Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
A larger-than-usual crowd gathered for the Homewood City Council meeting of Oct. 13, when councilors approved a new ordinance addressing homelessness in the city.
Two weeks after a chorus of boos rained down on them, the Homewood City Council on Monday night approved an ordinance addressing homelessness in the city.
The council failed to get unanimous consent to pass the action at its Sept. 29 meeting. This time, the action passed on an 8-0 vote.
“The city just wanted to see action,” Public Safety Chairman Andy Gwaltney said of the receptive reaction of the audience. “The citizens of the city wanted to see action on an issue that they feel is important. I can 100% understand. My children run these streets too and play and have all kinds of fun, so I think it was just one of those items that hits near and dear to people's hearts when it's a public safety concern.”
Gwaltney said most of the items in the encampment ordinance came from the police department, with the rest from city staff.
“I basically called and talked to people and sent emails and had discussions with the city about where we had a need,” he said. “It stemmed from city discussions with department heads and the city manager and police chief. We even talked to the fire chief.”
The only delay during the Oct. 23 meeting was a question from Councilor Nick Sellers concerning parked vehicles. Mayor Alex Wyatt said the intent of the ordinance was clear.
“Really, what the ordinance speaks to is sleeping in vehicles rather than when cars can be parked in certain place or not,” Wyatt said. “That's really controlled by other ordinances that in particular have to do with time limits and things like that.”
The mayor cited recent public complaints and said the new ordinance will give first responders more tools to address concerns.
“This will hopefully provide police and fire in the city itself with a better means to address those things,” Wyatt said, adding that it can be amended to fix an issue that arises. “If we see that (police are) not able to use them (sections of the ordinance) in the way that that we're intending them to be used, then the council will always have the ability to come back and tweak the language as needed to make sure that the intent stays consistent all the way through any changes.”
As part of the transition to a city manager–council government, the council cleared the agendas of all committees and authorized City Manager Glen Adams to handle city business until the new council takes office.
The council also approved the creation of a police substation on the first floor of City Hall. The space is currently leased by Auburn Community Church for storage and will be converted after the lease ends.
In other action, the council:
Accepted the $507,000 bid of Coston General Contractors to build the Shades Creek Greenway Trailhead Pavilion
Agreed to allow Lumos to provide residential fiber optic service
Approved a request from Uniti Fiber Gulfco LLC to provide commercial fiber optic service
Set a new annual facilities agreement with H&H Eats LLC to host events on the City Hall plaza
Renewed the commercial lease agreement with Waldrop, Stewart and Kendrick LLP for the third floor of City Hall
Authorized a “no parking anytime” restriction around the center circle at Wingate Circle
Public hearings set for Nov. 24 include:
An amended development plan for the proposed renovation and expansion of the existing Piggly Wiggly grocery store
Rezoning of property at 1629 29th Court South from C-1 office district to I-2 institutional, consistent with adjacent property owned by Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church
An amended development plan for Brookwood Village to allow renovation of part of the mall for medical/office space and additional parking for Andrews Sports Medicine
A final development plan for construction of a Valvoline Instant Oil Change facility within the Green Springs shopping center
