City Council Meeting Summary - November 18, 2025
Tuscaloosa City Council Meeting - November 18, 2025
The City Council convened to approve new personnel classifications for IT and Public Works, pass a resolution regarding local legislative bills for the upcoming session, review text amendments for sidewalk cafes, and table the discussion on associated fee schedules pending further community input. The meeting also included a discussion on a proposed state legislative bill to regulate businesses operating as bars under restaurant licenses.
Consent Calendar
- Field Services Manager Classification: Approved by unanimous vote to create a new classification for an existing position within IT, managing the fiber optic network, security cameras, access control, and physical networking. No new FTE created; budget funded by reclassification.
- Construction Superintendent Classification: Approved by unanimous vote to create two new classifications within the Streets and Drainage division. Two new positions will replace eliminated vacant roles (including a supervisor, heavy equipment, and concrete finisher positions), resulting in no net increase in public works budget.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Counselor Sil (Resident): Expressed strong personal support for an individual named Selwyn (noted as a "lawyer" in the audience), describing him as "phenomenal" after years of requests regarding his neighborhood, though the comment was brief and not directly tied to an agenda item.
- Downtown Market Speaker (Business Representative):
- Expressed opposition to the proposed fee options (specifically Flat Fee Option 4), describing a proposed increase from $1 to $4 per square foot as "crazy" and a 400% increase in a few years.
- Noted that current rates are already higher than peer cities (Birmingham, Auburn, etc.) and argued that businesses are already contributing to the city via liquor sales taxes.
- Expressed support for a model similar to Athens, Georgia, suggesting a rate of $1.50 per square foot with a CPI adjustment rather than the proposed flat fee increases.
Discussion Items
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Legislative Agenda Resolution:
- Staff explained the need to pass this resolution early to meet publication requirements for local bills before the early January legislature session.
- Item 1: Remove the executive director of public safety from fire/police bills that mandate overtime.
- Item 2: Allow full-time mayors in Tuscaloosa County to participate in the RSA (Retirement System of Alabama).
- Speaker stated that failing to publish now could prevent passing these bills if publication requirements are missed (referencing a past error with newspaper publication).
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Sidewalk Cafe Text Amendments:
- Code Changes: Approved unanimously. Amendments include:
- Clarifying that Right-of-Way permits do not grant sidewalk cafe permits.
- Prohibiting new permits for "bar clubs" or "private event spaces" (retroactive for one existing establishment).
- Requiring barriers in straight lines (no zigzagging) with an entryway not exceeding 40 inches.
- Mandating quarterly pressure washing for sanitation.
- Requiring uniformly designed furnishings (no mixing plastic/metal).
- Prohibiting glass beer bottles (wine bottles allowed) in cafe areas.
- Changing queuing permit start time from 11 p.m. to 9 p.m. (noted as arbitrary by Councilman Holmes; suggested aligning with closing times).
- Code Changes: Approved unanimously. Amendments include:
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Sidewalk Cafe Fee Schedules:
- Staff presented six fee options:
- Increased per square foot ($1.50 no alcohol, $2.50 alcohol).
- Asheville model ($7/sq ft).
- Monthly per square foot model.
- Flat fee ($100 no alcohol, $200 alcohol) through 2031.
- Modified New Orleans model (per table/chair).
- Option 1 with a cap ($500 no alcohol, $2000 alcohol).
- Counselor Fail: Expressed support for Option 4 (flat fee) to stabilize rates through 2031.
- Other Council Members: Expressed concern regarding the financial impact on small businesses given simultaneous construction costs. Advocated for taking more time to consult with merchants before voting.
- Revenue Division: Stated urgency for a decision to meet the December 31st deadline for business license renewals, though noted delays could push effective dates to Calendar Year 2027.
- Staff presented six fee options:
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Bar vs. Restaurant Definition:
- Staff presented a draft legislative bill to set a definition where a "restaurant" cannot derive more than 50% of its revenue from alcohol sales.
- This follows a failed ABC regulation proposal and aims to address businesses masquerading as restaurants but functioning as bars.
- Councilman Busby: Acknowledged the importance of the definition but noted the difficulty in setting a reasonable threshold without being draconian.
Key Outcomes
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Passed Unanimously:
- Resolution to create Field Services Manager job classification.
- Resolution to create Construction Superintendent job classification.
- Resolution to place local bills on the legislative agenda for early publication.
- Text amendments to Sidewalk Cafe regulations (Section 2128 and 2129).
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Deferred:
- Sidewalk Cafe Fee Schedule: Moved to a special called meeting on December 16th. Council agreed to table the fee decision to allow time for further discussion with business owners and staff, rather than voting on the arbitrary $2.00+ options immediately.
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Next Steps:
- Council to reconvene for a special meeting on December 16th to finalize the sidewalk cafe fee schedule.
- Staff to review the draft 50% revenue bill for the "bar vs. restaurant" definition.
Meeting Transcript
First up. And of course I have piled all things up on my agenda. Jason or Lashonda, I don't know. Or both y'all go tag team. I was volunteered, sir. Okay. Yes, afternoon. This is uh for the creation of a field services manager job classification. I will uh go ahead and answer uh a couple of questions. This does not represent a new FTE. Uh and this uh increase from another position is budgeted is within IT's budget. This is not represent an increase, Mr. Russell. Uh so this uh what's driving the need for a vote? Absolutely. Uh three years ago we took over the uh the job of managing the city's fiber optic network from public works at the time we had a field service, we had a uh fiber optics supervisor and uh two technicians over the last three years that the role that that team plays has increased significantly. They are now over all the uh security cameras that the city has as well as now the access control for the city's security in addition to the fiber optic uh networks and the city's uh physical networking and equipment. Uh as that uh need has grown uh and as we have worked through things such as construction projects that we have in parks, there is a need to review plans and design plans, and so as over time that position and that group has gotten to be more important in its responsibilities. We felt that creating a uh manager uh position versus what is currently now a supervisor position was one to the increase and and work that was that accompanied that and technical expertise and is it a change in pay classification for the it is a different classification than the supervisor, yes, sir. How many people does it affect one? Just one, yes. Any other questions? We have a motion. I'll make a motion. Second, all in favor? That passes. Thank you, Jason. Mr. Green, I think you have something similar. Yes, sir. I do counselor. Good afternoon. Hello. I'll start by rolling my eyes at Lashonda because I was voluntary. I got you. I do want to say Lashonda and her team did the heavy lifting to get us to this point, so I greatly appreciate that. This construction superintendent job classification. You may recall from our department budget presentation uh for FY26. These are two positions that we had in there for uh request of approval to add some mid-level management support to our uh streets and drainage division. Uh so this position or classification will function as a prioritization of work, uh handling quality quality control, as well as looking into uh just over our overall workflow and uh safety compliance. So budget-wise, this is a new classification, but it does not increase the budget of public works because we have made other adjustments in our operations uh for salary-wise, where we have eliminated some vacant positions to re-order and make room for these two positions. Any questions? It'll create two self two of these positions. Correct. Does it eliminate whatever they were? They're not those two are now going to be a little bit more. So what we have what we've eliminated are other work functions within public works that included a supervisor position, a heavy equipment classification, and several of our concrete finishers that gave us room to create these new management positions. And are they gone all the time? Yes, sir, they're gone all together. And our salary budget benefits on the whole have gone down for public works.
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