Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Homewood City Manager Cale Smith speaks at the Homewood City Council meeting on Monday, April 13, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
The city of Homewood on Monday night established standards for employees who drive city vehicles.
For years, each department in the city had its own standards for driving city vehicles. On the recommendation of the city’s insurance company, that is no longer the case. Everyone who drives a city vehicle must meet the standard.
“Every single one of them,” City Manager Cale Smith said. “Anybody that drives a city vehicle is going to have to meet those requirements. You're going to have to be 19. If you drive an emergency vehicle, you've got to be 21.”
Employees will be prohibited from operating vehicles on company business if the employee does not have a valid driver’s license, or the license has been suspended or revoked. Additionally, the employee must have at least one year of verifiable driving experience.
The city will check the driving history of all applicants through a Motor Vehicle Record (MVR) before they are granted driving privileges and will obtain an updated MVR for all approved drivers annually thereafter. MVRs will also be checked whenever an employee is involved in a motor vehicle accident.
A driver list will be maintained and updated annually, including the last date of an MVR for each driver.
Answering a question in pre-council, Smith said the new standards for driving city vehicles will not immediately yield lower premiums. It may eventually, he said.
In other action, the council:
- Appointed Leah Williams Hooker to the Beautification Board.
- Granted permission for the Hollywood Garden Club block party on Saturday, April 18.
- Gave permission for a landscaping bed to extend into the city right-of-way adjacent to 3200 Whitehall Road.
- Declared miscellaneous vehicles and items surplus.
- Approved immediately pending vouchers for March 24 through April 13, provided no questions arose from those vouchers. The conditional approval came because of the extended time since the last council meeting because of spring break.
