Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Mayor Patrick McClusky called the creation of a city manager "the right thing for the future of Homewood."
How did Homewood wind up with an 11-member city council?
“Honestly, I have no idea either. I don't think that's something that anybody actually knows,” Mayor Patrick McClusky said Monday after a special meeting of the council. “I know it's been there for many, many years. For a city our size to have a council that's double the size of cities that are triple our size, we're not really not sure why exactly it was made that way.”
The 8-square-mile city took steps Monday to change that status with an ordinance and four resolutions that lay the groundwork for a referendum for residents to vote to change Homewood’s government. It would go from a mayor-council structure to council-manager.
Last week, Jefferson County Probate Judge James Naftel certified the Homewood petition to set the referendum. Subsequently, McClusky set Sept. 24 as the date that citizens will decide if Homewood will shift to the new form of government.
“We've been working on this for several years, and we are very excited to finally get to this point,” McClusky said. “We're looking forward to more things to come as we're progressing more towards what we believe is the right thing for the future of Homewood. We're really excited to be at this point. We're glad to be here and we're ready to go.”
The first resolution permitted the printing of ballots as required by Alabama Code. Qualified voters of the city will consider a single question: Shall the Council-Manager form of government as provided by the Council-Manager Act of 1982 be adopted for the City of Homewood consisting of five (5) members?
That council would consist of one member who shall be the mayor, elected at large and a voting member of the council. The other four members will be elected from single-member districts/wards.
An ordinance was adopted after the initial resolution to establish the language of the ballot. It also set the polling places – each open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sept. 24 – for the resolution as follows:
Ward 1: Homewood Recreation Center
Ward 2: Senior Citizens Center.
Ward 3: Edgewood Elementary School.
Ward 4: Homewood Public Library.
Ward 5: Shades Cahaba School.
A resolution authorized the city to contract with Jefferson County for the use of voting machines and equipment for the referendum. Those machines and equipment will cost $11,027.25. A subsequent resolution adopted the election equipment as the official electronic vote counting system for Homewood elections.
Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Assistant City Clerk Bo Seagrist was established as the absentee election manager.
The final resolution considered on Monday established Assistant City Clerk Bo Seagrist as the absentee election manager, paying him $50 per day that he serves in the role.
Monday’s special meeting was needed to meet deadlines for the Sept. 24 referendum. Council committees met earlier Monday as previously scheduled.
The Finance Committee heard a request from Library Director Judith Wright for budget amendments of $25,000 for building maintenance. Committee Chairman Walter Jones questioned one part of that maintenance – the installation of speed bumps in the library parking lot. The committee chose to recommend $22,000 for building maintenance while referring the question of speed bumps to the Public Safety Committee.
The Finance Committee also recommended $10,000 be allotted for traffic engineering relative to the speed humps. “We want to come up with different ideas,” committee member Barry Smith said.
The committee recommended that the mayor be authorized to sign a new uniform supplier contract with Cintas and sign a supplemental agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for the Central Avenue TAP grant.
The Public Safety Committee recommended that a no parking zone be established on the east side of St. Charles Street between Oxmoor Road and Stuart Street. The action will establish that area as a loading zone with a delivery truck being there no longer than 30 minutes. The committee also recommended that the island between the two entrances to the parking lot across St. Charles be denoted as no parking to avoid blocking the road.
The Public Works Committee recommended giving permission for a concrete cart path to be installed at 27th Avenue South by Rodney Scott's BBQ. The committee dropped a request to install a fence at 12 Pamona Avenue since the owner now plans to buy the small space in question from the city.
