1 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
2 OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA,
3 HELD FEBRUARY 26, 2004
4
5 The Honorable Council of the City of Huntsville, Alabama,
6 met in regular session on February 26, 2004, at 6 p.m., in the
7 Council Chambers of the Municipal Building, there being present:
8 President: Russell
9 Councilpersons: Moon, Kling, Showers, Watson
10 Absent: None
11 Mayor: Spencer
12 Administrative Assistant: Hatfield
13 City Attorney: Joffrion
14 City Clerk-Treasurer: Hagood
15 President Russell called the meeting to order.
16 Pastor Percy L. Nolen, Jr., Lakeside United Methodist Church, led
17 the invocation; Councilman Watson led the pledge of allegiance.
18 The minutes of the regular meeting of the Council on
19 February 12, 2004, were approved as submitted.
20 President Russell recognized Mayor Spencer.
21 Mayor Spencer recognized Ms. Paula Stiegerwald, Director of
22 the Botanical Gardens, and Ms. Lynn Carden, Chairman of the
23 Galaxy of Lights for the prior two years.
24 Mayor Spencer stated that the Botanical Gardens had
25 certainly become an outstanding attraction in the city and that
26 the Galaxy of Lights was a very special event for the Christmas
27 season.
28 Ms. Carden stated that the volunteers who put on the Galaxy
29 of Lights certainly appreciated the support of the City. She
30 noted that there were approximately 800 volunteers who worked on
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1 this project. She stated that preparations were underway at this
2 time for Galaxy 9. She stated that the event had received
3 recognition in USA Today as one of the top seven gardens
4 recognized. She stated that, also, they had been voted the event
5 of the year for North Alabama and that they had been recognized
6 in the tourism association as being in the top 20.
7 Ms. Carden stated that revenues received from the event were
8 put into the Gardens. She stated that the prior year had been
9 their best year and that they had raised $271,984.
10 Ms. Carden asked the Council and the Administration to mark
11 their calendars for the following November 17, noting that they
12 were invited to a special VIP party to view the Galaxy of Lights.
13 Ms. Staggerwald stated that the Gardens had 110,000 visitors
14 to the Galaxy of Lights, noting that 55 percent of them were from
15 Madison County. She stated she wanted to express appreciation to
16 their corporate sponsorship, noting that the corporate
17 sponsorship and individual sponsors had given them $150,000 worth
18 of support. She stated they were certainly grateful for this.
19 Ms. Staggerwald stated that the Gardens also looked for ways
20 to support other agencies in the community and stated that
21 through Galaxy they supported Hope Place and the Blount
22 Hospitality House, the Food Bank, The Ark, Toys for Tots, the
23 public library, and the Inner City Ministries. She stated that
24 they tried to be creative with the displays every year in making
25 it different and stated that the persons working on this
26 certainly did an outstanding job.
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1 Ms. Staggerwald stated that at this time the Gardens were
2 working very hard on the flower beds, noting that they were
3 actually patchwork quilts, with tents and sleeping bags and
4 four-poster beds with cannonballs of ivy. She invited everyone
5 to visit.
6 Mayor Spencer recognized Boy Scout Troop 96 from the Epworth
7 Methodist Church, led by City employee Paul Balance. She
8 recognized Mr. Balance.
9 Mr. Balance recognized the members of the troop and the
10 senior patrol leader. He stated that Boy Scouts was a youth-led
11 movement, noting that the young men in the troop actually ran the
12 troop. He stated that at this time they were working on their
13 Citizenship in the Community badge and were present at the
14 meeting to see how City government worked. He also recognized
15 the other leaders of the troop.
16 Mayor Spencer recognized Mr. Mo Brooks of the Madison County
17 Commission.
18 Mayor Spencer stated that there had been much discussion
19 about private-public partnerships and how important they were but
20 noted that government-to-government partnerships were equally as
21 important.
22 Mayor Spencer asked Mr. Ralph Stone to explain the
23 opportunities that were being made possible by
24 Commissioner Brooks' participation.
25 Mr. Stone stated that the City had an opportunity to develop
26 several recreation projects that they had wanted to do for quite
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1 some time. He stated that with Mr. Brooks' and the County
2 Commission's assistance they were going to be able to make these
3 happen. He displayed sketches of a playground system that would
4 be used at both Willow Park and Kent Robertson Park. He stated
5 this would provide wonderful opportunities for the children in
6 these neighborhoods to play on these new playground systems. He
7 stated that, also, a linear park would be constructed along
8 Atwood Drive. He noted that Atwood Drive was a part of the
9 Aldridge Creek House Relocation Project. He stated that several
10 homes had been taken out in this area and that this would become
11 a beautiful linear park that would run from close to Mira Vista
12 to the Four Mile Post Extension. He stated that there would also
13 be two other projects, one at Fern Bell Park, being the
14 improvement of the parking area, to allow access to the playing
15 and practice areas. He stated that also in the Fern Bell area
16 the two gymnasiums that had been constructed recently would have
17 curtain dividers in the gyms to allow play on both sides of the
18 floor by different teams. He stated that this would create a
19 much better quality basketball experience for the children.
