Minutes 2014-10-071
PRATTVILLE CITY COUNCIL
CITY COUNCIL MINUTES
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2014
6:02 P.M.
The Prattville City Council met in regular session on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, at 6:02 p.m. in
the Council Chambers at City Hall. After the Pledge of Allegiance to the American Flag,
Councilor Chambliss gave the invocation. Roll was called and all were recorded as being
present.
THE CHARACTER TRAIT OF THE MONTH IS LOYALTY: Using difficult times to
demonstrate my commitment to those I serve.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting and Public Hearing September 17, 2014.
Councilor Boles made a motion to adopt the minutes and Councilor Starnes seconded the
motion. With no discussion, the minutes were adopted (7-0).
COMMENTS FROM PERSONS PRESENT REGARDING TONIGHT’S AGENDA:
None
MAYOR’S REPORT:
Mayor Gillespie presented the State of the City Address (attached).
REPORT FROM COUNCIL ON SPECIAL COMMITTEES:
Councilor President Pro Tempore Striplin reported that the Sanitation Committee met on
October 6, 2014. A two-step implementation process will be utilized to address needed route
changes for both household garbage and yard debris. Changes will begin with household
garbage pick-up schedules in an effort to equalize the number of stops per route.
Approximately 800 households will be impacted by the initial change. The City is taking a
pro-active approach in notifying those customers impacted by the change prior to the mid-
November implementation date. The second step will involve a re-alignment of yard debris
pickup routes and schedules. The City has been divided into five areas and each day of the
week, the entire fleet of trucks and personnel will concentrate in one area. Maximizing efforts
in a focused area is expected to make neighborhood pick-ups and trips to the dump more
efficient and cost effective. Changes to yard debris routes and schedules are expected to take
place in mid-February 2015. Efforts will be made in January to inform the entire City of the
proposed changes to yard debris routes and schedules. With these changes, the Sanitation
Committee believes customer service to citizens will be improved and employee morale in the
department will be boosted.
CONSENT AGENDA:
1. RESOLUTION: To Declare Various Weeded Lots to be a Public Nuisance and Ordering
Their Abatement per Title 11, Chapter 67 of the Code of Alabama, 1975, as Amended.
(Sponsored By: Councilor Chambliss)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 150
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2. RESOLUTION: To Set a Public Hearing to Declare Various Weeded Lots to be a Public
Nuisance and Ordering Their Abatement per Title 11, Chapter 67 of the Code of Alabama,
1975, as Amended. (Sponsored By: Councilor Chambliss)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 151
3. RESOLUTION: To Re-Appoint Leo Jamieson to the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
(Sponsored By: Council President Wood)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 152
4. RESOLUTION: To Re-Appoint James E. Miles to the Board of Zoning Adjustment.
(Sponsored By: Council President Wood)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 153
5. RESOLUTION: To Re-Appoint Allen Moates to the Industrial Development Board.
(Sponsored By: Council President Pro Tempore Striplin)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 154
