City Council to hire attorney to review lid bill vote 'irregularities'

After last month's narrow failure of the city of Homewood's attempt to be exempted from the statewide property tax lid bill, members of the City Council still have questions about the way the vote was held.

The Homewood City Council voted on Monday, Dec. 3, to hire an attorney to review the Nov. 6 election and the lid bill amendment. Ward 4 Councilor Alex Wyatt said the review was approved because of "irregularities" in the days leading up to the vote.

Leading up to the election, the constitutional amendment for Homewood to be exempted from the lid bill, which was voted on by all Jefferson County residents, had been listed as Local Amendment One.

However, a few days before Election Day, it was announced that the proposed measure would be listed as Local Amendment Two in Homewood, though it would remain Amendment One throughout the rest of the county. Wyatt said he was told by the Jefferson County Probate Court that this change was made to clearly track votes in Homewood compared to the rest of the county.

The change, Wyatt said, caused confusion among voters about their ballots and could have resulted in mistaken votes. He said there are questions as to whether the last-minute change was allowed under state law, which is the reason for hiring an attorney.

The council voted 9-0-1 — with Ward 4 Councilor Barry Smith abstaining and Ward 5 Councilor Peter Wright absent — to hire attorney Barry Ragsdale of Sirote & Permutt to conduct the review. Wyatt said Ragsdale has expertise in this area which many attorneys do not have.

Wyatt said Ragsdale will likely complete his study of the ballot vote within a matter of weeks and make a recommendation to the council. From that point, it is unclear what the council's next action will be, as Wyatt said there is not clarity on whether anything about the vote was done incorrectly.

"This gives us some real opportunity on this lid bill situation," Council President Bruce Limbaugh said at the council meeting.

The amendment failed with 87,141 people in Jefferson County voting against it and 84,595 people supporting it, according to election night results. Following the election, Wyatt had said there was not a plan to make a second attempt at a lid bill exemption at this time.

Also at the Dec. 3 meeting, the council voted to approve a set of incentives for developer Mike Mouron to develop a Curio by Hilton hotel and 10,000 square feet of retail on 18th Street South.

Ward 1 Councilor Britt Thames has previously said the incentive agreement is contingent on Mouron acquiring several pieces of property contiguous to the future hotel site — the former Little Professor Bookstore and Hatfield Auto on 18th Street South — and developing that property into retail.

In return for that expanded development plan, Thames said the city agrees to a lodging tax revenue share with Mouron. The city will abate 75 percent of new lodging tax revenue from the hotel for up to $10 million or 20 years, whichever comes first.

The incentive proposal would not impact sales or property tax revenue for the city.

Doug Neil, who has a five-year economic development contract with the city, spoke at the public hearing and said Mouron is expected to make a $50 million investment in the properties. Neil estimated $42 million in new fiscal impact for the city over 30 years, through tax revenue, permit fees and other associated costs.

Mouron declined to discuss details of the incentive prior to the public hearing.

The vote was 9-0-2 to approve the incentives, with Smith and Wright abstaining.

The City Council also:

• Approved a set of zoning amendments, including changes to the way property lines on corner lots are defined and the addition of driveways and other hard surfaces to the structures that can take up no more than 50 percent of a lot, though an extra 5 percent of lot coverage is allowed if permeable surfaces are used. Read more here.
• Approved $16,500 to study drainage issues on Mecca Avenue.
• Made Reese Street a one-way road from Central Avenue to Linden Avenue, and voted to send discussion of making Huntington Road a one-way back to the council's finance committee to fund a traffic study.
• Voted to prohibit parking on South Lakeshore Boulevard between Columbiana Road and Massey Hill Road. Wolverton voted no on the decision.
• Approved transfer of $1 million from the general fund to the capital projects fund. The transfer is part of the normal budget process through the year and is not allocated for a particular project.
• Carried over discussion of a $1.4 million loan for construction of an expansion to the Homewood Public Library, as documents were still being prepared.
• Approved an alcohol license for Mark's Joint BBQ, expected to open in December.
• Approved a front yard fence at 1136 Hardwick Lane. The owner has three children with special needs or hearing issues, and asked for the fence as a safety measure. She agreed to take down the fence if she moves or when the children are older and no longer need it.
• Approved variances for a side yard fence at 417 Crest Drive and a front yard fence for a corner lot at 327 Kenilworth Drive, where the fence will front Primrose Drive.
• Approved an additional sign at 1808 29th Avenue South. The vote was 7-4, with Ward 1 Councilor Andy Gwaltney, Ward 2 Councilors Mike Higginbotham and Andrew Wolverton and Wyatt voting no.
• Approved funding for a new municipal court administrator position.
• Voted to move funds from various checking accounts into Bryant Bank Money market accounts to earn interest.
• Amended the no-parking ordinance on 26th Avenue South, so now parking is prohibited only between Griffin Creek and the Central-18th alleyway.
• Declared certain library equipment and city vehicles as surplus.
• Carried over discussion of whether to condemn 1627 Saulter Road, as the city is having trouble getting in contact with the owner.
• Dropped an agenda item to condemn a house at 1569 Valley View Circle, as it has recently been purchased and the owner presented plans for a complete "rehabilitation" of the neglected building within three to four months.
• Dropped a request to remove a tree in the city right-of-way at 131 East Hawthorne Road, to build a driveway.