1 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
2 OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA,
3 HELD MARCH 11, 2004
4
5 The Honorable Council of the City of Huntsville, Alabama,
6 met in regular session on March 11, 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. Dr. Annas
16 Aytch of Covenant Ministries Church led the invocation;
17 Councilman Watson led the pledge of allegiance.
18 The minutes of the regular meeting of the Council on
19 February 26, 2004, were approved as submitted.
20 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was
21 Resolutions and Special Recognitions.
22 Mayor Spencer recognized Chief Compton Owens.
23 Chief Owens recognized various police officers assigned to
24 the North Precinct, stating that they were doing some of the most
25 innovative police work in the city, much of which was being
26 emulated throughout the city. He stated that their efforts were
27 the fruition of a vision that everyone had shared seven years
28 prior to take community policing to another level. He stated
29 that this was government working together in all aspects and all
30 facets with the community to make all parts of Huntsville a
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1 better and a safer place to live.
2 Mayor Spencer and Chief Owens presented a plaque to the
3 North Precinct, expressing their appreciation for the exemplary
4 service the men and women of this precinct rendered to the
5 community.
6 Chief Owens recognized Officer Michael Powell as the Officer
7 of the Year. He stated that Officer Powell was a DUI officer and
8 one of the hardest working employees in his department. He
9 stated that he had also been instrumental in the innovative work
10 of the North Precinct. He stated that Officer Powell had one of
11 the highest averages for DUI arrests throughout the state of
12 Alabama, with more than 100 arrests per year. He stated that
13 through December 17, 2003, he had made 181 DUI arrests, along
14 with several other arrests. He expressed appreciation to
15 Officer Powell for his outstanding service.
16 Chief Owens presented Officer Powell with a certificate
17 recognizing him as the Officer of the Year, along with a ribbon
18 and a plaque.
19 Chief Owens recognized Sgt. Jim Winn as the Supervisor of
20 the Year. He stated that Sgt. Winn was the Strategic Counterdrug
21 Team Commander. He stated that this was a very unique
22 collaborative effort among the Huntsville Police Department and
23 six other law-enforcement agencies, with 18 investigators in
24 total, who the prior year had made 800 cases and 400 arrests. He
25
26 stated that they were an incredible group of people and that they
27 had had an incredible leader. He stated that Sgt. Winn had
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1 literally knitted the team together and brought all the players
2 together, had written the grant through ADECA, and had had the
3 opportunity and capitalized on it to obtain some Federal funds.
4 He stated that Sgt. Winn had brought the personnel and the
5 resources together to do some things in the community that truly
6 were making a difference, that this team was doing a phenomenal
7 job of interdicting drugs at all levels, from the street level to
8 the mid- and high-level dealers.
9 Chief Owens presented Sgt. Winn with a certificate
10 recognizing him as the Supervisor of the Year, along with a
11 ribbon and a plaque.
12 Mayor Spencer recognized Ms. Joy McKee, Director of
13 Operation Green Team.
14 Ms. McKee stated that they had recently attended the State
15 Arbor Day planting, noting that Matthew Ponzo had been the
16 first-place winner. She stated that several persons had
17 attended, including Mayor Spencer and representatives of the Tree
18 Commission, the school system, and Operation Green Team board
19 members. She stated that it had been a very special event.
20 Ms. McKee recognized various students who had placed in the
21 Arbor Day contest and their teachers. She also recognized the
22 parents of the students.
23 Ms. Martha Jo Smith of the Tree Commission stated that each
24 child would have a tree planted in their honor at their
25 respective schools.
26 Ms. Smith stated that these young people, by their efforts
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1 and their artwork, had helped the city keep its tree city
2 certification. She thanked the students for their efforts in
3 this regard.
4 Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution
5 congratulating S.R. Butler High School on their 2004 5A State
6 Basketball Championship, as follows:
7 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-168)
8 Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing
9 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Watson,
10 and was unanimously adopted.
11 Councilman Kling presented copies of the resolution to the
12 coach, the coaching staff members, and members of the team,
13 expressing the support of the city for this outstanding program.
14 Councilman Showers read and introduced a resolution in
15 recognition of former J.O. Johnson High School student Rashad
16 Moore of the Seattle Seahawks for his participation in
17 Honors Day, sponsored by the J.O. Johnson Athletic Department and
18 the Huntsville Boys and Girls Club, Inc., at the J.O. Johnson
19 High School Auditorium, on March 12, 2004, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., as
20 follows:
21 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-169)
22 Councilman Showers moved for approval of the foregoing
23 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Kling,
24 and was unanimously adopted.
25 Councilman Showers stated that the following day was Honors
26 Day at Johnson High School and stated that the ceremony would
0005
1 include, among many other things, Rashad Moore, who had been a
2 student at Johnson High School, and who had now distinguished
3 himself both as a basketball player and a football player. He
4 stated that he would be presenting the resolution at the event on
5 the following day.
6 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was
7 Business with Outside Legal Representation.
8 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was a
9 decision on the personnel hearing for City employee Lee Neal
10 which had been held on March 4, 2004.
