Latest news with #TrussvilleCityCouncil
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Alan Taylor withdraws from Trussville City Council race
TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — City Councilman Alan Taylor has withdrawn from the Trussville City Council race, according to an announcement sent to the Tribune and shared on social media. He was the most experienced candidate in the race with 13 years of service to the city. 'After much prayerful consideration, I have decided not to seek reelection to the Trussville City Council,' Taylor said. 'It has been one of the greatest honors of my life to serve this community over the past 13 years.' Taylor had originally not planned to seek re-election for a fourth term. But with the loss of an experienced mayor in Buddy Choat and longserving City Councilor Perry Cook, many people in the community urged him to seek one more term and he relented. With more time to reflect, he decided it was time to step away. 'This decision did not come easily,' he said. 'However, I believe this is the right time for me to step back and focus on other priorities. Some of my grandchildren live out of state, and I want to spend more time with them. Family is a gift, and I intend to be more present in their lives. In addition, I remain committed to serving at First Baptist Church Trussville as we move forward with our new building project. This is an exciting time for our church, and I want to be fully available to help see it through.' Trussville moves closer to implementing garbage fees, council discusses ways to alleviate costs Taylor reflected on the accomplishments of the city during his tenure which included creating a downtown where empty and dilapidated buildings once stood. Trussville residents had longed for a vibrant downtown area with flourishing business, restaurants and activities. After decades of promises and disappointments, the Trussville Entertainment District became a reality in Taylor's second term on city council and Choat's first term as mayor. 'I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together, particularly the tremendous growth of our city and the continued success of our schools,' he said. 'Trussville has become a place where families thrive, and I am deeply grateful to have played a small part in helping shape its future. It has also been a true honor to work alongside Mayor Buddy Choat and my fellow members of the City Council.' While it is challenging to work through differences of opinion to reach a consensus, it was an aspect of serving that Taylor enjoyed. 'We may not have always agreed on every issue, but we have always shared a common goal: to do what is best for the people of Trussville,' he said. Taylor expressed gratitude for for the city workers who he called 'dedicated and hardworking.' He expressed gratitude to the people of Trussville and said, 'Thank you for the opportunity to serve, for your trust, and for your partnership over the years. I will always be an advocate for this city and the wonderful people who call it home.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trussville City Council to consider selling Glendale Farms
The following article is by Chris Basinger, news editor of the Trussville Tribune: TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — The Trussville City Council is expected to consider selling the Glendale Farms property during its next meeting on Thursday, May 15. Originally intended to serve as the home of Trussville's fourth elementary school, the future of the site has been uncertain following last year's failed property tax increase. Without the additional funding for all of the school expansion projects, Trussville City Schools has had to prioritize the construction of the C-Wing at Hewitt-Trussville High School as it faces 104% capacity. During today's council work session, Mayor Buddy Choat spoke on the proposed sale, saying the city currently has an offer on the table to sell all 230 acres of the property. 'There's really no reason to hold onto it for the school now with the uncertainty of exactly where all the new homes that may be built and where that new school might need to be,' Choat said. He added that he had spoken to Superintendent Dr. Patrick Martin as well as Jefferson State, which also had plans for a facility on the site, and that they were both ok with the sale. Longtime Arkestra member Marshall Allen sitting out Sun Ra Festival in Birmingham The city purchased the property in 2022 for just under $4 million. Following the failed vote, the mayor spoke with multiple potential buyers about the sale of part or all of the property. The potential buyer is now requesting that the plot be rezoned from Industrial-2 to Agriculture-1, which has to go before Planning & Zoning, and reportedly intends to use the property as a farm. Choat added that though the offer is not yet completely official, as the zoning would have to be changed and it would have to be approved, they would recoup the cost of what the city paid for it if it went through. If the sale is finalized, the city would have to find a new site for a future elementary school as Trussville continues to grow and overcrowding in the schools gets worse. 'We have time, you know, it's gonna take years to build out all of these but the city's got to keep moving and find a location somewhere so we're actively pursuing it,' Choat said. Choat added that he hates to have to sell the property, but that it is 'the right thing to do.' 'It's just the best thing for the city right now,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trussville City Council takes step toward enacting garbage collection fees
The following is a story by Chris Basinger, news editor of the Trussville Tribune: TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — The Trussville City Council unanimously approved a resolution during Tuesday night's meeting that authorizes the mayor to negotiate a new garbage services contract that could directly bill residents for collection costs. The city currently pays for residential waste collection and has done so under an agreement made by Mayor Gene Melton's administration over 20 years ago that when the city raised its sales tax by 1 cent and designated it for schools, helping create Trussville City Schools, the city would cover garbage service fees. Discussions on shifting the cost of collection off the city and onto residents first took shape in the aftermath of last year's failed vote to increase property taxes, which would have gone toward funding three major TCS expansion projects. Without the additional tax revenue to support bonding at a cost of $90 million, the city has had to explore other options to pursue the projects, which are still needed to accommodate the growing student population. Out of the three projects, TCS has decided to prioritize the construction of the C-Wing at Hewitt-Trussville High School, which is currently at 104% capacity. During the council meeting, Mayor Buddy Choat denied a direct link between the money the city would save if it stopped paying for garbage collection and funding for the school projects, instead saying the move was being proposed in an effort to rebuild the city's general fund. 