Hey good morning, everyone.

It's good to see everybody this morning, ladies and gentlemen now in the hands of our capable city clerk, Miss Lisa.

This is the pre-meeting of the Mobile City Council Tuesday, July the 7th.

We have approval of minutes from June 23rd and the 30th.

Any issues anyone?

Okay.

Appeals, we have requests for wave of the noise ordinance on July the 18th from 6 p.m.

until 10 p.m.

on Airport Boulevard.

October the 10th from 6 p.m.

until 10 p.m.

on Black Lawn Street.

Public hearing today is a public hearing to fix the cost for demolition of structures at 1966 Halls Mill Road and fixing the cost of demolition debris removal of structure at 1401 Vega Drive.

Okay.

Presentation of petitions and other communications to the council, Melvin Jones request funding from the council for the field rental at Sage Park.

Jasmine Jasper provide information about Anisha Baker movement regarding community safety and Reggie Hill requests various investigations rules, economic development and public safety.

Consent resolutions held over 31714 authorized the mayor to apply accept and receive a grant from the U.S.

Department of Housing and Urban Development for the Policy Development and Research Programs Automated Perming Systems Demonstration Grant.

No local match.

Yeah.

Uh Mr.

Reynolds.

What would can somebody go into greater detail?

I read what the like this small paragraph release or something on this grant.

Can somebody go into greater detail of what the expectation would be for how we would use this grant?

Sure.

Good morning.

So there's a lot of national conversation regarding the need for single family residential housing.

Um even more so uh affordable housing workforce development housing, and then just simply a diversity of housing um throughout our country.

And so the this NOFA grant opportunity is asking municipalities and other jurisdictions that have a permitting process in place to explore um AI as a solution to obstacles within the permitting process.

So we have been working to identify opportunities with getting third-party assistance to come in and reevaluate our process as it currently stands and particularly post-implementation of some software solutions that we adopted um several years ago.

So with that, this presents a great opportunity for us to utilize this um funding um stream to be able to offset costs there.

But specifically, the way we see the process uh going is we would have an evaluation of our existing permitting process, an identification of obstacles that are presented uh within the permitting permitting process.

And I'll get into all of this is specific to single family residential um development.

Uh, but um, as we understand where those human touch points are in the process, um, particularly in the plan review process to permit issuance, all the way to the um need for a certificate of occupancy to see how to demonstrate how AI solutions can be utilized to um reduce timelines, reduce delays, and really uh reduce any omissions with the goal of trying to uh streamline uh permitting to to support and encourage more single family residential in our community.

The the request is $600,000.

It looks like you could have requested up to like 1.5 million.

You can um so we're we the fo while we've landed on that number is what we don't want to do is build a lot of staff time and grants that gets super complicated.

You can kind of see a lot of uh funding and budgets uh allocated towards staffing.

Um we we are working uh with the finance department right now to make sure that we have a robust budget to fill our staffing needs, but where we think the the biggest uh cost is gonna be through the um procurement of a software solution.

There are many, many, many AI solutions that are out there, and so this process is going to help us vet to determine what's the best solution for us, and um, that's where we see the utilization of this funding um for the first phase of this project is to help us to identify um uh uh a technology AI solution to support us through the demonstration.

And uh as far as staffing goes currently in build mobility is build mobile currently fully staffed with all of their positions or do you have some vacancies?