11 President Russell moved to uphold the decision of the
12 Personnel Committee in the matter of Lee Neal, which motion was
13 duly seconded by Councilwoman Moon.
14 President Russell called for the vote on the above motion,
15 and it was unanimously approved.
16 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was
17 Public Hearings to be Set.
18 Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution to set a
19 public hearing on an ordinance to rezone land lying generally on
20 the south side of Martin Road and west of Zierdt Road from
21 Neighborhood Business C-1 District and Residence 2-B District to
22 Residence 2-A District, on April 22, 2004, as follows:
23 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-170)
24 Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing
25 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Watson,
26 and was unanimously adopted.
0006
1 Councilman Kling read and introduced Ordinance No. 04-171
2 concerning the rezoning of land lying generally on the south side
3 of Martin Road and west of Zierdt Road from Neighborhood Business
4 C-1 District and Residence 2-B District to Residence 2-A
5 District.
6 Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution to set a
7 public hearing on the zoning of newly annexed land lying
8 generally west of Jeff Road and north of Christopher Drive to
9 Residence 2-A District, on April 22, 2004, as follows:
10 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-172)
11 Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing
12 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Watson,
13 and was unanimously adopted.
14 Councilman Kling read and introduced Ordinance No. 04-173
15 concerning the zoning of newly annexed land lying generally west
16 of Jeff Road and north of Christopher Drive to Residence 2-A
17 District.
18 Councilwoman Moon read and introduced a resolution to set a
19 public hearing on an ordinance to rezone land lying generally
20 north of U.S. Highway 72 East and west of Ryland Pike from
21 Residence 2-A District to Highway C-4 District, on April 22,
22 2004, as follows:
23 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-174)
24 Councilwoman Moon moved for approval of the foregoing
25 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Watson,
26 and was unanimously adopted.
0007
1 Councilwoman Moon read and introduced Ordinance No. 04-175,
2 concerning the rezoning of land lying generally north of U.S.
3 Highway 72 East and west of Ryland Pike from Residence 2-A
4 District to Highway C-4 District.
5 Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution to set a
6 public hearing on an ordinance to rezone land lying generally
7 south of McJohn Street, east of Baywood Drive and south of
8 Johnson Road, from Residence 2-B District to Heavy Industry
9 District, on April 22, 2004, as follows:
10 (RESOLUTION NO. 04-176)
11 Councilman Kling moved for approval of the foregoing
12 resolution, which motion was duly seconded by Councilman Watson,
13 and was unanimously adopted.
14 Councilman Kling read and introduced Ordinance No. 04-177
15 concerning the zoning of land lying generally south of McJohn
16 Street, east of Baywood Drive and south of Johnson Road, from
17 Residence 2-B District to Heavy Industry District.
18 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was
19 Communications from the Public.
20 Ms. Jackie Reed, 303 Jack Coleman, appeared before the
21 Council, expressing appreciation to the Council for having
22 recognized special employees of the City earlier in the meeting.
23 She stated she felt this was good for the morale of City
24 employees.
25 Ms. Reed congratulated her daughter and five other employees
26 of Teledyne Brown Engineering for having been presented the
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1 "Silver Snoopy" award at Teledyne Brown. She stated that only
2 one percent of employees were given this NASA contract award.
3 Ms. Reed stated that the tractor trailer that she had
4 brought up at the prior two Council meetings was still sitting on
5 Ivy Street. She asked that someone see that it was removed.
6 Ms. Reed stated she had been informed that several calls had
7 been made from 104 Drake Avenue requesting the City to finish the
8 things that had not been completed since the new road had been
9 put in. She stated that she had the person's phone number and
10 that she would be happy to furnish it.
11 Ms. Reed stated that in a recent issue of "The Huntsville
12 Times" there had been an article concerning what was proposed to
13 be done in the downtown area. She stated that when she had
14 mentioned the term "riverwalk," at a work session of the Council,
15 she had been told that no one had ever heard of a riverwalk but
16 noted that this had been in this issue of the newspaper. She
17 stated that she simply wanted the Council and the Administration
18 to be honest with the public.
19 Ms. Reed noted that $7 million had been pinpointed for
20 resurfacing projects, noting that only $3.5 million had been
21 spent for the prior two years before the current year. She
22 stated that she felt this was good but questioned if election
23 year could have something to do with this. She stated that
24 election year was really every day, 365 days a year.
25 Mr. James Henley, 13107 Chaney Thompson Road, appeared
26 before the Council, stating he was appearing on behalf of the
0009
1 Huntsville Jaycees to advise the Council that the Jaycees felt
2 the Council and the Mayor were doing a wonderful job. He stated
3 the city looked better than he had ever seen it, noting that he
4 had lived in the city all his life.
5 Mr. Henley stated that the Jaycees would like to request
6 that the road leading to the Jaycee Building at the fairgrounds
7 be designated as "Jaycee Way." He stated that they sometimes had
8 difficulty communicating the directions to the Jaycee Building
9 and stated that they felt this naming would be helpful to direct
10 the public to different events at this location.