'What I told The Tribune was that we have to get our general fund built back up so we will be able to consider going to the market if we had to borrow money to build a school. This money is not dedicated to building a school. It's not dedicated to pay any debt service that we have now other than to try to get it on our bottom line to build that up,' Choat said. GE Aerospace to invest $73M across Alabama, $22M in Huntsville facility However, while discussing ways the city could get the school expansion projects off the ground during his State of the City address last October, Choat said, 'I will tell you that everything is on the table right now. All options are there. We desperately need these projects done and when I say on the table, things like garbage service for example, that has been free for years. Our garbage service this year is budgeted at almost $3 million. We're one of many cities that do furnish free, but it may be time to revisit that.' The general fund has taken a hit in the last year as the city has been met with a significant decline in sales tax revenue, which makes up about two-thirds of its general fund budget. The decline is being attributed to the post-pandemic economy. In FY24, the city budgeted for sales tax revenues of $33.6 million in FY24 but only took in $30.9 million. This fiscal year, the city budgeted sales tax revenues of $32.4 million, representing a 3% drop, and those struggles are continuing. 'We've had five reporting months so far this [fiscal] year and we've had two record months out of five and we're still $237,000 behind budget for sales tax this year,' Choat said. With the decline in revenue, the city passed its latest budget with a deficit spend of almost $1 million, believing that the deficit can be made up by taking actions such as this. Choat also explained that the city has had to budget for guaranteed increases to employee salaries as well as rises in health and property insurance costs. In addition to those increases, the city has also spent large sums on two pieces of property in recent years–$4 million on Glendale Farms for a potential new elementary school and $5 million on a property on Service Road to prevent the construction of a proposed 500 unit apartment complex. The city has since agreed to sell the Service Road property to a developer who plans to build about 190 homes, but was only able to make up $3 million on the sale with the mayor saying that city had to match the price the apartment developer was willing to pay but that selling it for the same amount would be too expensive for a housing developer. 'It was kind of a perfect storm for our reserves with the economy happening the way it happened,' Councilor Alan Taylor said. Choat also spoke on how Trussville has changed since 2002 with the city then having only around 12,000 people as opposed to about 27,000 now. He said at that time resident garbage collection cost the city around $500,000 annually while now it has shot up to $2.6 million. 'We're looking for ways to trim the fat, so to speak. We've got to build our general fund back up. We don't have the reserves that we've had in the past,' Choat said. He continued, 'This is not something we're excited to say we're doing, nobody wants to come out here and tell you we're going to charge you now for something that you were getting free, but it's a necessity.' Choat added that he thinks the rate for customers could be around $30 a month to cover weekly service and debris pickup. Tennessee taking action as Alabama Glock switch bill heads back to Senate While debating the resolution, multiple citizens voiced concerns on what they believed was a lack of transparency on the part of the city. Commentators online and in-person expressed frustration that the only notification they saw regarding the council's impending consideration of the resolution was from a story published by The Tribune a few hours before the meeting. The city council typically meets for public agenda workshops on Thursdays at 5 p.m. the week preceding regular meetings to preview the business it will attend to. Meeting agendas are sent out in an email blast on Fridays or Mondays prior to regular meetings, but are not posted on the city's website or on its Facebook page as many other local cities do. The Tribune did not receive a copy of the resolution until several hours before the council meeting. During the meeting, the mayor said he would instruct the city clerk to start releasing a preliminary agenda after the workshops on Thursdays. There was also some confusion regarding what the council was actually voting on. The text in the meeting agenda released on Monday read 'Resolution to Authorize Garbage Service Fees & Related Billing Services.' But during the meeting, city councilors said the resolution would only allow the mayor to negotiate a contract with the Cahaba Solid Waste Disposal Authority and AmWaste and that after a contract was written up it would have to return to the council for final approval as an ordinance over two readings. Several assurances were also made by the council members including that they would explore ways to alleviate costs for those with financial burdens or residents on Medicaid or disability as part of the negotiations and that there would be more messaging when it came back to the council. 'I know none of us like this. It's not easy to deal with the economic realities that have happened to the city, it's not just us, it's nationwide. We all know there's circumstances beyond our control,' Councilor Jaime Anderson said. 'Several things that I will be looking for when you come back with a negotiation, mayor, would be obviously the price, when does it start, how do we let people know, how much money does it offset for our fiscal budget this year…that type of thing.' A full video of the meeting can be viewed on The Tribune's website here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Kimberly Farr announces candidacy for Trussville City Council
TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — Kimberly Farr has officially declared her candidacy for Trussville City Council, intending to run for Place 4 in this year's municipal election. 'Trussville is more than just a place to live; it's where we grow, raise our families, worship, and build futures,' Farr said. 'It's where Brian and I are raising our two children, where I've built my career, and where we've planted deep roots in our community. Whether it's Friday night lights, Saturdays at the ball fields, or worship on Sunday, Trussville is home. That's why I'm committed to ensuring that we continue growing in a way that protects our values, strengthens our community, and enhances our quality of life.' Farr is the director of human resources at SPOC Automation and has helped recruit for over 100 full-time jobs, many of which have been filled by Trussville residents. North Jefferson Chamber of Commerce to host National Civics Bee Regional Competition She also serves on the Industrial Development Authority and as vice president of the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and has been a member of member of Holy Infant of Prague Catholic Church since childhood. In addition to economic growth, Farr's priorities include keeping Trussville's schools ranked among the best in the state, continued investment in infrastructure, and ensuring first responders have the support and resources they need to keep the community safe. 'As a member of the City Council, my goal will be to ensure that Trussville grows the right way through smart, strategic planning that keeps our community strong while maintaining the character that makes our city so special,' Farr continued. 'We must focus on the long term, making decisions today that will benefit Trussville 5, 10, even 20 years from now.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
