Highlights from Jacksonville City Council Meeting on May 20th, 2024: Safety Grants, PayScale Adjustments, and City Developments

Jacksonville, AL – The Jacksonville City Council held a regularly scheduled work session and city council meeting on May 20th, 2024.

• Call to order.
• Invocation.
• Pledge of Allegiance.
• Roll call.
  • Tony Taylor – Present
  • Sherry Laster – Present
  • Coty Galloway – Present
  • Andy Green – Present
  • Terry Wilson – Present

• Proclamation. – None

• Work Session:

  • Acceptance of Minutes. – No Comments

  • TAP Grant Application – Matt Hawes, CDG Engineering.

    • The current deadline is May 31st for transpiration alternatives. This grant is up to $800,000 and is a 80/20 split with 80% coming from ALDOT and 20% from the city. Following the pedestrian fatality in November of 2022 ALDOT held a safety study. This plan was also was shown to the public in February. The proposed plan includes a pedestrian warning system and additional buffers for pedestrians. This is the recommended plan from the state and the plan is covered by the TAP funding if the grant is approved. The plan will require the lose of three parking spots as well. If applied for a decision is expect4ed in October of 2024. There would then be 6-9 months of design so no work would begin within the year. The council did note that safety is of vital importance, but they also had to take into account that this a main commerce thoroughfare.

  • City Hall Decoration.

    • Joy Seijo spoke about Scott Skinner and his reputation as a designer. She felt that the city was lucky to even be considered. He sent a proposal for design and notes that the city could scale back. The total proposed cost was listed as $9,544 with a design fee if $1,500. Mr. Skinner also noted he would be willing to utilize local artist. There was a request to add to the agenda for the Mayor to move forward with a design contract. This is does not include
    • City Furniture
      • Patty Wolfe collects a list of all the furniture requests and the total was $20,969.48. These items are listed as needed items. This item will be added under the consent agenda.
  • Mid-Year PayScale Discussion – Albertha Grant.
    • Last year the city made a design to review mid-year to review revenue. There was a projected review of $11 million. Currently $6.5 million has been collected. Based on this year to date and last year the anticipated collection is now projected at $12.5 million. She also compared the city’s pay-scale in the city versus local jobs and determined that the entry pay is not competitive. She proposed doing a five step shift so the lowest pay rate would be $13.38 vs the $11 entry rate now. This would only impact pay steps 1-5. Employees above step five would have receive a one step pay bump. She believes this will help with retention and hiring. She would also like to merge the current four pays scales to one unified pay scale. This will not cause any decrease in pay, but will be simpler for accounting purposes. The total pay increase will add an additional $472,000 a year in the employment budget.

  • Personnel Policies and Procedures Manual – Joy Seijo.

    • The manual has been reviewed several times and numerous changes have been made. She would like to have one more review before submitting for approval on June 10th.

  • City Hall Charging Stations – Mark Stephens.

    • Mr. Stephens noted the stations were up and running roughly two weeks ago. He has seen the stations being used. There has been positive feedback. The price is currently set at 18 cents a kilowatt hour. This isn’t about revenue as much as providing a service. The price is not fixed and can be changed at any time.

  • Multi-Family Development Discussion – Mark Stephens.

    • Mr. Stephens has reviewed how other city’s are handling muti-family influx is impacting infrastructure. He noted that Troy has had a lot of issues and had to adopt new ordinances. There have been many other studies and reports from other cities. Councilman Taylor stressed they were not looking to stop development, but rather to pause and review how these developments can impact the city and what needs to be done. Mr. Stephens noted the most recent development was on D Street and will have 600 parking spaces. He suggested reviewing the Troy ordinance and addressing at the next meeting after review.

  • Any other business.

    • The Mayor mentioned that there were isolated lots and not a lot of room to build. He was concerned that the current requirement on house building needs to be looked at and reviewed to ensure that the current requirements aren’t outdated. These changes will have to go though the planning commission before coming to the council.

• Adoption of minutes. – Unanimously Approved

• Adoption of agenda. – Unanimously Approved with changes
  • Add: Consideration of Resolution No. 8-2211-24 Approving the PayScale Shift in the FY2024 PayScale, Merging of All PayScales into One (1) Regular PayScale, and a Step increase for Eligible Employees of the General Fund and Water Works, Gas, and Sewer board.
  • Add: Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the Professional Services Agreement with STS Decorating and Design Furnishings and Decorating per the provided quote.
  • Add: To the Consent Agenda add under general $20,969.48 to Miller’s Office Furniture for the purchase of additional furniture for New City Hall Offices.