20 Mr. Stone stated that these were projects that his
21 department had been looking forward to for quite some time and
22 stated that with the contribution Mr. Brooks was going to make,
23 along with some matching funds from some City effort, they would
24 be able to complete the projects. He stated that they were very
25 excited about this.
26 Councilwoman Moon stated she had certainly enjoyed working
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1 with Mr. Brooks over the prior several years and stated that
2 Mr. Brooks had at this time once again managed to touch many
3 lives with the money he was able to devote to these projects.
4 She stated that the Council was certainly very grateful to
5 Mr. Brooks for his efforts in this regard.
6 Mr. Brooks stated he appreciated the opportunity the City
7 had given him to be able to make this a joint venture. He noted
8 that the City had contributed a significant amount to the overall
9 project. He stated that County Commission District 5's share
10 would be a quarter of a million dollars and that the City would
11 make up the difference. He stated that the City would be
12 providing the personnel to get the projects done correctly and
13 would provide the long-term maintenance of the parks, noting that
14 this was very important. He stated he would not be able to do
15 anything without the support of the Mayor and her staff and the
16 Council members, noting he certainly appreciated their
17 cooperation.
18 President Russell asked that item 15.j be taken out of order
19 at this time.
20 President Russell read and introduced a resolution
21 authorizing the acceptance of donation to Animal Services in the
22 amount of $30 from Maeola Hagert for care of animals; donation to
23 Recreation Services in the amount of $250,000 from Commissioner
24 Morris Brooks for various park projects; and donation to
25 Operation Green Team in the amount of $25 from Westbury Garden
26 Club, and $2,000 from Covanta Energy to be used in beautification
0006
1 or educational projects, as follows:
2 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-130)
3 President Russell moved for approval of the foregoing
4 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling,
5 and was unanimously adopted.
6 Mayor Spencer stated that as part of the jazz history
7 celebration, 2004 Grammy award winner jazz pianist
8 Marian McPartland was a visitor to the city and was present at
9 the meeting. She stated she was an accomplished pianist and
10 composer and had had an illustrious career. She stated that the
11 concert would be on the following evening in the Concert Hall of
12 the Von Braun Center. She stated that proceeds from the program
13 would go to support jazz education in the schools, sponsored by
14 the Jazz Society.
15 Mayor Spencer presented Ms. McPartland with a key to the
16 city.
17 Ms. McPartland expressed appreciation for the recognition
18 and invited everyone to attend the concert.
19 Ms. Becky Quinn appeared before the Council, stating she was
20 the Vice Chairman of the Alabama State Council on the Arts. She
21 stated that the State Council was certainly delighted that
22 Ms. McPartland was going to be a part of the upcoming event and
23 stated that they certainly appreciated all her efforts for jazz
24 and jazz education.
25 Ms. Quinn stated she would like to express her thanks to
26 Howard Bankhead and the Tennessee Valley Jazz Society. She
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1 stated that Mr. Bankhead was greatly fostering the cultural
2 heritage of jazz for the state, and particularly the city.
3 Mayor Spencer recognized Ms. Connie Graham of the Planning
4 Department. She asked her to explain a special report she had
5 compiled.
6 Ms. Graham stated that the demographic section of the
7 long-range planning division held the responsibility of
8 collecting and communicating statistical data provided by the
9 U.S. Census Bureau. She stated that this data was provided to
10 city and county officials, as well as the Planning Department
11 staff and the public at large. She stated that the data
12 supported an array of projects that were a vital part of
13 improving the quality of life for the community. She stated that
14 an example of this was that the data found in the document and
15 other census tabulations were used in the recent presentation to
16 the Pentagon for the BRAC project. She stated that this was also
17 used in the 2030 Transportation Plan and that the transportation
18 planners also used it for their modeling. She stated that the
19 document included worker, commuter, and household characteristics
20 of Madison County residents. She stated it also included
21 commuting patterns into Madison County from other counties and
22 states and commuting patterns within Madison County. She stated
23 that in compiling this data she had divided Madison County into
24 26 study areas.
25 Ms. Graham stated that they had looked at more than
26 110,000 households in Madison County and had found that less than
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1 six percent of those persons living in Madison County left the
2 county to go to work someplace else. She stated that
3 approximately 48 percent of the households had two or more
4 workers. She stated that she attributed a lot of this to the
5 increase of women in the workforce. She stated that between 1990
6 and 2000 women in the workforce increased by 16 percent. She
7 stated that Madison County workers had a higher educational level
8 as well as a higher-than-average household income than the state
9 or the national average. She stated that the average travel time
10 to work was just over 20 minutes.
