Birmingham City Council approves horse-drawn carriages, other items

The Birmingham City Council, at its regular meeting for Tuesday, April 17, disposed of almost all of its business as part of its consent agenda, in which routine or non-controversial items are grouped together and voted on at one time.

These are some of the items that passed today on consent by a vote of 8-0:

-- The council voted to give three licenses, referred to as certificates of public necessity and convenience, to Magic Tour LLC, located at 608 Pratt Highway in Birmingham, to operate a horse-drawn carriage service in the city.

-- Members approved a preliminary engineering agreement in which the Alabama Department of Transportation will study the replacement of the iconic, much-traveled bridge on 21st Street North (Richard Arrington Jr. Blvd.) between First Avenue South and First Avenue North. The bridge crosses the Norfolk Southern and CSX Railroad tracks a few blocks west of Sloss Furnaces.

-- Members approved an amendment to an agreement with the Urban League in which the nonprofit assists the city with “various economic development and job growth projects,” according to the text of the resolution. The organization will receive an additional $12,000, for a total amount of $100,000 for the 2018 fiscal year.

-- The council approved two agreements between the city and the JCCEO (Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity).

In one agreement, the JCCEO will organize, manage and supervise a summer jobs and employment program for Birmingham youth ages 14 through 21 for a term of three years. The city will pay the organization $210,000, subject to an annual appropriation in the city’s corresponding fiscal year budget.

In the other, the JCCEO will assist the city in the management and operation of the Division of Youth Services, including accounting and personnel services, for three years. The organization will be paid about $675,000, subject to an annual appropriation in the city’s corresponding fiscal year budget.

-- Members voted to provide more funding to the nonprofit Jazz Hall of Fame of Alabama, which is located at the historic Carver Theatre downtown that is currently being renovated. Under the agreement, the organization will “expand the operation and services of the Carver Theatre,” according to the text of the resolution. It will receive a additional $82,000 during a term from July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2019, for a annual amount of $315,000. According to the resolution, this is subject to the appropriation of funding for the agreement in the city’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget.

OTHER BUSINESS

In one matter on the regular agenda discussed by members, the council voted 7-1 to reject a proposal from Hitachi Vantara Corporation of Santa Clara, Calif., to provide, install and monitor a security camera surveillance system for the Birmingham Police Department.

Councilor Hunter Williams, the chairman of the public safety committee, noted that his committee did not vote to recommend the agreement with Hitachi.

The bid is from 2013, and technology has changed dramatically in five years, according to Williams.

Councilor Steven Hoyt, a member of Williams’s committee, agreed with Williams, saying that “technology is ever-evolving.”

“We need to look at revisiting this and make sure we have the best product,” Hoyt said.

Council President Valerie Abbott was the sole yes vote.

Hitachi, under the terms of the three-year agreement, would have received $71,125 per month for the first year, $72,331 per month for the second year and $73,190  per month for the third year,