We have vacancies in the inspections department inspections yes okay what about in like the permitting uh permitting um I I would there are vacancies but um the way we've been able to recruit the appropriate staffing that we need um and to promote that that that is an area that we stay focused on but I our critical need is in this inspections realm but I think what this um grant will also help us to understand is where there may be opportunities for greater greater staffing and and and how we plug that um into to this process this does not eliminate an individual um we have a pre-development process we have a 1600 permit volume that's a pretty significant volume so the hope is that this solution will help us be able to better wrap our our arms around get giving allowing the contracting and development community the ability to move slip smoothly through our steps and so you you say 16k as an annual permitting uh that was 2025 um and uh estimate okay and that that includes like the bulk permitting as well the your right-of-way permitting uh yes it does all right thank you uh mr woods um thank you speaker uh just a quick question um kind of going into this um we we mentioned this was uh uh obviously the need for residential um is this uh should this should we acquire this or should you get this uh grant i mean with that is there also is it also applicable to more commercial as well um as far as the process or what is that kind of uh a hundred percent uh i mean this while this is focused on single family residential the the the process transfers into commercial development as well um the what we find is the larger scale projects tend to tend to stay on track they've got a lot of professional design professionals that support them all the way through the process it's those smaller um commercial proje projects where we see opportunities for growing um in our small business um arena where this could be applicable to commercial as well gotcha thank you and what else thank you so much and I will say you know good lord willing on my knees praying we get this grant but what this has allowed us to do is to develop a good strategy where we can put forth an RFP process we'll have to figure out what a funding stream would look like outside of this grant but it gets us very organized and it's building upon things that we had already started with with evaluating our process.

I'm sorry Mr.

President just you said we'd have to find a funding stream outside of this grant process you mean once the grant expires that's assuming we don't get it oh assuming we don't get it right yeah there's there's the desire to pursue that anyway to to pursue this process in a way that's outside of this federal grant yes thank you all right madam clerk resolutions held over 01707 agreement with CSX transportation for shipyard your shipyard road boat launch 08708 approved purchase order North American Fire Equipment company for Himaltro trench rescue equipment 08709 approved purchase order to North American Fire Company for Homaltro equipment 08710 approved purchase order to Dell marketing for 50 Dell desktop computers consent resolution is being introduced 09715 transfer funds from district three discretionary account to account for Oakdale community cleanup and unity day mail out 3771617 and 718 approval recommend approval to the ABC board for issuance of a retail beer table wine off premises only licensed to Lois Grocery and Market on Plum Street for issuance of a retail beer table wine off premises only license to the people's room St.

Francis Street for issuance of a special events retail liquor license to inflatable night grown up addition on Hillcrest Road.

Woods um and I I talked um uh to Sean about the 3718 um the application I mean this obviously is for for a city sponsored event or city produced event um with hours of seven o'clock p.m to 10 p.m but the alcohol license for Metal Honor Park is from 9 a.m to 10 p.m.

um I don't know if uh and again um you know I was told that we're only going to be selling alcohol or the alcohol is only gonna be sold from seven to ten I don't know if there's a modification we need to make or if we'll just go off of we're only gonna sell it allow them to sell it on from seven to ten and I just wanted to point that out that um you know I don't don't want to set a bar up at Melbourne Park at 9 a.m so I think we can we can just amend it amend the approval to those hours okay okay if possible I'd like to amend it just to match up that seven to ten okay um Madam Clerk 4719 and 720 are fixing the cost for uh the demolitions at 1966 Hallsmill Road and 1401 Vega Drive 6721 through 728 are determining appropriations to next level Moxie opportunity for entertainers mobile Christian school sickle cell disease association of America Inc.

Forest Hill Elementary John Will Elementary Archer School Mobile Arts Council serve a public purpose and approving payment resolutions being introduced 08729 approved purchase order to Cowen equipment for compact track loader for stormwater department 9560 and eighty cents 08730 approved purchase order to gray bar electric for decorative aluminum light poles with cross arms and light fixtures 2033630 08731 approved purchase order to Muse Software for subscription and implementation fee for Muse point of sale software 2000 08732 approved purchase order to peach state truck centers for crew cab truck with a 26 foot dry van body 27674 dollars 08733 approved purchase order research electronics international for enhanced spectrum analyzer for detection of hidden electronic devices $15,500 08734 approved purchase order Samsung equipment for garbage truck with yard automated side load body 3980 08735 approved purchase order to SEMtech fire for one fixed cargo container flash over simulation 10832 dollars 08736 approved purchase order to ward international for two freight liner crew cab trucks to dump body excuse me with dump bodies for darn water department 2532 dollars 21737 authorized contract with Bill Smith Electric for lighting assemblies upgrades at Tremere Park 288,175 dollars 21738 authorized contract with Chris Brewer construction for 2026 public services storm drainage repair and maintenance 1 million four hundred thirty two thousand one hundred forty nine dollars and thirty six cents Mr.

