Eleven applicants for Ward 4 position

At the June 8 city council meeting, Ward 4 Representative Barry Smith announced that 11 ward residents had applied for the council seat recently vacated by Heather Reid. Smith said interviews will take place June 17 and 18, and a decision will be made by the next council meeting.

Interviews are open to the public. Smith provided information about the 11 applicants:

• William “Billy” L. Beers – Beers is a longtime Homewood resident and retired firefighter. He owns Beers Construction.
• Clara Creel – Creel has lived in Homewood more than 15 years and is the co-owner of Seguro Insurance. She is a member of the Homewood City Schools Foundation board of directors and a volunteer at Edgewood Elementary.
• Donald “Duke” E. Hinds II – An eight-year Homewood resident, Hinds is a commercial banking executive at Regions Bank
• John L. Holley – An 11-year Homewood resident, Holley is a managing broker at LAH Real Estate and former special education teacher.
• Dr. Christopher “Chris” J. McCaghren – After attending Samford University, McCaghren is now an instructor and head of the division of career and continuing studies at his alma mater. He has lived in Homewood for many years.
• Chris Meeks – A two-term member of the parks and recreation board, Meeks is the vice president of clinical funding for the UAB Health System.
• Rhonda Rush – Rush applied for another Ward 4 seat in July 2014, when Jenifer Champ Wallis resigned. She has lived in Homewood for nine years and has taught at Homewood High School since 1998. She is a sponsor for the high school Key Club and was the school’s Teacher of the Year for the 2009-2010 school year.
• Joe Stephens – Stephens initially campaigned against Reid for her seat in 2012, then applied for Wallis’s seat in 2014. He is the owner of Edgewood Wealth Advisors and has served on the Homewood Commercial Development Authority Board.
• Mark Whiteside – Whiteside has lived in Homewood for more than 30 years and is the business development manager at Wells Fargo. He has lived in Homewood since graduating from Samford University.
• Alex Wyatt – Another previous applicant for Wallis’s seat, Wyatt is a lawyer at Parsons, Lee & Juliano and a 14-year Homewood resident. He is on the board of directors for the Homewood City Schools Foundation, the Homewood Athletic Foundation and the Safe and Healthy Homewood Foundation.
• Jason Zaharis – Zaharis is a longtime Homewood resident and works at the Department of Justice Federal Bureau of Prisons in Talladega.

Reid announced her resignation from the council at the May 18 meeting, as her family decided to leave Homewood to relocate to a family farm in Corner, Alabama.

The council also approved a sign variance for Dodiyo’s, located at 1831 28th Avenue S. The restaurant plans to add three horizontal banners along its exterior walls, as well as replace an existing corner sign with a nine-foot awning over the entrance.

Other council business included:

• Approval to install a stop sign at the Gatsby Court/North Shadesview Terrace intersection. The city must first remove an unauthorized stop sign that was placed at the intersection by a developer. Once the official stop sign is installed, parking will be prohibited within 30 feet of the sign.
• Approving participation in the state sales tax holiday from Aug. 7 to 9.
• Acceptance of the mid-year financial review. Highlights of the review included increases in revenue from sales and ad valorem taxes, as well as a 2013-2014 fiscal year audit that confirmed the city ended the year with a surplus over $1 million. This money was used to provide employee bonuses.
• Referring to the finance committee a request for a revitalization project on 18th Street. The project would include landscaping, crosswalks, sidewalks and new lane striping to possibly accommodate more parking. The city is waiting to hear about the status of an ALDOT grant to cover part of the $500,000 project, with Homewood footing $150,000 of the bill.
• The planning and development committee has been asked to consider creating an ad hoc parking solutions committee.
• Setting a public hearing for June 22 to consider amending a development plan for 1659 28th Avenue S. The amendment will allow the property owner to reconfigure parking.
• Public hearings were also set on June 22 for driveway ordinance variances at 3104 Roxbury Road and 605 Oakmoor Drive. The Oakmoor Drive property owner is also requesting a fence variance.
• A public hearing will be held at the same meeting for a sign variance at 320 Oxmoor Road.
• Setting another public hearing on July 13 to consider rezoning the property at 525 Brookwood Boulevard for construction of a new orthopedics pavilion and parking structure. Ward 2 Representative Fred Hawkins said the construction will be a $51 million project.
• Carrying over a public hearing of a front yard fence variance at 902 Broadway Street. No one was present to represent the property owner.
• Continuing to carry over discussion of a pavement management system.