City Council roundup: Alternative nicotine products, opposition to SB264

The Birmingham City Council had a fairly light workload at its regular meeting for Tuesday, April 16. Members dispensed with virtually all of its business as part of its consent agenda.

• Members passed a resolution submitted and recommended by councilor Darrell O’Quinn urging the Jefferson County legislative delegation to support “all efforts” to pass legislation during the 2019 session regulating alternative nicotine products, electronic nicotine delivery systems and the retailers who sell any of any of these products. Each senator or representative from the district is to receive a certified copy of the resolution.
• The council passed a resolution submitted and recommended by Council President Pro Tempore William Parker that expresses opposition to Senate Bill 264, which is currently under consideration in the Alabama Legislature. The bill is meant to make it easier for AT&T, Verizon and other wireless providers to proceed with the installation of new “small cell” transmitters that will help networks carry next-generation 5G wireless signals. However, some city officials argue that the bill will restrict the ability of municipalities to regulate where such cellular transmitters are placed. Parker’s resolution refers to “unfair regulations on municipalities and neighborhoods” throughout the state.
• Members voted to approve an agreement under which the city will sell its interest in a mortgage encumbering two lots at the intersection of Carraway Blvd. and Finley Blvd., thereby allowing R&M Equipment Rentals to obtain clear title to the property and expand its business operations there. The city will sell its interest in the parcels, at 2614 and 2624 25th Ave. (Finley Blvd.) N., to R&M for $99,000. The item was recommended by Mayor Randall Woodfin, the Budget and Finance Committee and the Economic Development Committee.
• The council approved an agreement under which the city will pay Cornerstone Revitalization Foundation Inc. $46,000 for a term ending March 31, 2020, and Cornerstone will facilitate various economic development projects for needy Birmingham citizens through job skill development, neighborhood empowerment, youth enrichment and health and wellness initiatives.
• Members voted to provide $11,400 as the city’s matching funds for the Crestwood APPLE Study/Crestwood Boulevard Corridor Study. The money for the match, which is an amendment to the city’s capital improvement fund budget for the current fiscal year, was moved from two other projects in the city’s neighborhood fund budget. O’Quinn and Councilor Hunter Williams announced in April 2018 that they would like to see a study of the feasibility of turning a portion of Crestwood Boulevard into a “complete street,” with greater access for bikers, pedestrians and transit users.