President yeah advice on this one can we get the list of where these repairs will be made I'm sorry I couldn't hear what you're saying um can we just get the list of where these repairs will be made yeah sure we can we can generate a list per district yeah we we have a we have a pretty short list for each district right now so there'll probably be more added on over time yeah we can give you the preliminaries for sure yeah that'd be great thanks Matt Mr.

President yes Matt um the um I know you said more would be added um do we already have an idea is this opportunity that we can suggest some places if you have suggestions I'd love to hear them okay yeah yeah our hope is to fix everything so yeah if there's something that's a concern like but the biggest thing that this contract is going to be used for is sediment removal and some of these ditches that are really really uh backed up with sediment inlet repairs uh some of your uh some of the catch basins that are cracked and and causing erosion issues repairing those repairing ditch walls so fundamental repairs that's what this contract is about so when you see things like that I definitely want to know about them okay all right thank you thank you uh madam clerk 21 21739 authorized contract with Finn Partners for marketing of son of a son of a sailor exhibition 90,000 21740 authorized professional services contract with MGT impact solutions for comprehensive cost of services study for development related user fees within Bill Mobile 60490 Mr.

21 21739 authorized contract with Finn Partners for marketing of son of a son of a sealer exhibition 90,000, 21740, authorized professional services contract with MGT impact solutions for comprehensive cost of services study for development related user fees within Bill Mobile 60,490.

Mr.

President, okay, Mr.

Ronald.

If we intend to improve the process surrounding permitting by way of this grant or other funding, wouldn't it be wise for us to improve the process and then evaluate our fee structure?

That's your question.

That's my question.

So I see this as pieces in a larger puzzle and and one shouldn't stop while we're waiting on the other.

So I appreciate your comments regarding improvements to the process and know that that's something that we're always focused on and will continue to be um focused on.

That's how you ensure that you're working toward an efficient process.

So part of what this will do is help us to understand where we have gaps in terms of staffing as it relates to the fees that we're charged.

So what the user fee study will analyze is it'll give us an understanding of our current fee structure and wait where we have we believe significant deficits when you compare that up against the the staffing that it takes to get a permit approved.

So at the end of the day, I I don't see the benefit in waiting on the user fee fee study because for me the the two should work hand in hand and they should fit hand in glove together.

Yeah, but don't what if the work is for nothing?

Like, you know, you they evaluate our our processes currently and then give us this product that says you need to charge more for this or you need to restructure this city for that, and then we've got our work product from them, and then we say, hey, we're gonna change the way we're doing this all together, where you know, we're gonna be more efficient in many ways because we've implemented AI or some new software or whatever it is.

I mean, it doesn't that sort of make the work product from this $60,000 contract somewhat obsolete?

No, so what you're gonna get at the end of the day is a series of recommendations, and and they will communicate to us essentially how we get to an optimum level of permitting and how and what fees we need to tie to to that process.

Um a good example would be they benchmark your community amongst other similarly sized communities in your your region.

So they are looking at your staffing levels to see how they match up with your permits and then how they compare to other communities.

What I think was stood out for for us with this particular company is it's also helping us to identify what priority areas that we need to spend more attention on with regard to how we're how we're funding things.

So as we're working through an analysis of our permit workflow in another area, it could potentially say that we have a deficit, and I'm just for an example in the land disturbance process, and and and the what it's taking to complete uh that review to the point of issuing a permit to the point of getting a certificate of occupancy to close out that project.

So then what analyzing that workflow will help us to understand that we we may have a deficit of staffing in that in that particular area, and then it'll help us to better understand is our fee commensurate with the time that it's taking to issue that permit.

So the way that I see it, that the two things running parallel is is a benefit and not I don't the rationale that we should wait until we're moving toward a process improvement plan.

We're we should always be working on process improvement.

