 2025 to change the local match requirement.

So moved.

Second.

Property move and second and discussion.

Sir Mr.

President, we just I have an amendment I'd like to offer that just modifies the resolution wording in a little way.

It's just cleaning up some uh wording that was done.

All right.

And it's on and it's on file with the clerk's office.

Okay.

Second.

Okay.

Proper movement second on the amendment and in discussion.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed.

Amendment passed, going back to the original.

Any other discussion?

All in favor?

Aye.

Item passed.

Ordinances being introduced.

14012.

Per council rules.

This will lay over for one week.

Consent resolution is being introduced.

58221 through 6022.

Move to waive the rules for immediate consideration of these resolutions as read.

Proper move and second and discussion.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed.

Rules waived.

Madam Clerk.

58221.

Assess cost for removal of wee week lean group 1671 6222.

Determining appropriation to Caitlin's closet for college.

Serves a public purpose and approving payment.

So move.

Second.

Proper move and second and discussion.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed.

I don't pass.

CIP resolution is being introduced.

08223.

Move to waive the rules for immediate consideration of this resolution as read.

Proper move and second and discussion.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed.

Rules waived.

Madam Clerk.

08223.

Approved purchase order to ascendant strategy management group LLC for one year subscription to Clear Point Capital Project Management and Reporting Software.

So moved.

Second.

Moving second in discussion.

Aye.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed.

Pass.

Resolutions being introduced.

08224 through 60241.

Move to waive the rules for immediate consideration of resolutions 08-224 through 08-229 with the rest being laid over for one week.

Second.

Proper move and second in discussion.

All in favor?

Aye.

All opposed.

Rules waived.

Madam Clerk.

08224.

Approved purchase order to AND Cromwell Concrete and Construction for Storm Drainage Vegetation and Debris Removal.

08225 approved purchase order to Alabama Pool Works for Swimming Pool Chemicals.

08226 approved purchase order to best price services LLC for storm drainage vegetation and debris removal.

So moved.

Second.

Proper move and second.

Any discussion.

All in favor.

Aye.

All opposed.

Resolution passes.

Announcements.

District 4, Councilman Runnels.

No announcement.

District 2, Councilwoman Ingram.

Announcements.

District 6, Councilman Woods.

Announcements.

District 5.

Councilman Flynn.

No announcements.

All right, here we go.

District 1, Councilman.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

This past weekend was amazing.

We celebrated black art at the Mobile Museum art like stated by our mayor.

We had a great turnout, broke records, matter of fact.

One, the event started.

One, the mayor, the mayor had his annual event.

I think it's the cookies meet with the mayor event and treats.

And I saw John from the Mobile Museum, the art of art, the executive director.

And I was in Keisha office and we were talking.

I had this idea, and I was like, how about we do events celebrate black art free event?

Just a great time to come and celebrate.

John came inside and we had a discussion.

Um and and they made it happen.

Um his team at the Mobile Museum of Art was amazing.

Genevia did an amazing job planning this event.

It was a great turnout.

We had so many people state that this some of them was their first time in the museum.

And they elevated.

So I just want to thank all the artists.

I want to thank Keisha and her team.

They were there present, assisting.

And we've really just had a great time celebrating Black History, Black Art.

And it was a great turnout.

So again, I want to just truly thank everyone that came out and made it happen.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Councilman Penn, District 7, Vice President Gregory.

And we will be two in a row here with the announcements.

I'm sorry, Mr.

President.

I do want to thank the folks at John Will Elementary yesterday as well as the United Way for helping to set up the Read Across America event.

We do this every year.

We go and read two classes.

Yesterday we were at John Will with the pre-K4 class.

This was also Dr.

Seuss's birthday, so we celebrated a little reading some of the Dr.

Seuss books.

And as y'all know, it is quite the tongue twister to read those to these little kids, but we made it through.

Also, yesterday afternoon, I went out to Miller Park to visit the field there.

As you may know, Miller Park has not really been used much lately.

We do have some teams that are there this year, um, using it for practice for practice and some scrimmaging.

So I toured with the Miller Park Astros and William May to look at everything and talk about what they've got going on.

There are more than 200 kids who have registered to play at Miller Park this year, and that is quite a record.

Also, this past weekend, um, I joined in a celebration for a woman who is quite a trailblazer here in the city of Mobile.

Her name is Ann Williams.

She just retired after serving 30 years as a mobile fire rescue employee.

She was a driver and an EMT.

