Pre-Council Meeting - September 1, 2026
Pre-Council Meeting - September 1, 2026
The Tuscaloosa City Council held a pre-council meeting on September 1, 2026, at 6:32 PM. The meeting included approval of routine consent items, discussion of a rezoning request, and an agenda briefing for the upcoming council meeting.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the previous meeting.
- Granted a 90-day extension for property at 1721½ 16th Avenue East after progress was made.
- Granted a 90-day extension for property at 1721 16th Avenue East after interior gutting and window replacements.
- Granted a 90-day extension for a storage building at 30 Eastwood, with the owner making repairs.
- Granted a 90–120 day extension for the Donna Washington House due to volunteer-based progress.
- Approved a special events retail license for Levy Premium Phase Service at Bryant‑Denny Stadium for all seven home games (7 AM to 8 PM on Line A).
- Approved the reappointment of Dr. David Nelson to the Historic Preservation Commission.
Discussion Items
- Rezoning Request (3311 Hargrove Road East): Clay Smith petitioned to rezone 4.6 acres from SFR‑1 to SFR‑4. The property had been island‑annexed by the city. A previous proposal for 24 townhomes was denied by the Planning and Zoning Commission (6–3 vote) due to parking, traffic, trash management, and neighborhood character concerns. The applicant has no specific plans for the rezoned property. Council discussed the history, traffic issues, and strong neighborhood opposition (13 emails and many residents opposed). No vote was taken; the matter will be considered further. The use conforms to the city’s framework plan.
Agenda Briefing
- Mr. Holmes reviewed several items for the formal council meeting, including:
- Withdrawal of the water distribution system engineering standards ordinance due to a publication date error (to appear September 22).
- Demolition liens for properties at 520 25th Avenue East and 2208 3rd Street East.
- Purchase of a Kubota zero‑turn tractor ($18,484.72).
- Grant application for pedestrian bollards from the USDOT.
- Temporary expansion of the downtown entertainment district hours for October 3, 2026.
- MOU with the FBI for the Central Alabama Threat Team.
- Agreement with Spectrum for FAA communication equipment at the airport.
- Contract with Electrical Machine Control ($43,900).
- Stop‑loss health insurance from HighMark for FY2027.
- Minor public works contracts with Hollyfield Electrical ($27,557.20) and Southern Heating & Cooling ($38,580).
- Introduction of a zoning amendment (21st Avenue Development LLC) to rezone 0.4 acres from D to DP.
- Amendment No. 19 to the FY2026 general fund budget.
- Setting October 6, 2026 as the hearing date for the zoning amendment.
Key Outcomes
- All consent calendar items were approved unanimously.
- The rezoning request was discussed but no action taken; further deliberation expected.
- The agenda for the next council meeting was finalized with the noted withdrawal and new items.
Announcements
- Public project 1630 finance at 3 PM, admin at 3:30 PM, council meeting at 5 PM.
- Budget hearings: September 2 (second hearing) and September 3 if needed.
- City Hall closed September 7 for Labor Day; no council meetings that week.
- Historic Preservation Commission meets September 9.
- Central High School homecoming week celebrated.
Meeting Transcript
Our pre-council meeting. Can I get an approval of the previous meetings minutes? All in favor? We have the meeting stand approved. And so with that being said, we will have our department comments starting with Mr. Williams. So the first one we have is 1721 and a half, 16th Avenue East. This was tabled for 90 days at the last time they were here. They have started making progress on this building here. They've completely uh just about got everything inside framed up and they're uh fixing repairing the front of the house and everything else. So it's our recommendation to give them another 90 days to continue to make. Is this the building that somebody could live in? Or is that a different thing? No, that's no. These are it there's two properties on one two houses on one property on this street here. Okay. So you don't need no fourth for fear, but okay. So where was this again? 16th Street, 16th Avenue East, excuse me. So behind Home Depot? Yeah. Oh, okay. Okay. Um is you miss the field? Uh I think it's me. I think it is. I think Kip that that in there runs strange. One of those streets is Kipps, but I think that's mine. Okay. I'm forgiving them. I mean they made a good app. Okay. And the next one should be the other property, the 1721 16th Avenue East. This is on the front of the property. So on this one here, they've completely gutted the inside, started making repairs. I believe they've already replaced a couple of the windows as well. Uh so same thing. Well again, I I'm for somebody that's go giving a good effort to give them some more time. All right. Was this the one that tried to do something different? Built two houses at the back. This is the one where she had requested to tear the two down and build two new ones there, and that wasn't allowed. So she had already pulled the permits and started making repairs. All right, so the next one we have is number 30 Eastwood. This is for the storage building in the back. You can see here he's completely torn off the end of it there that was in such bad shape. He's got the siding on the one side already fixed, ready to start putting it back. He's ready to start putting the roofing on. Uh he's doing it all himself, and he's an elderly gentleman, so he's this heat kind of got him, but he's he's moving forward, so we feel like giving him another 90 days here. He should be able to complete it in another 90 days.
openpublica.com