6. RESOLUTION: To Re-Appoint Richard M. Dorsey to the Industrial Development Board.
(Sponsored By: Councilor Boone)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 155
7. RESOLUTION: To Authorize the Mayor to Sign Contracts for Services for Community
Initiatives and City-County Services as Allocated in the FY2014-2015 Budget. (Sponsored By:
Council President Wood)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 156
Councilor Boone made a motion to place Items #1-7 on a Consent Agenda and Council
President Pro Tempore Striplin seconded the motion. The Consent Agenda was accepted (7-
0). Councilor Brown made a motion to adopt the Consent Agenda and Councilor Starnes
seconded the motion. There being no discussion, the Consent Agenda was adopted with the
following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
AGENDA:
1. RESOLUTION: To Appoint Department Heads. (Sponsored By: Council President Wood)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 157
Council President Pro Tempore Striplin made a motion to adopt the Resolution and Councilor
Boles seconded the motion. There being no discussion, the Resolution was adopted with the
following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
3
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
2. RESOLUTION: To Release Funds for the Purchase of One (1) 2015 Chevrolet Tahoe PPV
and One (1) Chevrolet Tahoe 4WD SSV from Donohoo Chevrolet through State Contract
T191L for the Fire Department at a Cost Not to Exceed $59,919.20. (Sponsored By: Councilor
Boles)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 158
Councilor Boles made a motion to adopt the Resolution and Councilor Chambliss seconded
the motion. There being no discussion, the Resolution was adopted with the following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
3. RESOLUTION: To Release Funds for the Purchase of One (1) Kenworth T370 with
PacMac KBF-222 Knuckle Boom Loader from National Auto Fleet Group through NJPA
Purchasing Cooperative Contract #102811-NAF for the Sanitation Department at a Cost Not
to Exceed $163,383.00. (Sponsored By: Council President Pro Tempore Striplin)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 159
Council President Pro Tempore Striplin made a motion to adopt the Resolution and Councilor
Brown seconded the motion. There being no discussion, the Resolution was adopted with the
following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
4. RESOLUTION: To Authorize the Mayor to Submit a Notice of Intent to Obtain a MS4
NPDES Permit to the Alabama Department of Environmental Management. (Sponsored By:
Councilor Brown)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 160
Councilor Brown made a motion to adopt the Resolution and Councilor Boone seconded the
motion. There being no discussion, the Resolution was adopted with the following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
4
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
5. ORDINANCE: To Amend City of Prattville Code, Chapter 105, Buildings and Building
Regulations, Article I. In General, Section 105-2. (Sponsored By: Councilor Boles)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 032
Councilor Boles made a motion to adopt the Ordinance and Council President Pro Tempore
Striplin seconded the motion. By point of order, it is necessary that the council rules be
suspended if immediate action is to be considered. Councilor Chambliss made a motion to
suspend the rules and Councilor Starnes seconded the motion. The rules were suspended (7-
0). There being no discussion, the Ordinance was adopted with the following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
6. ORDINANCE: To Amend City Code, Chapter 101, General and Administrative Provisions,
Article III. Planning and Development Department, Sections 101-57 through 101-61.
(Sponsored By: Council President Wood)
RESOLUTION BOOK 2014-B, PAGE 033
Councilor Brown made a motion to adopt the Ordinance and Council President Pro Tempore
Striplin seconded the motion. By point of order, it is necessary that the council rules be
suspended if immediate action is to be considered. Councilor Boles made a motion to suspend
the rules and Councilor Boone seconded the motion. The rules were suspended (7-0). There
being no discussion, the Ordinance was adopted with the following results:
AYES : STRIPLIN, BROWN, STARNES,
WOOD, CHAMBLISS, BOLES,
BOONE 7
NAYS : NONE 0
ABSTAINED : NONE 0
ABSENT : NONE
COMMENTS FROM PERSONS PRESENT:
Council President Wood recognized Past Council President Michael Renegar. Mr. Renegar
complimented the Council for decisions made, including the Field of Dreams in conjunction
with the YMCA, the downtown summer concert events, and bringing the LPGA back to
Prattville. Mr. Renegar further commended the Council for working in cooperation with the
Autauga County Commission and the Autauga County Board of Education to retain
businesses in Autauga County. The City has managed to pay down debt while increasing
reserves and improving infrastructure. Mr. Renegar thanked the employees of the City of
Prattville for their efforts and encouraged the City Council to keep up the good work.
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CLOSING COMMENTS:
Mayor Gillespie thanked the Council and City employees for their hard work. The Mayor
thanked the Council for including COLA and merit raises in the budget and for approval of
the change in holidays. The change in holidays will allow the City to function more effectively.
Boles encouraged Council members and department heads to purchase Breast Cancer
Awareness t-shirts through the Fire Department.
Council President Wood thanked all those attending the meeting. Council President Wood
thanked the Council and all city employees for their hard work, and thanked the citizens for
their support and for buying local. Council President Wood thanked the Mayor for the
encouraging State of the City report. Council President Wood noted that some cities are laying
employees off and encouraged the Mayor, Finance Director, and Council to stay diligent and
watch for trends in order to allow the City to fulfill the budget and all obligations.
