1 of 2
Sydney Cromwell
Certified Local Government
Brittany Foley speaks to the City Council's special issues committee about becoming a certified local government on Feb. 25, 2019.
2 of 2
Sydney Cromwell
Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
Mayor Scott McBrayer presents a resolution declaring March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month to representatives from the American Cancer Society on Feb. 25, 2019.
The Homewood Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) has been given the green light to apply for certified local government status through the National Parks Service (NPS), which opens up grant opportunities for historic preservation work.
The Homewood City Council unanimously approved the request to apply for the status at its Feb. 25 meeting.
By becoming a certified local government, former HPC Chair Brittany Foley said, Homewood will be one of 20-plus such communities in Alabama that can apply for grants through the NPS. The grants are typically $10,000 or less and require a 40 percent match by the local organization in funds or donated time, and they can be used for training, pre-planning, surveys and other preservation projects within the city.
“We would really like to be a part of this because we’re really excited to be a more effective resource for the community,” she said, adding that there are no "strings attached" that require Homewood to enact any ordinances related to preservation.
According to the NPS, a city must have an official historic commission, enforce state or local preservation ordinances, maintain an inventory system for local historic resources and encourage public participation in historic preservation in order to be part of the certified local government program.
Alabama has about $80,000 to give out annually. Foley said the HPC has discussed its first grant application being to help historic churches in Rosedale pay for deferred maintenance projects “because those are very important to the community but it’s something that always falls short on the list."
However, the request had been delayed by the council since Jan. 28 for more information, and time is now limited to meet the 2019 grant application deadline on March 29.
Foley said the HPC's annual operating budget is around $5,000. Being a certified local government would also help pave the way for them to apply for larger grants, Foley said, funded through other organizations.
“They have done a lot of work and they have put a lot of themselves into this,” said Ward 4 Councilor Barry Smith in a special issues committee meeting prior to the council vote.
The council's special issues committee also expects to discuss a proposed ordinance regulating time limits on hotel stays at its March 4 meeting.
The proposed ordinance was on the agenda but was not discussed, Ward 3 Councilor Patrick McClusky said, due to a lack of time to let owners of Homewood's hotels and other interested parties share their opinions.
McClusky said the issue arose due to concern over multi-month or multi-year stays at some hotels in the city. He and Ward 4 Councilor Alex Wyatt said there is a state limit of 180 consecutive days, but a time limit for Homewood has not been discussed yet.
“We could extend it, we could reduce it. We just don’t know based on what we hear next Monday,” McClusky said.
Times and agendas for the March 4 committee meetings will be posted on the city website, cityofhomewood.com.
Also at the Feb. 25 meeting, the council:
- Approved an alcohol license for The Grocery Brewpub, whose application to the city listed its address as 2823 Central Ave. Suite 107, the current home of Red Hills Brewing. Rayford Cook, who owns Off the Hook food truck and was present for the alcohol license approval, said details are not ready to be made public yet but will be soon. The Red Hills Brewing Facebook page's most recent post, from Dec. 17, states that "something big" is coming this month.
- Approved a fence variance request at 2830 16th Place South, where owner Jonathan Kelly wants to install a 6-foot-high wood fence on two sides of the backyard, including facing Somerset Drive. The fence would be installed a few feet back from the street but would not meet the 15-foot setback requirement in the city's ordinance. However, Greg Cobb in the Building, Engineering and Zoning Department said the fence would not cause a visibility hazard for traffic or neighbors.
- Approved a fence variance at 1090 Saulter Road, where owner Marcy Miller is building a 6-foot-high wood fence to enclose a compost pile. The fence is only 9.5 feet from the property line, instead of 15 feet.
- Approved a $6,864 uniform contract for fleet maintenance and a $7,626 contract with AT&T for 911 controller services. Ward 1 Councilor Andy Gwaltney abstained from the AT&T contract vote.
- Declared a 2006 Ford Five Hundred, used by the IT department, as surplus after it was hit by a falling tree.
- Carried over a sign ordinance variance hearing at 1651 Independence Drive for a second time, as the property owner's sign plan is not yet ready.
- Carried over discussion of placing a $7,500 lien on 2531 18th Place South for abatement work after the property was declared a public nuisance in February 2018.
- Dropped a condemnation hearing at 1627 Saulter Road, as the owner had made sufficient progress in fixing unsafe conditions.
- Set a March 11 public hearing date for fence ordinance variance requests at Bethel AME Church and 1518 Valley Place, as well as for a sign ordinance variance request at 201 Vulcan Road.
- Read a proclamation declaring March as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in Homewood, with representatives from the American Cancer Society.
- Appointed Beverly LeBoeuf to a second term as the Ward 2 Board of Zoning Adjustments representative and Marcy Miller as the Ward 4 Homewood Environmental Commission member.
- Opened the application period for the at-large Arts Council seat until March 18.
- Changed its upcoming meeting dates to March 11 and 18, to avoid meeting during Homewood City Schools' spring break.