0:06Everybody, everybody please rise.
0:08Call this meeting of the city council to order.
0:11We'll have a council prayer followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
0:15Dear God, that's our proceedings tonight.
0:18Give us wisdom to know what is just and the strength to do what is right.
0:23I pledge allegiance to the United States of America.
0:31One nation under God.
0:39I hear a motion to approve the minutes.
0:44Have a motion second.
0:52Any proclamations or statements by any of the council members?
0:56I will not be at Jack's Saturday morning.
0:59So the crowds that usually come down there will know I'm not there.
1:09We all um miss the mayor tonight.
1:13He's attending the uh national conference of mayors in Washington DC.
1:19And uh so uh wish him a safe safe trip there and back home.
1:25Okay, any department announcements agenda item comments by citizens?
1:32No, okay, unfinished business.
1:35This will order demolition of the structure located at 2018 Dinah Washington Avenue.
1:40So moved have a motion and the second Virgil Council.
1:46This is for the condemnation of 2018 Dinah Washington Avenue condemned August 8th, 2025.
1:52This property has 22 housing code violations.
1:56The owner has been contacted, is aware of this hearing.
1:59The owner is aware that if it's condemned by the city, the count uh city council, the cost of demolition will be charged back to the owner.
2:06The owner has continued to remove all of the dilapidated parts from the rear of the structure and started rebuilding the house.
2:13The owner has been contacted, is aware of this hearing.
2:16The owner has a representative here to represent his property.
2:20Okay, will the uh representative come forward, please and give your name and address for the record.
2:30Hey, my name is Lake Shabal.
2:32I live at 3616 First Court.
2:36Do you uh have any uh knowledge of further plans that uh to continue the improvements to to the property?
2:43They just finished um tearing the whole back of the house out.
2:47They just started with the foundation to go back up this um the week before last, but it's been raining, and we've started a um we've gotten funds and donations to start to start the building.
3:02I know it's one we put very expensive council president.
3:06I like the table for 90 days.
3:08Okay, there's a motion to table for 90 days to hear second.
3:12There's a motion to table for uh motion second with 90 days voting with council and sorry, council president.
3:18This is a public hearing.
3:23Yeah, this is a public hearing.
3:25Anybody like to speak for or against no okay now voting the council of the near?
3:34I hope it works out for you.
3:35You can see it's a cute little log house one day, and I hope it works out.
3:40Yes, yes, yes, yes, okay.
3:47This will order demolition of the structure located at 2722 22nd street.
3:57This is for the condemnation of 2722 22nd Street, condemned August 8, 2025.
4:03This property has 46 housing code violations.
4:06The owner has been made aware and contacted about this hearing.
4:10The owner is aware that if it's condemned by the city council, the cost of demolition will be charged back to the owner.
4:16This house has been purchased by a new owner.
4:19A permit has been pulled, and they have started making the repairs to the house.
4:25The owner is not here to represent.
4:27Okay, the known owner is not here to represent, but since this is a public hearing, anyone here would like to speak for or against being none.
4:37There's I hear a motion to table for 90 days.
4:42Motion second, vote with counselor eatman.
4:48And this table for 90 days.
4:55This approves items A through I on the consent agenda.
5:00Motion second vote for Counselor Eatman.
5:07And consent agenda is carried.
5:10All right, public hearings, clerk.
5:12This authorizes execution of a development agreement with Delaney Group, LLC.
5:18Is there a motion to I think we have it's a public hearing, so we got some people that want to speak it up.
5:25I plan on table move indefinitely.
5:27If you guys might want to speak for the table, is the council we'll need a motion and a second to actually have that public hearing first.
5:35Okay, we have a motion second and it's to table indefinitely.
5:40Since this is a public hearing, anyone like to speak for or against?
5:47Come forward and please give your name and address for the record.
5:51I work too hard on this not to tail it to y'all.
