Council Highlights: May 12 Edition

In this episode of Council Highlights, we recap the key decisions and discussions from the Birmingham City Council meeting on May 12. From important updates to upcoming community events, get the information you need to stay connected and engaged with what’s happening in our city.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:04

Welcome to Motion to Adjourn, the podcast about the work that continues with the Birmingham City Council beyond what happens on Tuesdays during council meetings.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

All in favor, let it be known by staying aye.

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Or in the committee meeting. After the official motion to adjourn, the councils continue work on behalf of the city and its residents. Welcome to the motion to adjourn podcast. I am your host, Anaya Kenyan. I serve as project manager for the Birmingham City Council. Today we are diving into some of the most significant items that were mentioned during Tuesday's council meeting. On Tuesday, the council approved a $250,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs to support ongoing maintenance and upkeep at CityWalk. This 31-acre linear park spans 10 city blocks and has quickly become one of Birmingham's most recognizable and heavily used public spaces. Later this year, it will host the Pfizer World Series, an international extreme sports competition expected to draw more than 40,000 attendees. Here's Council President Wardine Alexander on why it's essential for the city to help sustain and enhance one of our most unique urban assets.

SPEAKER_02 1:42

And we know that we want to be sure that that area is well maintained and is something that we can be proud of. So it was great to have this opportunity to support that today and bring those dollars in. This past week we did have over 6,000 visitors here for a convention, and one of the things, the beauty they saw in the city of Birmingham, was all that took place at City Walk. And so we're very excited. And this has just been given Birmingham a great opportunity to showcase what we have, not only in green space, but in opportunity to enjoy things in the city. And again, it's for everybody, it's just not for people that live downtown or that visit.

SPEAKER_01 2:19

Although the state of Alabama owns the property, the BJCC continues to manage CityWalk's day-to-day operations and maintenance. The council has voted to ratify an agreement between the City of Birmingham, the City of Trustville, and Norfolk Southern Railway Company to advance critical rail safety improvements. Under the agreement, Birmingham and Trustville will each contribute 2.5% of the project costs, which totals $250,000 apiece, while Norfolk Southern will cover 15% or $1.5 million. Here's Counselor Darrell O'Quinn explaining why this marks a major step forward in a years-long effort to improve safety and quality of life for residents.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

The grant and the agreement that we discussed today is again for the design and engineering of it. Hopefully, someday we'll get the opportunity to actually apply for construction funding. And you know, that's when we would get to the point where we would actually consider closing those crossings. Now we put out our request for qualifications for uh engineering firms to actually do the design and engineering. My understanding is that it takes anywhere from three to five years to actually complete that. Um at the end of that, you have you know all of the plans for the project, it's shovel ready, ready to go. But then we got to go out and get the money to actually fund the construction. And current estimates are that that project would be in the very broad ballpark range of about $150 million because you're talking about two underpasses in the city of Birmingham and an actual bridge in the city of Trustville. Um, there would be some additional track uh constructed leading into Norris Yard. Um so a really significant project. Uh unfortunately, it moves painfully slow.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

In 2022, the city secured an $8 million federal CRISI grant to close at Gray Crossings and reduce persistent rail blockages from Woodlawn into Trussville. Most importantly, this new agreement funds the feasibility study and design phase needed to address long-standing and dangerous rail hazards in the Harris Holmes public housing community. The council also voted to rescind recent amendments to the Kevin Felder Ordinance, which is designed to enhance public safety at Birmingham's nighttime establishments. Over the past week, councillors have heard extensive feedback from business owners, community members, and the administration.

SPEAKER_02 6:14

This was um action that was done two years ago by our chair of the Public Safety Committee, a similar type action to bring those business owners together and let's talk about the things that are pertinent to our ordinances. At that time, there was not a lot of uh interest in that and did not have a lot of people to attend. So this time we will open that up and we encourage people to bring that type of information to us, business owners, members of the community, because I believe we all want to work together to keep our community safe.

SPEAKER_01 6:43

The ordinance will now return to the Public Safety Committee for additional discussion and further amendments. The council voted to schedule a public hearing for Tuesday, June 9th at 9 30 a.m. at City Hall to discuss proposed updates to the city's zoning ordinance, specifically addressing definitions and zoning restrictions for new data center developments. A previous public hearing was held on April 28th, after which the council voted to delay the item for two weeks. Now let's hear from Councillor Daryl O'Quinn.

SPEAKER_00 7:20

One of the major changes is that you know there was a special exception for data centers in uh light industrial and uh special mixed use category that's for commercial uses. That would be removed and replaced with a public notice requirement for any property owners within 500 feet of uh proposed data center site. So, and and we we felt that that was you know important based on the feedback that we got because um there has to be you know parity between all different types of businesses, and we don't want to take a very niche use and apply a different standard for them. So I'm sure you know there's not gonna there's gonna be some folks who aren't you know pleased that we're making that change. What we're trying to strike a balance and putting in that requirement that all property owners within 500 feet of the proposed data center site at the hyperscale level, um that public notice requirement would accomplish uh what you know other bodies, namely the Planning Commission, um had intended when they put in that requirement for the special exception. So um that those are probably two of the biggest changes.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Tuesday's action on the proposed zoning ordinance amendments listed as item one on the agenda fulfills a procedural requirement following the earlier vote to postpone the item. Thanks for listening to motion to adjourn. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast to learn more about your city and local government. Also, follow us on our socials on Instagram and Facebook at City Council Beham. Until next time, stay informed and stay engaged.