Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Sam Gaston poses for his official Homewood portrait on April 27, 2026. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Could Sam Gaston be the least retired person who is retired?
“I think that ship sailed like two weeks after he officially retired,” Homewood Mayor Jennifer Andress said of the assistant to Homewood’s city manager. “He was already getting ready to start over here.”
Gaston was the city manager of Mountain Brook before retiring and then taking the job of assisting Homewood City Manager Cale Smith. Monday, the City Council put Gaston in line to possibly take on another task when it nominated Gaston to be considered for the Regional Planning Commission’s board of directors.
The veteran city administrator said his role with the RPC would not significantly add to his workload.
“It's more like a quarterly meeting,” Gaston said. “I've known Charles Ball [RPC executive director] and a lot of his staff members forever. If I get the nod, that'd be great. I look forward to working with Charles and his outstanding staff, representing Homewood.”
Homewood’s assistant to the city manager said he would bring experience of knowing what the RPC does and how its programs of the commission can assist Homewood, as it has Mountain Brook and other communities.
“Again, that’s if I am selected,” he said.
In other business, the council:
- Changed the date of the second council meeting of May to May 18 to avoid a conflict with Memorial Day.
- Set May 28 as the date to open bids for U.S. 31 pedestrian tunnel improvements.
- Set May 28 as the date to open bids for the 185 Oxmoor Road parking lot.
- Approved the mayor's travel to Washington, D.C., with fellow municipal leaders for meetings with Sen. Katie Britt.
- Agreed to write a letter of support for The Exceptional Foundation’s grant.
- Declared 201 Dale Avenue a public nuisance due to a dead tree.
- Agreed to apply for a grant from America 250 AL for “Homewood Lecture Series – Niki Sepsas.”
- Granted a request to work in the right-of-way adjacent to 609 Devon Drive.
- Amended the city’s agreement with the Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority to read that the city manager will evaluate the plan for microtransit and bring a recommendation to the council for a vote in June.
- Amended the budget for stormwater and capital projects with $1,738,596.45 coming from carryover/fund balance and $120,000 from light pole rehab.
- Adopted a driver selection policy.
- Funded the CitiBot webchat annual subscription.
- Set a public hearing for June 8 to rezone 2773 and 2777 BM Montgomery Street from their current zoning of C-2 neighborhood shopping district to C-4 central business district to permit renovation and reuse for the development of a health fitness center.
- Approved vouchers for April 14 through April 27.
