Photo by Jesse Chambers
Members of the Birmingham City Council and some city staffers during the Council's regular meeting at City Hall for Tues., Jan. 8, 2019.
The Birmingham City Council had a relatively light agenda at its regular meeting for Tuesday, Jan. 8, and most of the items were dispensed with as part of the body's consent agenda.
Here are the most important items voted on as part of the council's regular agenda.
MAYOR-COUNCIL ACT
Members, by a vote of 8-0, passed a resolution expressing the council's concern regarding HB 515, a piece of legislation passed by the Alabama Legislature in 2016 that made several important changes to the Mayor-Council Act.
Sponsored by former Rep. Oliver Robinson of Birmingham, the bill — signed into law as Act No. 2016-277 — transferred several powers from city councils to mayors in the state.
The council’s resolution, which was submitted and recommended by Councilor John Hilliard, also requested that the Legislature repeal nine amendments to the Mayor-Council Act that were a part of Robinson’s bill.
RECYCLING
The council passed a resolution — submitted and recommended by Councilor Crystal Smitherman and President Pro Tempore William Parker — that supports the adoption of an environmental policy for Legion Field called the “Legion Field Green Initiative.”
Smitherman, who went to Parker originally with the idea, said she noticed while attending a football game at Legion Field this fall that there were no bins at the venue where attendees could recycle plastic bottles. She and Parker therefore proposed that recycling bins be installed at the stadium.
“This is an opportunity to educate the public at a sporting event venue on the importance of recycling,” Parker said.
The city should work to increase citizen participation in recycling, in part because of the cost incurred by the city in disposing of its trash, according to Councilor Darrell O’Quinn.
O’Quinn — as well as City Council President Valerie Abbott — pointed out that the city has spent more than $20 million in recent decades to expand its municipal landfill, which takes money from other needs.
“If we want to see more money allocated to things like street paving, please participate in recycling,” Quinn said.
NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTIONS
The council passed a resolution certifying the results of the Neighborhood Association Election held in the city on Oct. 30, 2018.
The members made exceptions for two neighborhoods where — according to staff from the city’s Department of Community Development — there are some unresolved questions about the elections or candidate qualifications.
Those two races are the Central Park neighborhood presidency and the Inglenook neighborhood vice-presidency.
The remaining officers, to be sworn in within a few days, are elected for 2-year terms beginning January 2019 and running through December 2020, according to the text of the resolution.