So if we're waiting on that to be complete in order to start a study, then when do you start the study?

Well, I just don't want to waste the money in doing it.

That's all, you know.

I just think it's wise not to waste the money and get a work product that's a useless work product and we modify our processes, you know, shortly thereafter, you know.

So that's all I want to do is avoid avoid doing that, or and I want to avoid uh fees that are unnecessary, charging more than what's necessary to make this instead of just covering costs, actually like making a profit or making money to put back in the general fund.

I kind of want to avoid doing that.

We I want to be encouraging of you know more construction, so on and so forth.

Um so if we do it the way that is has been put forward, the risk is high because government doesn't remove taxes, you know, typically but what government is high that you get a new fee structure put in place, and then you come up with some AI or other solution that makes the process more efficient, and now you're charging more than what is actually needed to cover your costs.

So that's the worry, I guess.

I hear you.

Um, but I would say we should also be concerned when we're thinking about our governmental process with permit fees being subsidized by other operating costs, and I think that's a concern that we should all be thoughtful about because right now, you know, probably not the best example, but folks flare up all the time over fence permits.

Um someone has installed a fence on their property line and it's encroaching on their property, we get a complaint, we go out to determine if a fence permit was secured.

There's a lot of work that goes into that.

A fence permit is five dollars.

So that's where our operating costs are eating into the staffing that it takes to issue a five dollar fence permit.

And the other concern that I have is um we believe in the permit fee that is used to support the South Alabama Home Builders Academy.

I'm not certain if we continue in this direction that you're gonna yield the result that's needed to be able to fund that entity appropriately.

What do you mean by that?

We've looked at the numbers based on what that fee will generate, and it does not match up with the performance contract that was issued.

Yeah, we we got a report on that.

And I think um I think just based on the numbers of permits issued that would apply to the coordinates we passed over the past or the previous three years.

I think that's been found to be satisfactory.

Um if if the trend continues, but you know, the the nature of that sort of deal, which is a five-year deal, is that it's gonna ebb and flow based on you know the productivity of you know, permitting that's known.

Well, I think that there are other priorities.

I mean, the the council has expressed priorities with regard to bolstering development in our in our community, and what we hear from our stakeholders who who are evaluated, the developers, the contractors, the engineers is the permit fee is is low by comparison to all the community communities that we do business in.

So if you need to raise that fee in order to ensure that you've got the the optimal staffing and the services and the technology that you need, then we we would support that.

And so again, what the this report will provide you with is a recommendation, but I think also out of it, you're gonna get an understanding of some key priority areas where we need to support our our efforts.

I've received some we've got to beat this one to death, it's on first read, we got to hold another week.

But I the the feedback I received is uh that there are a lot of folks that maybe don't mind paying a little bit more, but what they absolutely object to is paying more for the same product that they're getting currently.

That there's some dissatisfaction amongst many.

We learned this during the campaign.

This is not something that's unknown to everyone.

There's some dissatisatisfaction with you know the time it takes to get these things done or the complex the complex nature of it all that takes so much time that they just don't want to pay more for the same you know product.

That if we're just gonna get the same output, why charge more?

You know, there's no business that operates that way that you know, if you don't have the best product, typically you can't charge more for it.

So I I could appreciate that comment if if this fee study was being advanced without other initiatives that we're working on.

Um, and I can name a few of those things and what they look like.

I I could understand that perspective, but I think again, this is a piece in the puzzle.

Um as we are working to toward evaluating and assessing where we are with the goal of process improvements.

And I know and know that there's not a weight to complete this uh any other analysis to to decide where we need to make some modifications or changes.

The goal is that they're moving in parallel so that you can so that the council can be confident, that the mayor can be confident, and that the users that we interact with very every day will see those improvements as a justification as to why this fee.

The council chose to accept this fee study and the recommendations that it offers.

Would it be the let's just say this goes off flawlessly?

This this uh these fees are evaluated.

Okay, and um we make improvements.

You know, never mind.

Um, I think we beat this one enough for now.

Okay.

And and I'll just end by saying this.