5:54My name is Susie Smith, and I'm a resident of 17 Springbrook since 1989.
6:02The question before you, or what would have been before you is whether to grant to Delaney Property Group of Mobile, a private entity $5.75 million in tax incentives to aid in constructing a commercial development on 5.61 acres in Springbrook, one-fifth of the neighborhood.
6:24In his remarks to the Council Finance Committee on January 6th, Mr.
6:28John Jackson of Delaney Property Group explained that the site must be taken from what it is now to raw dirt before construction can begin.
6:38Taking the site to raw dirt will require the demolition of 20 rental properties and the failing and removal of around 200 trees, many of which have been in the site on the site since before Springbrook was developed in 1945.
6:54Consider the merit of the request for tax incentives from Mr.
7:00Mike Delaney, and Mr.
7:02What criteria should you use to judge their request?
7:06What questions about the development should you have the answer to?
7:12How will giving taxpayer money to a private commercial endeavor be in the long-term interest of the city of the city's residents?
7:20One way to think about whether to grant this or any incentive request for that matter is from the perspective of a reasonable fair-minded person.
7:31For example, I suspect all reasonable fair-minded people in Tuscaloosa supported the massive tax incentives granted Mercedes in the 90s because they understood the long-term economic boon Mercedes and related industry would bring to our city.
7:50Reasonable fair-minded people in Tuscaloosa likely supported incentives for the shops at Legacy Park to replace the older Cedar Crest neighborhood destroyed in the 2011 tornado.
8:04Reasonable fair-minded people likely do not object to the city council's recent granting tax incentives for the redevelopment of the shopping center in Alberta, also destroyed by the tornado.
8:18Definable public interests support these examples of tax incentives given to private developments.
8:40Buffet restaurants, four of which are less than two miles from the Springbrook site, a plethora of hamburger restaurants, too numerous to count, and coffee shops, 24 plus locations south of the river, seven less than two miles from Springbrook site, the Springbrook site.
9:03Jackson, only one of those businesses is a sure thing.
9:07The other two mentioned in media are apparently not sure things as yet.
9:14It is unlikely that the reasonable fair-minded residents of Tuscaloosa would support tax incentives to a private commercial development with no compelling reason to warrant support.
9:26Nothing special or outstanding or exciting or unique to recommend support.
9:35Nothing truly new for the city, just more humbug offerings in a tiny space inside a neighborhood.
9:44You represent the constituents of your district on the council.
9:49Your vote on any matter should ref best reflect your understanding of how your constituents would want you to vote.
9:57Would they want you to approve a tax incentive for the private Springbrook development?
10:02And would they also be likely to support yet to be identified businesses on the site in the long term?
10:11The answer to that question should influence your vote.
10:15Not how the developer wants you to vote, not how the Springbrook Investments Group who on the site have lobbied you to vote, not how the counselor of District 7 has urged you to vote.
10:29In this instance, adhering to the custom of following the lead of a fellow counselor regarding an issue in his or her district by voting with this district seven counselor to approve will conflict with the reasonable, fair-minded constituents in your district who, given the facts of this development, would surely want you to vote to deny the incentive request.
10:55As Wanda Muzan pointed out in her recent letter to you, this project.
11:00I'm sorry, your time is up.
11:02I've got like four lines left.
11:05This project should not be allowed and certainly should not be subsidized by taxpayers.
11:10Please do not vote to approve giving $5.75 million of tax Tuscaloosa taxpayers' dollars of Springbrook residence tax dollars to an ill-designed private commercial development that has genuinely serious impediments to its sustained success.
11:28Old adages say you cannot make a silk purse out of a sales air, and you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig.
11:37Springbrook circle development will never be a silk purse, it will only be a pig with lipstick on.
11:47Of course, as you know, the counselor Lanier asked for this to be tabled indefinitely.
11:52Is anyone else that there will not be a vote?
11:54Anyone else like to speak?
