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Thursday, September 2, 2010
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Council approves rezonings
Published January 22, 2009
Albertville resident Ben McGowan asked city council members Monday when they planned to publish their contact information in The Reporter. Contact info for various elected officials is presented on a rotating basis at the bottom of the A4 Opinions page. Council member phone numbers and their liaison departments appeared Tuesday.
Here are their e-mail addresses:
• President Diane McClendon — mcclendon(at)charter.net
• President pro tem Randy Amos — johnamos(at)bellsouth.net
• Doug Wood — douglas.wood(at)charter.net
• Chuck Ellis — altpr1066(at)charter.net
• Kerry NeSmith — kerrynesmithplace5(at)hotmail.com
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The Albertville City Council approved two ordinances to rezone property during its meeting Monday night.
Council members unanimously approved a request by Mark Beaver, of Pacific Construction, to rezone 1.22 acres of residential property on Martling Road. He plans to build two five-unit, one-story apartments near the in-patient hospice facility, Shepherd’s Cove.
No one spoke in favor or against Beaver’s request during a public hearing before the vote.
The council narrowly approved a request by Johnny McKone to rezone 23.6 acres of residential property at the corner of Edmondson Street and Alabama 205. McKone said he plans to build apartments.
McKone spoke in favor of his plans during a public hearing, saying the apartments will be built in phases and construction will not be any time soon because he still has to line up financing.
Butch Cartee spoke against the rezoning, saying he didn’t want the project in his back yard.
“I just think we’ve got too much rental property in this town,” Cartee said. “I would even be in favor of a moratorium on rental property.”
Council members Randy Amos and Chuck Ellis voted against the ordinance, indicating they needed more specifics on McKone’s plan.
Council members set a public hearing for Feb. 16 involving a request by Ysabel Merino to rezone property at 105 First St. from a residential to a business district.
Merino plans to construct a building for a jewelry store.
In December, the Planning Commission voted three to one against Merino’s request.
NEW EQUIPMENT: On Monday, council members authorized the mayor to sign documents allowing the city to open a $150,000 line of credit at BancorpSouth to purchase equipment for the police department’s vice/narcotics unit. The interest rate is 3.75 percent.
The money spent by the police department will be reimbursed by a U.S. Department of Justice grant for about $134,000.
Officials may use a portion of the money remaining on the credit line to buy a lift, so the maintenance shop can better service city vehicles. One official estimated the city could have saved up to $5,000 last month in maintenance expenses if the shop had a lift.
The council also authorized the mayor to sign documents allowing the city to enter into a lease agreement with Oshkosh Capital for funding to purchase two sanitation trucks. The total cost of the trucks is $429,064.
POLICE BUSINESS: Police Chief Benny Womack promoted the city’s new crime tip e-mail alternative Monday.
Residents can send an e-mail to etips(at)cityofalbertville.com to report suspicious and criminal activity. They can remain anonymous.
In other news, the police department worked 87 traffic accidents in December, prompting Ellis, who’s also a state trooper, to say that was a high number. Ellis said the eight troopers who patrol Marshall County roads normally work 45 to 50 wrecks per month.
Mayor Lindsey Lyons said he wants to start a safe-driving initiative.
“We want to reduce the number of accidents in the upcoming year,” said Lyons.
RESIDENT’S QUESTIONS: During the meeting Monday, Albertville resident Ben McGowan, of the Concerned Citizens of Albertville, asked the council questions regarding updates of ordinances related to signs, cleanup and rental property.
President Diane McClendon said the council had discussed the sign ordinance and looked at ordinances from other cities.
McGowan and the citizens group want to see a requirement for all businesses to have at least an English translation of their signs to assist emergency personnel on calls.
McClendon cautioned that the potentially litigious issue is one “we have to tread carefully on.”
McGowan said ordinances addressing cleanup and nuisances “need beefed up” and reminded the council “this was a key issue with all of you.”
McGowan noted Lyons had asked all council members to take a ride with the code ordinance officer, Kevin Boyer, to check out problem areas. McGowan asked if they had done that.
Amos was the only council member to respond, saying yes.
The mayor explained why he believed the ride with Boyer is important.
“First off, every candidate that ran for public service promised they would do everything they could to present our city with a positive image related to cleanup,” he said. “One of the most feasible ways is to ride with the ordinance officer to show them some of the areas they’re concerned about and, at the same time, show them other areas that need attention.
“I’ve ridden with Kevin numerous times, and we have addressed some of the current issues out there and, at the same time, taken notes to address closing loopholes in the current ordinances.
“That’s why it’s imperative council members get on board and take the ride with Kevin. This is one of my priorities right now.”
McGowan also asked about progress on the rental ordinance, particularly with regard to registration of properties.
City officials said all rental properties they “are aware of” are registered. The number registered is roughly 2,100 properties.
NAYLOR MEETING: Outspoken resident Mildred Naylor isn’t happy with some of the mayor’s comments, so she called him this week and the two will meet Monday morning.
Naylor is the woman who brought the $1,600 in shopping receipts from Boaz to a council meeting earlier this month to protest the mayoral controversy regarding Amos and his disqualification. Naylor supported Amos, whose victory in the mayor’s race was nullified because he failed to file his candidate financial forms on time.
Lyons said he tried to reach out to Naylor after her first council appearance in November by inviting her to his office.
“The end result is she decided she wasn’t going to take that route,” said Lyons.
“I’ve never declined that man’s invitation,” Naylor said.
Now, the two will sit down and talk about her concerns.
“He says he knows he can’t change my mind, but he’d like to talk to me anyway,” Naylor said.
REMEMBER WHITTEN: Cartee asked the community to include the family of the late Andy Whitten in their prayers this weekend.
Whitten was an Albertville detective shot and killed in the line of duty on Jan. 24, 1995.
BOARDS: Councilman Doug Wood said city leaders “got so many applications” for upcoming board appointments” that “we’re still going through them.”
NEXT MEETING: The Albertville City Council will meet at 5:30 p.m. Monday for a public work session at city hall.
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