ADJOURN:
There being no further business to come before the council, Councilor Starnes made a motion
to adjourn and Councilor Boles seconded the motion. The meeting adjourned (7-0) at 6:35
p.m.
APPROVED:
___________________________
Cathy Dickerson
City Clerk
___________________________
Willie L. Wood, Jr., President
Prattville City Council
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STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
Councilors,
I'd like to share the state of the city now that 2014 is behind us and our 2015 budget has been passed.
As we have promoted in the past month, Daniel Pratt established the City of Prattville 175 years ago. Would he
have or could he have ever thought that Prattville would be what we are today?
Today, I would like to talk about the condition of our great City and our Partners of Prattville. Here is some
information about us. Prattville is home to approximately 35,000 people. Approximately 38% of our population
is associated with the military. Almost 40% of the Officers at Maxwell that reside off base live in the Preferred
Fountain City. I'm proud to say that Prattville has a very healthy relationship with Maxwell/Gunter. The
Maxwell connection has a significant role in Prattville's local economy.
The Board of Education is the largest governmental employer in Autauga County. International Paper is our
next largest employer in Autauga County. Working with and through the Chamber of Commerce, we have a
healthy relationship with the Autauga County Commission and our small businesses. I share this information
with you to say that our Partnerships with Governmental Agencies along with small and large businesses, and
with numerous others, are doing well.
Our Budget has grown and the City's role has changed since Daniel Pratt. Our role has grown and one of the
reasons is because of the many new opportunities available to us. Being centrally located in the state and just
minutes from Maxwell, we offer travelers and residents choices and options to eat in Prattville, hotels in which
to stay while in Prattville, and many shopping choices here whether it's uptown or historic downtown.
Outdoor enthusiasts can be accommodated here as well. With our RTJ Golf Course at Capitol Hill and the
recently returned LPGA Tournament, golf enthusiasts converged to watch the best women golfers in the
world. With Autauga Creek literally in our backyard, canoers, kayakers and nature lovers have partaken of this
vital resource, the reason Daniel Pratt settled in this location, in larger numbers than we've ever seen. We all
know how important those tourism and shopping dollars are to our economy. All of these, plus so many other
reasons, are why people have decided to live in or visit our hometown. Our role has changed; our
infrastructure has changed over the last 175 years.
Our City's infrastructure has evolved since Mr. Pratt laid down wooden planks on what is now known as Maple
Street. We recently paved Wetumpka Street, Cobbs Ford Road, and Sheila Boulevard and now have multiple
paving projects going on such as Memorial Highway, Highway 82 and 6th Street, and many to follow such as
Court Street, which was previously known as Factory Street. Paving dollars are shrinking, so we are looking for
creative ways to keep the momentum of our paving projects moving forward.
Recent sidewalk repair projects, and new sidewalks being poured for safety, contribute to the healthy lifestyles
of our Citizens.
We have storm drainage pipes being laid to increase our curb appeal and also to help reduce our operating
costs.
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We are a mechanized service oriented organization. By reducing man hours on weed eating ditches and
moving towards mechanized cutting equipment, we will make them not only more efficient, but also more
effective in their roles, thus enabling them to work smarter not harder.
Our environmental works departments are becoming more and more efficient, effective, and ever evolving in
accomplishing their roles. The Enterprise Fund Accounts are proving to be a significant game changer for these
departments when you couple them with the newly formed Public Works Department and the Director's
position. I'm very confident that if our Environmental Works Departments continue to evolve and progress like
they have, then they are poised for success, not only for 2015, but also for the next 175 years.
Our Public Safety Departments not only protect us, but also educate us. Their calls to our citizens have
increased. Their training is paying off in this community. We are a very safe, small town America. That comes
from several things. Our Fire Department has many roles to insure the safety of this City. They not only train
themselves, but school children, businesses and builders on everything from how to prevent fires to how to
put out fires, and also the dos and don'ts of building by code. All of this is done in the public's interest of a safe
community.