12:11Please, when you finish, give your name and address for the record, Miss Barth.
12:31Joan Barth, 5541 Woodbury Lane.
12:35Um, I appreciate the motion uh that's coming before you.
12:39Um, and as you move forward with this project, I hope that the comments I'm making tonight will inform your future decisions about the the property.
12:48Um I want to be clear that the city has a role in promoting development in Tuscaloosa when the project provides for the greater good of citizens.
12:59And you recently supported incentives to develop the Leland Shopping Center and the McFarland Mall.
13:06Um those projects have significant impact.
13:11They're going to restore these vacant commercial areas to what they used to be, commercial properties.
13:17They're going to eliminate significant ISOs and potentially provide benefits to Tuscaloosa citizens through services and jobs, and those are being held to a pretty high standard.
13:29In contrast, I fail to see how this Delaney group's plans add much value to Tuscaloosa or fill a significant gap in the community.
13:46Fails to meet meaningful needs in the community, and is not commercially viable for the site.
13:52So I'm not going to repeat some of the things that uh Ms.
13:55Smith already said, so I'll keep it to the new content.
13:59When the council voted to rezone this property from residential to neighborhood commercial in 2017, your vision, that council's vision, was completely different from what is currently proposed, which are auto-intensive uses that will be disruptive to the residential community in the area.
14:17In 2017, we were told that the development would benefit Springbrook residents.
14:22The document I handed you shows what was proposed when you rezoned the property compared to what is proposed now.
14:30And note how they differ.
14:32Four lots versus six, no drive-thru restaurants versus three, no gas stations versus a gas station or whatever auto intensive is.
15:21Since this has been proposed, we've failed to they failed to attract commercial investors into this property.
15:30And the site fails because it's not a great place for what's being proposed.
15:38If it weren't for the traffic light on McFarland, you wouldn't even know that that Springbrook was there.
15:46It's hidden from view.
15:48It's not near the interstate.
15:50There's a plethora of other things for people who are interstate travelers to go to that they're not going to come into this far down the road.
15:59Albright Road is not designed to handle heavy traffic load.
16:03And frankly, there's a lot of better opportunities in Tuscaloosa.
16:07There's vacancies at midtown, there's vacancies at Shop of Legacy, there's vacancies at the exit 71.
16:16There's vacancies in downtown Tuscaloosa, which are all great places for development, and you don't need incentives to promote development there.
16:27So you should vote against this incentive package for all of the reasons that I've just mentioned.
16:41Approving this incentive package sets a low bar for others who seek incentives for their projects.
16:55Anyone else like to speak for or against before we vote?
17:06Please give your name and address for the record.
17:09Sandy Wilson, 64 Springbrook.
17:12I don't have prepared comments.
17:14Um I would support everything that Ms.
17:17Barth and Miss Smith said.
17:20Uh I am deeply concerned because this development will be across the street from my house.
17:26Since I bought the house in 92, this has been a constant effort.
17:32Developers have come in, they've slowly bought the houses, except the one that is still on the corner.
17:40I think they let these houses be empty, fall into disrepair.
17:45It's a danger because they are empty houses.
18:11And so I've been to these meetings for over 30 years, one context or another, and the last proposal seemed acceptable, but this one is nothing like the last one.
18:26And I picture two or three businesses being built, and the rest of it will still be the raw dirt.
18:36The construction, it's just it's just very disappointing.
18:42And I never know from year to year what's going to end up across the street.
18:52Okay, before we take a vote, anyone else like to speak.
18:57Okay, the motion is to table indefinitely voting with counselor Lanier.
19:07And the motion to table indefinitely passes.
19:12This approves a restaurant retail liquor license for Logan's Roadhouse number 318.
19:16So have a motion to second.
19:24Good evening, Council.
19:28So I have ABC application for Logan's Roadhouse Enterprises LLC doing business as Logan's Roadhouse 318.
