Chelsea City Council Regular Meeting

Chelsea City Council Regular Meeting
January 20, 2004

The Chelsea Citizens Awareness Committee (CCAC) prepared the following information to distribute to those persons who have asked to receive this information. This information was recorded by a CCAC member and is his or hers understanding of the action taken at this meeting. These are not the official minutes of the meeting.

Call to Order

The City Council Meeting began with an Invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America Flag.

Roll Call

Richard Conkle (Neighborhood Committee), Doug Ingram (Streets and Roads), Jimmy Lovvorn (Beautification and Environmental), Earl Niven Jr. (Fire and Police), Mayor Earl Niven and Col. John Ritchie (Annexation. All were present except Richard Conkle and Doug Ingram.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes from the meeting of January 6th were not presented for approved.

Committee Reports (Councilmen reporting)

Neighborhood Committee – Mayor Niven gave the report for the Neighborhood Committee. He stated that he and Richard Conkle would be meeting with the Shelby County Senior Citizens Activities Director to see how they can serve Chelsea senior citizens. Also, there will be a Sunday afternoon open house at the Sr. Citizens Lodge in the near future.

Beautification and Environmental Committee – Mayor Niven informed Councilman Lovvorn that a new price had been presented on the wooden fence at the park and the comment “let’s go with it” was made.

Streets and Roads Committee – No report.

Fire and Police Committee –- Councilman Niven discussed the training in CPR and AED that the COP volunteers had undergone recently. The annual business meeting of the COP will be February 24th and will have guests from Montgomery VIP and other organizations.

Annexation Committee – Councilman Ritchie stated that there is one additional property owner in Autumn Crest that would like to be annexed into the city. Also, in Tara there are 12 to14 property owners that would now like to come into the city.

Mayor's Report

The city hall is progressing and he is still anticipating a May completion

Council Business

Resolution 04-01-20-128 Adoption of fire dues

Councilman Niven recommended that the council adopt the schedule of fire dues he proposed. Then, he discussed the steps taken to decide what the fees should be. He researched the Hoover Fire District, Cahaba Valley Fire District as well as had several discussions with the council. Under the contract the fees are as follows: $150 for houses, $25 for vacant land of property owners, $350 for commercial property up to 2500 sq. ft. $500 for commercial property from 2500-5000 sq. ft. $750 for greater than 5000 sq. ft. and $25 for commercial vacant land. If there is no contract, the following fee schedule is proposed: Minor fire $500, minor structural fire $1000, major structural fire $2000 and $50 for a false alarm. The medical fee is $100.

Mayor Niven stressed that no one would be denied service whether they were under contract or not. Anyone not under contract would be billed for the service.

After a motion and a second by Councilman Lovvorn and unanimous consent of the council, the citizens were allowed to discuss these dues.

A gentleman for Ashton Woods, who had asked to speak to the issue before the council and was told to wait until the vote was taken, stated that he had only found out about this meeting to adopt fire dues from the 6:00 news. He spoke about wanting to annex into the city and had signed two petitions but had not heard anything about it. Mayor Niven told him that he and Councilman Ritchie had had several meetings with people from Ashton Woods and nothing had come of the annexation.

One Citizen, a Mr. Saltzer, who is a Hoover Fireman, wanted to know if the fees collected were earmarked for the fire department. He was told no; they would go into the general fund but Councilman Niven felt that they could be used to meet the needs of the fire department. He felt that he could leverage these funds to pay for things like fire hydrants and a new fire truck. Councilman Niven discussed that our fire department is only three years old, is still growing and needs to be brought up to the standards of the Hoover Fire Department. He mentioned that he wanted 2 full-time personnel at the fire station on Hwy 69. He said it was amazing how far the department had come since the city took over the fire department and that these funds will be a win-win situation because the fire department will get the money.

Another citizen ask if insurance would cover the charges by the city for fire & emergency calls if no contract was in force. Chief Shirley said they usually did but he did not know which companies did.

One citizen asked how much revenue from these dues was expected. Mayor Niven said that the current budget had estimated $65,000 but felt that was 1/3 of what could be available from contracts. He said that there had to be a “give and take until the system is in place.”

Chief Shirley was asked if he wanted to comment about the fire department. He said he was proud of the quality of his people, his assets, his facilities and the capitol improvements.

Resolution o4-01-20-129- Contract for the US 280 Water Line Project.

The low bid for the project was from A.R. Butler of Birmingham for $755,987.20 and the high bid was for $1,055,000. Mayor Niven asked for a motion to grant the bid to A.R. Butler. Councilman Ritchie made the motion and Councilman Niven seconded. The resolution was passed by unanimous consent.

A citizen ask if “after the water line is in, can anyone tap in?”.. The answer was yes.

Community Forum

The following subjects were addressed...

A Citizen asked if impact fees had been considered for Chelsea. Mayor Niven said “no” that that was a lead that had to come from the county. In this discussion it was brought out that the mayor had no thoughts for invoking an ad valorem tax in the near future. He felt that the water line would increase commercial growth and increase revenue so that there would be no need for ad valorem taxes.
A Citizen asked how much money was budgeted fro schools. The mayor said $20,000 each. The citizen ask when the monies were given to the schools and the mayor said in the spring. She commented about the financial situation in schools now and stated that $20,000 is not enough for the high school.
A Citizen asked about the beautification award and was told that it had not been awarded in several years. The mayor said they had been considering it and would probably look into it to start again.

Questions submitted by CCAC:

Are there any plans to pass an ordinance before the 2004 election to pay the Mayor and Council starting with the 2005 fiscal year?
Answer: There will be a work session in February to address the ordinance to pay the mayor and council starting with the 2005 fiscal year.
When will the 2003 fiscal audit be available for citizens to review and copy if they desire?
What will be the procedure?
Answer: The 2003 fiscal audit will be available for citizens to review and copy after the council has reviewed it. The mayor wants anyone interested in seeing it to come by city hall and he will go over it with them because it needs to be explained.
Has the city considered using eminent domain to get the right-a-way needed for Rich and Hodgen roads?
Answer: Nothing has been done on Rich and Hodgen roads.
What is the contractual completion date of the water tank for the 280 water line?
Answer: The contractual completion of the water tank is an August-September time frame. There will be a “Chelsea” sign on the tank but details have not been completed.

Adjournment –

The Planning Commission Meeting will be on January 26th. Next Council meeting February 3rd at 7:00 PM.

Submitted by...
Mark Herrington
Chelsea Citizens Awareness Committee
Posted 01/28/2003