Birmingham City Council approves additional money for BCRI

The Birmingham Civil Rights Institute will receive additional financial support from the city after a vote by the Birmingham City Council at their regular meeting Dec. 6.

According to the text of the resolution, which passed 7-0, the amount of the city’s current agreement with the BCRI board of directors will be increased by $225,000 – from $775,000 to $1 million.

The money is to be used to “expand the operations and community services” provided by the BCRI, according to the resolution.

Health and wellness

The council also voted to pay a vendor to work with the city on its wellness and disease management programs. Members passed a resolution on a close vote – 4-3 with one abstention – to pay a firm called Employee Care Management LLC up to $275,000 from Dec. 1, 2016, through Nov. 20, 2017, to assist the city in planning, improving, designing and maintaining some wellness programs.

Urban League can wait

The council did not vote on a resolution authorizing Mayor William Bell to execute an agreement in which the city would pay the Urban League organization up to $307,999 for one year to help the city facilitate various economic development and revitalization projects. Instead, the council voted – after a motion by Council President Pro Tem Steven Hoyt – to send the measure back to the council’s Economic Development, Budget and Finance Committee for further discussion.