19:35They're applying for a restaurant retail liquor license located at 1511 Skyland Boulevard East.
19:42Their hours of operation is Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m.
19:47Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m.
19:51Here's the aerial view of Logan's Roadhouse.
19:56TPD will come and give their report and then the applicant.
20:05Good evening, Council.
20:06Police Parkman doesn't have any objections to this application.
20:11This is a public hearing.
20:13Anyone want to hear to speak for or against and this is a just for the record change of ownership, correct?
20:22It's only a change of ownership.
20:24And they have changed.
20:29Applicant's not here.
20:34You come up, come ahead and give your name and address for the record, please, sir.
20:41Uh my name is Will McLeod, and I'm representing Logan's.
20:45Our address is 1511 Skyland Boulevard.
20:48So this is the saying of address, everything will be the same, the same yeast rolls and all that good stuff.
20:55Anyone have any questions?
21:00Anyone else like to speak?
21:04This is we will close the public hearing and we'll vote with Councillor Eatman.
21:13And the uh application is approved.
21:17This approves a less than seven days special events retail license for downtown entertainment.
21:23I have a motion to second.
21:28Downtown Entertainment LLC applying for special events retail less than seven days.
21:34We have February events.
21:36We have February 5th for first circle date party at 920 Paul W.
21:40Bryant Drive from 8 p.m.
21:43February 21st event is Candy Peoples Private Parent Event at 1705 University Boulevard 530 p.m.
21:55Pi Beta 5 Parents Weekend at 920 Paul W.
21:59Bryant Drive, 7 p.m.
22:01Phi Delta Theta Mom's Weekend, 190 University Boulevard, 6 p.m.
22:07And then February 28th, Phi Delta Theta Mom's Weekend at 190 University Boulevard, 5 p.m.
22:21Sorry, how to go back ready.
22:25So March events, we have March 6th, Kyle Mega Parents Weekend at 920 Paul W.
22:30Bryant Drive, 8 p.m.
22:33SAE Parents Weekend, 432 University Boulevard, 6 p.m.
22:39March 7th, Cappa Sig Parents Weekend, 282 University Boulevard, 2 p.m.
22:45SAE Parents Weekend, 432 University Boulevard, 4 p.m.
22:51March 27th, Lizzie Amberson Private Parent Event at 1158 Street from 5 p.m.
22:59Here's the aerial view of Kappa Sick House.
23:08And then we have the May event May 2nd ATO graduation event at 332 University Boulevard, 1 o'clock p.m.
23:19And here's the aerial view of the ATO house.
23:25TPD will come and give their report and then the applicant.
23:42So we this is to approve the application of special events retail license less than seven days.
23:51It's uh Brandon Hanks Downtown Entertainment 504 Alman Avenue, Tuscaloosa.
23:57These uh all that you expecting more in April.
24:00I think we just have one more left on the hopper, and I got to okay.
24:04Anyone have any questions for Brandon?
24:10We have a motion to second, voting with Councillor Lanier.
24:20This concurs with the appointment of SIBO Sanders is acting chief of police.
24:26Voting with Councillor Eatman.
24:37This authorizes a reimbursement resolution.
24:42I have a motion second voting to Councillor Eatman.
24:50This authorizes the mayor to explore options for the operation of the Tuscaloosa Tennis Center.
24:54So have a motion second vote on Council Lanier.
25:03This authorizes execution of an aviation hangar ground lease with high maintenance pursuits.
25:10Motion second, vote on the Councillor Eatman.
25:15Motion carries, Clerk.
25:16This authorizes amendment number one to the minor public works contract with Taylor Electrical Contractors Incorporated.
25:23Motion second vote on Councillor Lanier.
25:37This authorizes amendment number two to the professional engineering services contract with McGifford and Associates.
25:45Motion second vote on the Councillor Eatman.
25:54This authorizes an agreement with Vowbridge property advisors.