• Public comments concerning agenda. – No Comments

• Public Hearing regarding Vacating an Unimproved Cul-De-Sac at the West End of D Street, SW, as requested by Centennial Homes, LLC. – No Comments

• Consideration of Resolution No. R-2202-24 Vacating Unimproved Cul-De-Sac at the West End of D Street, SW. – Unanimously Approved

• Consideration of Resolution No. R-2207-24 Approving the City of Jacksonville’s Participation in the State of Alabama Sales and Use Tax Holiday as Authorized by Alabama Act No. 2017-120 for the Year 2024. – Unanimously Approved

• Consider action to accept the Bid Report for Bid No. 24-06, Purchase of a Diesel Exhaust System for the Fire Department and approve Resolution No. R-2208-24 to Award Bid No. 24-06 to Safe Air Corporation #1 at a cost of $82,777.00 and authorize the Mayor to sign any necessary documents. – Unanimously Approved

• Consider action to accept the Bid Report for Bid No. 24-08, Purchase of Vehicle for Street Department and approve Resolution No. R-2209-24 to Award Bid No. 24-08 to Larry Puckett Chevrolet at a cost of $147,428.14 and authorize the Mayor to sign any necessary documents. – Unanimously Approved

  • Councilman Green noted that there was a less than that $300 difference with an in county bid and this was less than 2% difference. He wanted to know why the council can’t explore giving preference to Calhoun County businesses when the bids are within 3% of each other. The city attorney said that could be changed to note preferential purchases to a specific location within a small margin of price differences.

• Consideration of Resolution No. 2210-24 in Reference to Authorization for the City of Jacksonville to Make Application to, and to Meet Requirements of, the FY2025 Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside Program (TAP). – Unanimously Approved

• Consideration of Resolution No. 8-2211-24 Approving the PayScale Shift in the FY2024 PayScale, Merging of All PayScales into One (1) Regular PayScale, and a Step increase for Eligible Employees of the General Fund and Water Works, Gas, and Sewer board. – Unanimously Approved

• Consider action to accept the Bid Report for Bid No. 24-09, Landscaping Maintenance at City Hall, noting that No Bids were received. – Unanimously Approved

  • There will be a meeting on Wednesday to discuss this matter.

• Consider action to approve JPWP No. 24-126, Public Safety Complex Pond Pavilion at a cost of $89,963.00. – Unanimously Approved

• Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the Maintenance Contract with Proscape of Alabama, Inc. for Landscaping Services at City Hall. – Unanimously Approved

• Consider action to authorize the Mayor to sign the Professional Services Agreement with STS Decorating and Design Furnishings and Decorating per the provided quote. – Unanimously Approved Unanimously Approved

• Consider action to approve the employment of the following: – Unanimously Approved

  • Dylan Chase DeLoach, Police Officer, Range 18, effective upon compliance with Ordinance No. 273, due to the termination of Dakota Preslee Kelley.

  • Joshua Lamar Shears, Police Officer, Range 18, effective upon compliance with Ordinance No. 273, due to the resignation of Taryn McFarland Ervin.

• Consider action to approve the reclassification of the following: – Unanimously Approved

  • Jordan Tyree, Firefighter/Paramedic, Range 11A, effective May 22, 2024, due to  obtaining Paramedic License.

• Consent Agenda – Unanimously Approved

  • Budget Amendment Requests.

  • Purchases Over $7,500.00

  • Requests to attend Conference/Training Session with Costs Exceeding $1,000.00.

  • Boards/Committees.

• Public comments for general items.

  • Michael Barber, Superintendent for Jacksonville City Schools,  thanked the council for the scholarships provided to graduates. Students have received, at this time, $3.1 million dollars in Scholarships.
  • Chief Keith Kadle- Jacksonville Fire Department thanked all for the commitment for the city employees in voting for the pay enhancement. He believes this will help with recruitment and retaining employees.

• Council Member Remarks.

  • Councilman Green said this was a great week for baseball for the tournaments. He congratulated Alexandria for baseball and golf wins and commended JSU for hosting the tournaments. He also complimented the Cheaha Challenge for a successful event that welcomed people from all over the world. Graduation is coming up and there will be many others coming to Jacksonville.
  • Councilman Wilson noted the police escort for the players that is special for them.
  • Councilman Taylor noted the Mayor received a commendation for his 31 years of service and thanked him for all his work and dedication.
  • Councilwoman Laster shared that she attended a conference in Huntsville and felt it was a great opportunity to learn and they recieved compliments on the city and the council.

• Mayor’s report.

  • The mayor complimented the Cheaha Challenge for a great event.
  • The Fair on the Square has been rescheduled until June 1st.
  • Charity Flag Football game between JPD and JFD the June 15th 9:00 am at Burgess-Snow Stadium.
  • The movie showing has been rescheduled for June 28th.
  • The library is holding their summer reading program.

• Any Other Business. – None

• Consider action to adjourn into an Executive Session under the provision of the Code of Alabama, Section 36-25A-7(a)(7) to discuss matters of Economic Development.  – Unanimously Approved

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