11 Ms. Graham stated that Madison County was the third largest
12 county in the state with people who drove in to it from another
13 county to go to work. She stated that in the year 2000 there
14 were approximately 26,000 commuters entering Madison County from
15 adjacent counties to go to work, noting that the largest number
16 of commuters came from Limestone County.
17 Mayor Spencer commended Ms. Graham for the outstanding job
18 she had done on this project.
19 Mayor Spencer stated that the American Red Cross played a
20 tremendous role in the community. Mayor Spencer proceeded to
21 read from the American Red Cross Month Proclamation. She stated
22 there were a variety of things they did and that the
23 Madison-Marshall County Chapter of the American Red Cross had
24 devoted itself to these matters, which included educating
25 individuals, families, schools, and businesses in the community
26 about what they could do at each threat level of the Federal
0009
1 Alert System to strengthen the community's response in the event
2 of future attacks and other disasters. She stated that they had
3 an unparallel record of helping the residents of Huntsville
4 prevent, prepare for, and respond to life-threatening emergencies
5 by delivering relief services to victims of disaster, and
6 offering health and safety training, such as first aid, CPR, and
7 aquatics lifesaving, to more than 9,064 people in the prior year.
8
9 Mayor Spencer stated they had also assisted in providing
10 emergency communication services, participating in international
11 humanitarian projects that saved lives, and collecting 28,281
12 units of blood from 12,010 donors in 2003. She stated that all
13 blood donations were made available through volunteers who
14 generously gave the gift of life to help patients in need. She
15 stated that in the prior two years the face of disaster had
16 changed dramatically, from the 2001 terrorist attacks and the
17 elevated threats of future acts to the armed conflict in
18 Afghanistan and Iraq and the increasing severity of natural
19 disasters, and that the Red Cross understood more than most that
20 America and the residents in Huntsville needed to be better
21 prepared.
22 Mayor Spencer stated that by joining the American Red Cross
23 as a volunteer, as course participants or instructors,
24 contributors or blood donors, persons could help make the
25 Madison-Marshall County community and the nation safer. She
26 stated that in the prior year the Red Cross had responded to
27 209 disasters in Madison and Marshall counties, from home fires
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1 to tornados and floods. She stated that during Red Cross relief
2 operations volunteers assessed damages, drove emergency response
3 vehicles, distributed food and other supplies, provided shelter
4 for families who had been evacuated from their homes, and
5 assisted people in need in various ways. She stated that these
6 invaluable services were provided free of charge, paid for by
7 generous contributions of the American people.
8 Mayor Spencer stated that in order to commemorate these
9 valuable humanitarian services, she was proclaiming March 2004 as
10 "Red Cross Month." She urged all the residents of the community
11 to work through the Madison-Marshall County Chapter of the
12 American Red Cross to help prepare the families in the
13 communities for emergencies. She urged them to continue to give
14 their time, financial contributions, and blood donations to
15 support the mission of this worthy organization to prevent and
16 relieve suffering and to save lives.
17 Mayor Spencer presented a copy of the proclamation to
18 Mr. Rick Cantrell.
19 Mr. Cantrell stated that on behalf of the Board of
20 Directors, the staff, and the more than 3,000 volunteers who
21 carried out the work in the community, they thanked the City for
22 the continued support and recognition of their efforts and their
23 role in trying to prepare Huntsville for the next disaster.
24 President Russell stated that a certificate of appreciation
25 had been presented to Drew Tutt for his service to the Solid
26 Waste Disposal Authority from January 9, 2002, to February 12,
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1 2004.
2 President Russell stated that honorary citizen certificates
3 had been presented to Sgt. Christopher L. Collis, SPC Jowanna A.
4 Crews, PFC John T. Browning, and SPC Tomeko N. Simmons, Soldiers
5 of the Month, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, on February 19, 2004.
6 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was
7 Public Hearings to be Held.
8 President Russell stated that it was the time and place in
9 the meeting for a public hearing on Ordinance No. 04-31,
10 concerning the rezoning of land lying generally along the south
11 side of Holmes Avenue and the west side of Fourteenth Street from
12 Residence 1-A District to Medical District, which was set at the
13 January 22, 2004, Council meeting.
14 President Russell asked Ms. Allen for an explanation of the
15 above matter.