25:58Motion second, vote on the Councillor Lanier.
26:06This authorizes an agreement with the appraisal and consultant group.
26:11Have a motion second vote with counselor eatman.
26:18This authorizes a memorandum of understanding with the Tuscaloosa Transit Authority.
26:23Vote on the Council of Lanier.
26:30This authorizes a minor public works contract with building specialties company incorporated.
26:37Vote on the Councillor Nier.
26:43This authorizes a minor public works contract with metal roofing solutions incorporated.
26:49Motion second, vote with counselor eatman.
26:57This authorizes the purchase of equipment supplies or services from Hatch Company.
27:03Motion second, vote on the counselor Lanier.
27:10This authorizes the purchase of equipment supplies or services from Norport Electrical Supply.
27:16Motion second, vote with Counselor Eatman.
27:23This authorizes the purchase of equipment supplies or services from Morrow Water Technologies.
27:30Motion second, vote with Counselor Lanier.
27:38This authorizes the purchase of equipment supplies or services from Motorola Solutions.
27:43Motion second, vote with Counselor Eatman.
27:50This authorizes the purchase of equipment supplies or services for various departments.
27:56Motion second, vote with counselor Lanier.
28:05This authorizes the renewal of the contract with Millennium Risk Management.
28:10Motion second vote with Counselor Eatman.
28:18This establishes the budget for the 2026 B warrant series.
28:24Vote with Councilor Lanier.
28:31This appoints personnel to assist the absentee election manager in the performance of duties related to the 2026 special municipal election.
28:41Vote with counselor Eatman.
28:47There is no suspension of the rules, so ordinances and resolutions of a general nature or permanent operation.
28:55This calls for a special election for the purpose of electing a council member for district three.
29:01Have a motion second.
29:02Vote from Councilor Lanier.
29:09Do you hear call for unanimous consent?
29:13Voting to Senate Councilor Eatman.
29:21This sets qualification fees for the 2026 special municipal election.
29:27Voting Councilor Lanier.
29:34You hear call for unanimous consent.
29:37Vote them with Counselor Eatman.
29:45This establishes poll hours for the 2026 special municipal election.
29:50Motion second, vote from counselor eatman.
29:58They hear call for unanimous consent.
30:01Motion second for unanimous consent.
30:03Voting counselor Lanier.
30:11This sets compensation for municipal election workers.
30:16Vote on the councilor Eatman.
30:31Stopped and looked up.
30:34There I'll call for unanimous consent.
30:37Voting with Councillor Lanier.
30:45This annexes approximately 0.6 acres located at 5300 McWright's Ferry Road into the corporate limits.
30:53Vote from Councillor Lanier.
30:57Call for unanimous consent.
31:00Uh vote on Councilor Eatman.
31:08This annexes approximately 2.9 acres located at 10197 Watermelon Road into the corporate limits.
31:15Motion second, vote from Councilor Lanier.
31:21Call for unanimous consent.
31:23Have a motion second for unanimous consent vote on Counselor Eatman.
31:32This annexes approximately 4.5 acres located at 3311 and 3327 Hargrove Road East and 3728 34th Avenue East into the corporate limits.
31:43Have a motion second vote on the counselor Eatman.
31:48Call unanimous consent.
31:50Motion second unanimous consent vote on the Councilor Lanier.
31:58Out of the team accounts.
31:59This authorizes the payment of bills.
32:06We're gonna go to chuck.
32:10We have uh motion motion second to pay my bills, vote on the counselor eatman.
32:15Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and bills are paid.
32:20Citizen comments and other communications.
32:23Any citizens would like to address your city council okay, being done, subject to the exercise of Merrill Veto on ordinances of general nature or permanent operation, all applicable departments are hereby ordered to otherwise implement council policy this day enacted.
32:41You hear motion to adjourn?
32:43Motion second motion and second to adjourn, vote on the councilor Lanier.
32:46Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, and meeting adjourned