Now, she was a trailblazer first because 30 years ago, hiring women on at the fire department was pretty unusual.

Second of all, she is the first African American female to be hired by the Mobile Fire Rescue Department.

So we had a big celebration for her.

It was not only her retirement, but her birthday.

So a big celebration for Anne, and we wish her well.

What I want to close with today is yesterday at around 11 o'clock, and there was a shooting in one of my neighborhoods over off AT Road on Valdez.

Um, it was posted on Next Door Neighbors, so a lot of people were talking about it and wondering what was going on because of course police cars were out.

Uh, some people reported, you know, police dogs were in the area looking for some suspects.

I want to thank the Mobile Police Department.

Your communications director did a great job posting information to the media and to us as it was happening as best they could uh and quick work by Mobile Police in shutting everything down and finding first of all a person of interest yesterday and today we got the information that someone has been arrested.

And of course, the investigation is going on now.

I mean, another shooting in the city of Mobile.

We can't get used to this.

It's it's just absolutely wrong that this continues on.

Um, but thankfully the Mobile Police Department was there very quickly.

Nobody else was hurt, and the community was settled down with their presence.

So thank you for all of the work that you all did.

And we will be getting more information as it becomes available.

And we did post a statement about that yesterday.

So thank you.

And that's all I've got.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Thank you, Vice President.

Greetings to the citizens of District 3 on last Friday.

Uh, I was joined in with um Councilman Penn, who was a judge, and Councilwoman Ingram, who had brought greetings at Council Elementary School at their Black History program.

I was the guest speaker on last Friday.

A great fun we had with the students, the faculty and staff, and even the parents uh had a great time.

On yesterday, as council and um Gregory has stated, it was Read Across America celebration and also Dr.

Seuss's um birthday, and I had the opportunity to uh to go to Craig Hair Elementary School and read to two um different classes and had a lot of fun.

So I also like to thank the faculty and staff at Craig Head for the great hospitality.

Um after they were we did the reading, they had gave us a great uh celebration as a reception.

Uh plenty of food, Councilman Penn, you missed it.

But um I'd like to thank again the faculty and staff at Craig Head Elementary School for the great day on yesterday for Dr.

Seuss's birthday and Read Across American celebration.

Uh District 3 marked your calendars for Saturday, April the 4th, from 3 to 5 p.m., our annual Easter egg hunt uh will be taking place.

Uh we ask for volunteers to please contact my office looking to have another great celebration.

Again, this would take place on Saturday, the April 4th, from 3 to 5 p.m.

at the Maryville Elementary School located on Dolphinata Parkway, not only just inviting the kids from the community of Maysville, but throughout the District 3 in the city of Mobile.

Again, this is a great event that we have every year.

Looking forward to it on Saturday, April the 4th.

Also, following the um our annual Easter egg hunt will be our community meeting for the um North and South DIP area communities, O Dell community and the Maysville community on April to 7th, which is a Tuesday at 6 o'clock p.m.

Any particular topic or discussion that the residents would like to discuss, please contact my office at 251208-2087441, and please let us know exactly what would you like to discuss.

Again, looking forward on April the 7th, which is a Tuesday at 6 o'clock p.m.

at the Meryville Elementary School.

Also following on Tuesday, May the 19th at Merch Elementary School.

We will have a community meeting with the Doll River, Pleasant Valley Road community, Sky Ranch, and also the Morningside community.

And the same as the other community meetings, please contact my office, any particular topic that you all would like to discuss.

Again, that would take place on Tuesday, May the 9th at Merch Elementary School on Government Boulevard.

Anything from the administration?

Nothing further.

Motion to adjourn.

Okay.

Proper move and second in the discussion, Mr.

Penn.

Yeah, thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, before we close out, I do want to give a big shout out to the greatest high school in the world, John L.

LaFlore.

They made it to the final four.

They will have their game on tomorrow.

Um, they're doing an amazing job.

We don't have too many teams left from this region, and they are there playing in the basketball game.

Also want to give a big shout out to Bush Park, Kawana's Boys and Girls Club.

Uh, we had two, um, two of the girls' team win the city championship this past Saturday.

Um, my daughter played for one of the teams, and and that's just amazing to have them represent District 1.

Thank you to Parts and Ricks, MPD, um, for making sure that um we made it um had had a safe game.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Uh Mr.

Ronald, we need to look at council rules for Mr.

Penn, you know.

Any other discussion?

All in favor?

All appointments.