The Police Department's training and schooling also extends to the public through School Relations and in
cooperation with churches and other organizations. The Police Firearms Safety class and the Fire and Police
Citizens Academy are just some of their public relations tools. They reach out not only to our youth, our future
leaders, but also to our seniors, our pillars of progress.
Public Safety, in conjunction with Parks and Rec, recently proved to our youth how important it is to stay active
during the World Wide Day of Play event. Our Parks and Recreation is doing well with improvements while
planning for the future. The recent hotel room fee that is dedicated to Parks and Rec Capital Projects is
enabling them to do some of this planning. That account has grown to just over 300,000 dollars and growing
for future upgrades. Prattville is utilizing our parks and our programs. We became America's Favorite Park in
the summer of 2012 and the community loves the splash pad and our other park attractions.
These items cover just a few things that we offer our citizens and our visitors.
In General Government, our Human Resources Department has done a great job making certain that not only
do we have great benefits for our employees, but also that costs are kept down. Managing healthcare costs,
benefits, and maintaining documents are just a few of the vital functions of this very important department.
HR helps all of the departments with our human infrastructure. Not to be corny, but without our "human
resources", we simply could not provide our community the services to which our residents are accustomed.
Our equipment resources have to be managed efficiently and that is done through our City Clerk's office in
conjunction with our department heads. Our City Clerk worked diligently with department heads to establish
an asset management system this past year. This department is also working hard to update our Boards and
Committees with our City Planner and also, to update some of our ordinances in order to reflect current
practices.
Downtown is doing well. Daniel Pratt would be impressed with the shopping, eateries, the curb appeal and
preservation of history recently noted with the refurbishment of the Musgrove fountain.
Our financial footprint is such that in a recent trip to NYC, Standard and Poor's upgraded us from an A- three
years ago to our current standing at today's AA- rating. One firm commented that it appeared that we are on
the cutting edge when it comes to full disclosure of our financial standing, records, and debt information
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online. With the continued reduction of debt and the recent credit rating upgrade, the City stands poised to
pay off another block of debt on November 1st.
Working with our Finance Director and City Council, our budgetary process is about checks and balances and
not spending more than you collect. Our department heads have become very accustomed to strategically
planning for the year's business in the best interest of their respective departments and our community's
needs.
Please be reminded that as a municipality, infrastructure and equipment needs will dictate future spending
habits. There is good debt and bad debt. We have shown you that we are working hard to be good stewards of
taxpayer dollars and we will continue that trend. Maintaining the health of our infrastructure should never be
considered bad debt.
Our department heads' ability to trim costs coupled with our financial health, our employees will receive merit
and cost of living increases in this coming year. Thank you, City Councilors, for passing those items in our 2015
budget. Thank you, also, Councilors for your work through Council Committees and your strong commitment
to this community and to moving this great city forward and helping make this raise possible.
Economic Development is a team effort. One of the roles of this municipality is to create an environment for
private enterprise to flourish alongside a governmental partner. Those partners are the Board of Education,
County Government, the Chamber of Commerce, and City Government consisting of Public Safety, Public
Works, General Government, and Quality of Life. All of these components are vital in the economic
development spoke, hub and wheel concept. When we are able to couple all of these with private enterprise,
clergy, and the work ethic that Daniel Pratt has instilled in this community, economic development thrives. The
City of Prattville has several economic development projects in the works at this time and hopefully, they will
come to fruition in the near future.
I want to leave you with one of my favorite personal sayings: The perception of this city is viewed considerably
through each of us, and our Southern Hospitality. The City of Prattville has grown considerably over the last 20
years and I believe that is because we still offer "Mayberry" to our residents and visitors alike. I believe that's a
good thing.
I never anticipated that our financial health would be this far along in just 3 years and 8 months. No one
person can do everything. It takes all of us working together to achieve greatness. Thank you to the Citizens of
Prattville, City employees, Department Heads, and the City Council for your support, dedication, sacrifice, and
hard work for this community.
In closing, the state of our city is outstanding and we intend to stay this course in order to realize a prosperous
future for our youth, my grandchildren-to-be and yours.
Thank you. I look forward to a successful 2015 with all of you!
Bill Gillespie, Jr.
Mayor, City of Prattville