Tuscaloosa City Committee Meeting - August 4, 2026
Tuscaloosa City Committee Meeting - August 4, 2026
The Tuscaloosa City Committee met on August 4, 2026, to discuss and vote on several items including judicial reappointments, grant-funded positions, a new city development director role, zoning and permit streamlining, and business license applications. The meeting proceeded through multiple agenda items with votes and limited public discussion.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes approval: The committee approved the minutes from the previous meeting.
Discussion Items
- Reappointment of Part-Time Judges: An ordinance to reappoint three part-time judges (Judge Bryny York, Judge Kingland, and Judge Smith) on an ad-mediated basis was presented with no changes. The committee moved and seconded, and voted in favor without further discussion.
- Mental Health Court Rural Health Coordinator: A job description for a social work position under the mental health court grant for fiscal year 2027 was presented. The position is grant-funded for one year, with a no-cost extension request for one more year. The committee discussed that the position would be designated as grant-funded during interviews. A motion was made and seconded, and all voted in favor.
- Director of Development for the Savings Center: This item involved adopting a job description for the Director of Development position, which was previously funded by the foundation and is now being brought in-house as a city position. The salary grade is 44 with a range of $108,037.93 to $143,413.63. The position will focus on fundraising for the entire campus, including annual fundraising (minimum $1.3 million starting fiscal year 2028) and continuous capital campaigns. The committee discussed the fundraising goals, the transition from a foundation employee to a city employee to accommodate a candidate from the University of Alabama, and the hiring process where offers above step one require mayor approval. A motion was made and seconded, and all voted in favor.
- Zoning and Permit Streamlining (Three Votes): Three separate votes were taken to align city code and engineering standards with new development processes. The new Land Development Permit will consolidate multiple permitting types. The three votes were: 1) ordinance adopting the standards, 2) amendments to various sections of city code, and 3) amendments to Chapter 16 (water distribution). All three motions passed with aye votes.
- Business License Applications:
- Smoking Up Tobacco (District 4): Abe LLC requested an approval letter for a special retailer license for suitable hemp products at 424 15th Street. The location is a vape shop. The committee approved with a motion and second, all in favor.
- Restaurant Liquor License (District 1): Cajun LLC applied for a restaurant retail liquor license at 2008 University Boulevard Suite A (former Clean Eats location), with occupancy of 76. The committee approved with a motion and second.
Key Outcomes
- Approved minutes from previous meeting.
- Reappointed three part-time judges unanimously.
- Approved job description for Mental Health Court Rural Health Coordinator (grant-funded position).
- Adopted job description for Director of Development (grade 44, salary range $108,037.93–$143,413.63), noting a minimum annual fundraising goal of $1.3 million.
- Passed three separate votes to adopt and amend engineering standards and water distribution chapter, streamlining permits into a single Land Development Permit.
- Approved special hemp retailer license for Smoking Up Tobacco (District 4).
- Approved restaurant retail liquor license for Cajun LLC (District 1).
- Meeting adjourned.
Meeting Transcript
I have. I make a motion. I'll second that motion. All in favor. Okay. We we accept the minutes. Jessica Stewart. Come tell us what's going on. Mr. Ford. Good afternoon. So this is an ordinance to reappoint our three part-time judges. There are no changes. We still have Judge Bryny York, Judge Kingland, and Judge Smith for our part-time judges, and they're on an ad-mediated basis. Any questions about that? No, okay. I think I I certainly haven't heard any complaints. So uh I'll make a motion. Second. All favor. Uh all right. Now again. You're up again. I'm not texting it while I'm trying to turn my hearing aids up high so I can hear. Um go ahead. So this is a job description for the municipal court with a rural health coordinator. This would be a social work position that would fall under our mental court mental health court grant for fiscal year 2027. So this would be a grant funded position, and then we can re-evaluate at the end of the grant. Is this grant for one year? So we've been on the grant for two years total. We filed for a no-cost extension of the grant for one more year, and it would be some changes to the way we coordinate and conduct mental health court as well as paying for this position through the next fiscal year. What happens if we we hire this person and we don't get the grant for following here? We're gonna make it clear for one year position. So within interviews, we would designate this as a grant funded position. Questions we have a motion, motion second, all in favor. I exactly thank you. Who do we have next here? I've got a list. Hello, Council. Hello. Um okay, so this is to adopt the job description for the director of uh development for the savings center. Um as y'all remember, this was Grant's role uh that was being funded by the foundation. We are now um able through I guess our legal team looking into it a little closer, that we can bring that in-house to the city. So um that is what this job description is. When you say you're bringing it in the house, in house, yes, to the city as a as a uh city position. So the city it will be in the city budget. It will be in the city budget, but it's coming from out of the foundation. What we were paying into the foundation, it will now pay for um out of the city. So we were paying into the foundation for well, you guys we were doing a kind of a joint agreement. So the the savings put in seat money, you guys helped, and then um now that money is we're gonna we're gonna use that same money for this position.
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