The last time we did a comprehensive fee study was over 20 years ago.

Ms.

Woods, um, I just uh in regards to the in the home builders academy.

The uh obviously we we saw the numbers that were provided to us, and we do realize that at first it it's probably not gonna be matching the performance contract.

But also too, the way we increase that, the way we continue to fund that at a higher level is churning out permits.

And um the only way to turn out permits is to have the workforce to be able to build the houses, and then hopefully we we somehow another have a constructive um uh constructive and proactive uh working together permitting process, and then it doesn't take weeks and months to get a permit done.

It you know, there's municipalities out here that that uh talked with somebody last week, municipalities, there's a one-stop shop of getting a permit within 30 minutes.

And I I think that you know, really when we're if we're doing this, um, we're we're funding a study to figure out if we're not charging enough for fees and we're doing an AI thing to try to figure out if there's some inefficiencies.

I really think we, you know, I'm not saying I oppose any of these or both of these or all of these, but I guess what I'm saying is is you know, I really think we got to set a vision for where we want.

Uh what's our permitting process look like?

Uh, you know, um, do we need somebody that you know you you have a you have a buddy whenever you come up to apply for a permit and you're assigned this buddy, and this buddy helps you walk the file through and you know, from start to finish instead of you know, because I've I've heard stories of going for permitting or going to revenue or going somewhere, and it's just like, well, sorry, you don't have everything you need.

And uh I've said this before, and this was kind of what my what my point was of of putting services out into the city as we grow the city.

You know, right now my district's out almost to Jeff Hamilton Road.

Um, if you want to do business with the City Mobile, a lot of times you have to come downtown from Jeff Hamilton, and then you gotta you gotta find a place to park downtown, and you gotta find what floor it on is on.

I mean, I numerous times seeing people standing out in atrium staring at the TV, trying to figure out where they need to go.

I just think that if we we just need to cast a vision on to say we we want uh you know, I liken it uh to Kim Hasty and 10 minute tags, I guess.

Um I just think that um again, I'm not opposed to any of this.

I just think that you know, um, in order to go places, you got to cast a vision.

And um, I just think that that's something that we probably need to use this process as a cast.

So thanks.

Yeah, and just to respond to that, President One to Am I on.

Come on.

There we go.

Um, you know, I do think it's important to cast a vision and the the vision for permitting we cannot have a process that discourages development in our city, and and talking to contractors, engineers, uh, all the parties, developers that are involved in that process, speed is key.

You know, if you're dealing with a nationwide corporation and they're looking at investing in your general area, and they know that it's going to take generally 18 months to build in your city versus nine to 10 months in a neighboring county or other municipality.

We're gonna lose business, we're gonna lose development in that situation.

So the the vision in talking with our permitting department, Ms.

Biko, uh it is to increase speed, it is to increase efficiency.

I think we also need to increase our ability to provide top-tier customer service.

Um, so liaison's direct points of contact for the customer, you know, the the company, the builder, whoever that party is um having that singular point of contact.

So you're not wandering around the building looking for someone to talk to, you know that you call Karen or you call Jim, whoever that might be.

Um, it takes money to pay for that.

Uh, it is all a part of the vision of having a faster process that's more efficient and more friendly to the customer.

Um, I I do appreciate Ms.

Biko's work on this.

I I personally think this um, you know, sixty thousand dollars that we're talking about spending on this contract is absolutely integral to the entire process.

And that's even if we do adopt an AI program that helps users on the front end prior to submitting to the city to know that they have all the documents in place so that submission can go quickly.

Um, you know, this is a company that that reviews not just our processes and where we might have deficiencies or lack of personnel, but they they're also aware of processes in other places, uh, so they can make those recommendations.

Uh there's no doubt that we need this is not a money-making venture for the city.

We're not going to make so much money on permits that it's going back to the general fund that that is counter uh to the law when it comes to permits.

All the money that if we do ultimately raise prices, which comparing us to local jurisdictions, we almost certainly will.

We are low.

Uh, we are very low compared to most of our neighboring jurisdictions.