11 Councilman Kling stated he felt all the Council members were
12 aware of the good job the Jaycees did as far as projects to
13 benefit the community. He stated he felt there was some merit in
14 the request, noting that the Jaycees had constructed the Jaycee
15 Building and that it had been used for various events. He stated
16 that as he understood it, this action would have to go through
17 the Planning Commission but stated that if there were a consensus
18 among the Council to support this, perhaps they could refer the
19 matter to the Planning Commission with the unofficial blessing of
20 the Council.
21 Mr. Joffrion stated he was not sure the road was an actual
22 right-of-way, that it could just be the designation of a public
23 area. He stated, however, that referring the matter to the
24 Planning Commission would be appropriate.
25 Councilman Kling moved that (1) the Council go on record as
26 supporting the road, or public area, being designated as "Jaycee
0010
1 Way," and (2) that the matter be referred to the Planning
2 Commission.
3 The above motion was duly seconded by Councilman Watson.
4 President Russell called for the vote on the above motion,
5 and it was unanimously approved.
6 Mr. Henley thanked the Council for its action.
7 Dr. Sandra Lance appeared before the Council, stating that
8 she had been born in Huntsville and that her maiden name was
9 "Marks," and that her telephone number was 881-0667. She stated
10 that the events that she was about to inform the Council of had
11 rendered her homeless in the city.
12 Dr. Lance stated that she had appeared before the Council on
13 January 22, 2003, regarding the City's policy of requiring a
14 single person to have a permit from the Police Chief to exercise
15 the constitutional right to free speech. She stated that
16 Councilwoman Moon had been kind enough to meet with her the week
17 after that and that they had met with the City Attorney and she
18 had been assured there was a statute that would require this.
19 Dr. Lance stated that the event had transpired when she had
20 been sitting outside a member of the Huntsville-Madison County
21 Bar Association's office, looking for her phone number, in an
22 attempt to make an appointment with her to discuss the fact that
23 she had gotten her mentally disabled sister to agree to give the
24 Court Administrator about five to fifty thousand dollars of their
25 inheritance irrationally. She stated that on or about February
26 4th there had been a hearing in the Probate Court where Probate
0011
1 Judge Tommy Ragland had violated a variety of laws and the Court
2 Administrator had threatened to have her arrested if she went
3 back into the house that had been in her family since it had been
4 built in 1958.
5 Dr. Lance stated that she had read the law by this time
6 because she had not been able to find an attorney anywhere to
7 help her because she had been politically active in Georgia,
8 reading bills being made into law since 1990. She stated that
9 she had discovered that the Court Administrator had not had any
10 right to be at that meeting, that he did not have the right to be
11 the administrator, and that he did not have any right to threaten
12 to have her arrested and thrown out in the street if she went
13 back into her property, and that she was legally entitled to
14 administration.
15 Dr. Lance stated that she had read the laws and had figured
16 out how to file for her own letters of administration and had
17 done so on March 6. She stated that she had not received a call
18 advising her how much bond she needed to get and she did not get
19 her letters of administration. She stated that she was faxing
20 Judge Ragland and asking him things such as how many commitments
21 he was signing, et cetera. She stated she had wanted to
22 investigate whether the Court Administrator was being awarded
23 illegal commissions on the sale of real estate because the house
24 was supposed to be in her name by the end of the year, noting she
25 was planning on using it for Rocket City Chiropractic Clinic, for
26 which she had purchased a license on March 28, 2002. She stated
0012
1 that they had tried to sell it to the appraiser and then to the
2 realtor and stated that she had lost five weeks of work keeping
3 them from selling the property.
4 Dr. Lance stated that the bottom line was that instead of
5 giving her her letters of administration, Judge Ragland had
6 invoked a mental health officer and two armed Huntsville police
7 officers to come in her bedroom window a year prior and advise
8 her she was suicidal and needed to go to a psychiatric
9 institution, that she needed medication. She stated that on the
10 next day she had been told by a sergeant with the Police
11 Department that commitment papers had been signed and that she
12 could get her things ready and turn herself in or the County
13 would come and get her. She stated that this was how
14 Judge Ragland had gotten her out of the house.
15 Dr. Lance stated that that morning she had asked for a
16 reservation form and that she had never gotten a response. She
17 stated that in fact she had asked for a reservation form several
18 times and had not gotten any response. She stated that she had
19 spent 20 hours in the current week sending things over to
20 Chief Owens. She stated that she had never gotten any response.
21 She stated that she had contacted several police personnel, up to
22 Chief Owens, and had never received any response.
23 Dr. Lance stated that she was changing her location to in
24 front of Clarice Ragland's Chiropractic Care Center, where
25 Judge Ragland was an employee, according to the Alabama Ethics
26 Commission, earning over $10,000 a year, and did not want her
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1 moving into town and competing with his business and against him
2 in the next election. She stated she had asked for a copy of the
3 ordinance to know what could be invoked against her if she went
4 out there without getting permission from the Chief of Police.
5 President Russell stated the next item on the agenda was
6 Huntsville Utilities Items.
7 Councilman Kling read and introduced a resolution
8 authorizing purchase of a new 50,000 GVWR Cab and Chassis to
9