City Council Meeting 6.4.19
Here’s the video from the meeting:
And here’s a recap of some of the items the City Council discussed by the Council:
Item 20
An Ordinance approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute a Funding Agreement with Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission, an agency of the State of Alabama, under which the City will make a first-time appropriation to the Commission in an amount not to exceed $100,000.00 to support the operations of Red Mountain Park, for a term to continue through June 30, 2019 or the appropriation of the City whichever occurs first.
The $100,000 appropriation will go to Red Mountain Park, an Alabama State Agency run by the Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission.
According to the RMP’s Executive Director, T.C. McLemore, the funding will go entirely toward operations and maintenance of the park. The Councilors encouraged Red Mountain Park to work with area schools to develop more youth programming at their facilities for Birmingham City School students.
There is an additional $100,000 that has been proposed for Red Mountain Park in Mayor Woodfin’s Fiscal Year 2019–2020 budget that the Council is currently reviewing.
At the meeting, the Council also voted to appoint District 6 Councilor Crystal Smitherman to the Red Mountain Greenway and Recreational Area Commission. Lawson State Community College President, Dr. Perry Ward, serves as the Mayor’s appointee to the Commission.
Item 22
A Resolution approving and authorizing the Mayor to execute an Agreement between the Jefferson County Committee for Economic Opportunity (JCCEO) and the City of Birmingham, under which the City will pay the JCCEO an amount not to exceed $65,000.00 to act as fiscal agent of the Birmingham Promise Summer 2019 Pilot that will employ twenty (20) youth apprentices (rising seniors at — or recent graduates of Birmingham City Schools) and will partner with Birmingham businesses to provide a work-based learning experience. The JCCEO will (1) act as the employer of record for the apprentices, (2) provide a base pay of $12.00 an hour to the apprentices for 25 hours of work per week over seven weeks, between June 3 and July 26, 2019 and (3) remit a payment of up to $500.00 and possibly additional compensation to each apprentice upon completion of a 3-day orientation and all other requirements.
In the Fiscal Year 2019–2020 City Budget, Mayor Randall Woodfin’s Office has proposed $2 Million Dollars for the “Birmingham Promise” Initiative, an apprenticeship program for juniors and seniors in Birmingham City high schools to work at some of the city’s largest companies. This $65,000 is going toward funding of the seven week summer pilot program, with the JCCEO serving as the fiscal agent for the funding. In addition to the hourly compensation, the students will receive funding for completing learning modules that will further their knowledge and skills in the field they’ll be working in (hence the apprenticeship designation, rather than just an internship).
According to the Mayor’s Office, “more than 45 percent of our students are living in poverty, and only 50 percent of BCS students advance to post-secondary institutions. Birmingham is home to more than 26,000 young people looking for work, a disproportionate share of the nearly 90,000 Jefferson County residents are unemployed or underemployed.
To change these statistics, we are forming the Birmingham Promise: a public-private partnership designed to transform the future of Birmingham’s workforce and re-engineer the architecture of opportunity for Birmingham’s youth.” For more information on the initiative, please visit https://www.birminghamal.gov/promise
Item 23
A Resolution amending Resolution №1061–18, adopted May 15, 2018, under which the Council authorized the Mayor to execute all documents as are appropriate and necessary for the City to comply with the grant terms with Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA), under the Healthy Food Financing Program, to accept and expend the grant award in the amount of $50,000.00, to be used to assist in expanding access to fresh produce and other nutritious foods in underserved communities, with the City being accountable for providing the grant payment match in the amount of $50,000.00, to approve the City’s payment of an additional sum of $50,000.00 for implementation of the Birmingham Central Market, a Farmer’s Market style food supply, through an agreement with Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority (BJCTA), said Birmingham Central Market to be located at the Birmingham BJCTA Intermodal as an effective and economically sustainable solution to the problem of limited healthy foods in Birmingham communities.
The Birmingham City Council voted to appropriate the $50,000 of funding toward the development of an open air farmers market at the downtown intermodal facility. The Council had previously pproved a funding match of $50,000 for a Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) grant that was received through the Alabama Department of Economics and Community Affairs for this project. The goal is to have a centralized location for all of Birmingham’s bus ridership to be able to shop. Since 2011, over $220 million has been distributed through HFFI, bringing jobs, economic development and healthy food access to lower-income communities across the country, according to the Center for Healthy Food Access. According to the supporting documents, the market will be open year-round and the city will be engaging with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to allow for the use of EBT cards to buy fresh fruits and vegetables.
Full Agenda
Upcoming Meetings
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
9:00 a.m. — Park Board Meeting — Maxine Herring Board Room, Legion Field, 400 Graymont Avenue West
Thursday, June 6, 2019
2:30 p.m. — Agenda Meeting — Conference Room “A”
Sunday, June 9, 2019
6:00 p.m. — 9:00 p.m. — Jazz In The Park — Arlington Antebellum Home & Gardens, 331 Cotton Avenue SW
Monday, June 10, 2019
3:30 p.m. — Joint Budget and Finance Committee and Special Called Committee of the Whole Meeting — Conference Rooms “D & E”
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
9:00 a.m. — Pre-Council Meeting — City Council Chambers; 9:30 a.m. — Council Meeting — City Council Chambers
3:00 p.m. — Joint Economic Development Committee and Special Called Committee of the Whole Meeting — Conference Rooms “D & E”
Wednesday, June 12, 2019
8:30 a.m. — Joint Planning and Zoning Committee and Special Called Committee of the Whole Meeting — 5th Floor Conference Rooms
Thursday, June 13, 2019
2:30 p.m. — Agenda Meeting — Conference Room “A”
Saturday, June 15, 2019
8:00 a.m. — 8th Annual Man Up Breakfast — Birmingham CrossPlex, 2337 Bessemer Road — Councilor Steven W. Hoyt, District 8