Uh, we're going to make sure that that money's applied in a way that actually improves the process.

This is not just to get more money in people, uh, is to get more money and people and resources dedicated to the areas where we suffer the most so that we can make up the most ground uh as far as efficiency and speed.

So faster, more efficient, more friendly is the goal.

Uh and and in my talks, you know, we've all heard it on the campaign trail.

And the truth is it's going to be more complicated at times, especially in historic districts in the downtown district to build in mobile than it is on some raw farmland in, you know, an unincorporated area.

We still need to be fast.

We still need to move at the pace of business.

And uh, you know, that is the overall goal, making sure that our permitting department and land disturbance and everything in between moves at the pace of business and moves at in a way that is friendly to the customer.

We we need more customers, we want more development, and we need to make sure we're able to treat people as you know, valued customers instead of them standing in a stack of a hundred people requesting information and nobody there in the office to answer them.

That's not exactly where we are, but we need to make sure we have those liaisons, those people.

Uh, and frankly, we need to make sure that we're providing the service that our developers need.

So uh appreciate your point of view, and certainly that vision has to be cast.

And that's that is generally the vision I've been casting towards uh, you know, build mobile and all the the parties.

Um certainly when we have these findings, and as we're developing these findings, we'll be talking to the people from that building community to make sure they're uh a part of the process, they understand our goals, and we can understand their needs and desires.

Uh, so look forward to having that conversation as we go through this process.

Ms.

President.

Thank you.

Ms.

Pan and Vice President.

Thank you, Mr.

President.

Um, as I heard my colleagues speak, um, Ms.

Biko and the mayor.

I agree with with all of them.

Um, I think it's very important that we do both.

I heard Ms.

Biko out say that we can do it at the same time.

And I think it's the need.

Um, we all heard the complaints on the campaign and outside the campaign.

But when I look outside right now, I'm looking outside this window and seeing our our city.

We have a city like none other.

We can't even compare what other cities are doing around us.

You know, um, I think that that's why we need to look into this and find the best way because we need to be fast, but at the same time, cities not dealing with what we're dealing with.

Um, you can't even compare it.

Nobody can look out their window and see what I'm seeing right now that's around us.

So we got to be efficient, but at the same time, we need to study, we need to understand what other certain other cities that maybe be similar to us, um, so we can get a vision um and so we can move forward to make sure that we bring these business owners.

So I think we can do both at the same time.

Thank you, Ms.

President.

Bye.

Yeah, thank you, Mayor.

Really appreciate your vision on this and everything you've said.

And Shayla, thank you for your work.

It's been a long time coming, as we all know, and uh just grateful to see that we are moving forward.

The fees and processes, I see them as two different things really.

You know, they'll work together, but it's two different things going forward.

So I don't have a problem with with either one of those being separate.

Uh, I like the idea of the liaison.

I've called them the concierge, the account manager, you know, whatever.

But we definitely need somebody to lead people through all of the processes so that they don't have to go, well, who do I see them here?

Who do I see over here?

Who do I see over there?

Well, they tell me this, and they tell me, you know, it gets really confusing and very frustrating for anybody doing a project.

So I think this is really a step in the right direction, and I think we will see really good results.

So thank you.

Okay, anyone else?

All right, Madam Clerk 6741, authorized settlement agreement and release, mutual release announcements.

Uh council.

Anything from the administration?

Okay, uh, vice president.

Yeah, let's look at the uh resolutions that we can waive the rules on.

Not that many today.

20.

Uh let's see, uh 08-730, 731, 733.

And that looks like it.

Okay.

Anybody else?

Okay.

Everyone, good.

Okay.

Um, I would like to make a motion to go under um executive session under 35 25a 7a1.

Um, can I get a second to go up under executive session, please?

Second.

Uh, Madam Clerk.

President Small.

Yes, Vice President Gregory, yes.

Council Member Penn, yes, council member ingram, council member Reynolds, yes, council member Fleming, yes, council member.

Yes, and we will reconvene at uh 10 30 meeting.

All right, thank you.