16 Ms. Linda Allen of the Planning Department stated that this
17 was a tract of land of approximately 33 acres which was zoned for
18 single-family use. She stated that it had been a family home for
19 several years. She stated that there was a proposal at this time
20 to convert it to a medical campus and that this was the reason
21 for the request for the rezoning to Medical District. She stated
22 that it abutted to an established residential subdivision and
23 stated that in order to protect this the owners and developers of
24 the new medical campus had offered some restrictions to be placed
25 on the property. She stated that the residential subdivision was
26 on the west side of this property and stated that along that
0012
1 boundary there would be a setback of 50 feet in which there could
2 be no parking and no building. She stated that there would also
3 be a landscape buffer in this area. She stated that along
4 Holmes Avenue there would also be a 50-foot setback for parking
5 and building and that there would be a landscape plan submitted
6 to put along Holmes and part of 14th Street. She stated that
7 there would be a restriction on building heights to 48 feet. She
8 stated that the Medical District allowed a few retail uses, such
9 as drugstores, book shops, florists, et cetera. She stated that
10 these would only be permitted in the development if they were
11 accessory to a permitted use and that they could not take up more
12 than 15 feet of the floor area. She stated that there would not
13 be large free-standing drugstores developed in this area.
14 Ms. Allen stated that another thing that the developers had
15 offered was that College Park Court, which was a street that
16 dead-ended into the subject property, would not be extended, that
17 it would be permanently closed and there would be a T-turnaround
18 put at the end of it in order to permit the garbage trucks and
19 other service vehicles to turn around.
20 President Russell inquired as to whether there was anyone in
21 the audience who wished to speak concerning this matter.
22 Ms. Lisa Irving, 385 College Park Court, appeared before the
23 Council, stating her concern was the use of College Park. She
24 stated she did not want the road open for vehicles to go in and
25 out of the medical facility. She asked that Ms. Allen explain in
26 more detail about the turnaround area, stating she was not real
0013
1 clear on what was meant by this. She stated that they wanted to
2 make sure that persons were not going to be able to drive down
3 their street and go into the facility. She stated that at this
4 time it was an enclosed neighborhood and that the residents would
5 like to keep it that way.
6 Ms. Allen reiterated that the street would be closed, that
7 there would be no access between the residential subdivision and
8 the new, proposed development.
9 Mr. Stan Steadman, 18 Arnett Street, Madison, Alabama,
10 appeared before the Council, stating he and his family had owned
11 some property at the intersection of Holmes Avenue and Jordan
12 Lane for the past 58 years. He stated he had seen some changes
13 go on in this area, noting that some were good and some were bad.
14
15 He stated that Ms. Allen had answered some of the questions he
16 had. He stated he would like to point out, however, that there
17 had been approximately five major floods on his commercial
18 property. He stated he had talked with Mr. Cunningham and
19 Mr. Smith of Smith Engineering; Mr. Campbell, the City
20 hydrologist; and a person from the State Department of
21 Transportation about this matter and that all of them seemed to
22 point the finger at the other guy. He stated that all he knew
23 was that every time development was increased in this area,
24 particularly up on the hill, it increased his problem. He stated
25 he had mentioned this when they had widened Holmes Avenue and
26 Jordan Lane and had been told not to worry, that they were going
27 to take care of the flooding. He stated that in the last
0014
1 conversation he had had with Mr. Campbell, the hydrologist, he
2 had suggested he buy sandbags and pay more property taxes. He
3 stated he did not feel that was an acceptable solution to his
4 problem. He stated he wanted the drainage to be kept in mind
5 when and if the hill by Butler High School was developed, noting
6 that it would surely put more water down on his property. He
7 stated this was the biggest concern he had and that other than he
8 felt the Medical District would be great for the area.
9 President Russell asked if there were someone who could
10 explain the drainage situation.
11 Councilman Kling stated that perhaps Mr. Tommy Battle, one
12 of the persons involved in the project, could respond to this.
13 Mr. Tommy Battle, 1801 Big Cove Road, appeared before the
14 Council, stating he was the project manager for the Comprehensive
15 Cancer Institute which was developing the subject property. He
16 stated he certainly understood the concerns of Mr. Steadman about
17 this matter. He stated that they had had persons doing topo's on
18 the property for approximately three months, to make sure they
19 would not have any off-site drainage coming off. He stated that
20 the Engineering Department would look pretty strongly at them to
21 make sure no more runoff would come off the property after it was
22 developed than did at this time. He stated that they were very
23 cognizant of this fact and that they were also cognizant of the
24 fact that they were doing the lowest density that would be
25 developed in this area. He stated that unless the property were
26 ever developed as single-family, the density would be such that
0015
1 they would have a harder time with the drainage.
2 Mr. Battle stated that their whole thought on this process,
3 in building the campus out there, was that it would be an upgrade
4 for the community. He stated that they wanted to be good
5 neighbors and wanted to work with the residents and owners in any
6 way they could. He stated that the Planning Department had
7 assured they would be the best of neighbors they could be because
8