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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

ALABASTER – Chief of Police Curtis Rigney was recognized by the mayor for National Police Appreciation Day and the City Council set a public hearing for a zoning ordinance during a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, Jan. 8.

During the meeting, Brakefield delivered a proclamation to the council naming Tuesday, Jan. 9 as National Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.

“Law enforcement officers in the state of Alabama show extreme bravery as they risk their lives on a daily basis in order to protect Alabama’s families, citizens and businesses,” Brakefield said in reading the proclamation. “Law enforcement officers are vital members of our state’s communities due to their commitment to continue training, their desire to work with citizens in an effort to maintain peace and prosperity.”

Brakefield also delivered proclamations declaring January 2024 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month and Monday, Jan. 15 as Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

During the meeting, the Council set the date for multiple public hearings including one for Monday, Jan. 22 for the adoption of the city’s 2024 Floodplain ordinance.

“This is something that we do for FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) just about every 10 years, so to get any feedback on that, we’ll have a public hearing on Jan. 22,” Councilmember Jamie Cole said.

The Council also set a public hearing for Monday, Feb. 12 for a resolution amending various portions of the Alabaster Zoning Ordinance.

“Again, another public hearing to talk about some of the zoning ordinance changes that we’ll be making in the city,” Cole said. “We are still working on a few issues there, particularly dealing with our overlay district on (Highway) 119.”

During the City Council meeting, the city approved a resolution authorizing the acceptance of the city’s annual Transportation Plan Expenditure Report which comprised $255,818.46 of taxes received by the city that were used for the work on Alabaster Boulevard.

“This is a resolution affirming transportation planning expenditures for the fiscal year 2023,” Councilmember Greg Farrell said. “This is a requirement that was set by the legislature that we have to provide proof of what we use the gas tax money for that was voted on several years ago.”

The city also approved the addition of one full-time administrative assistant position in the court department at pay grade 13.

“This is going to help us do some record scanning that is long overdue so we were glad to help out and add that position,” Cole said.

In other news, the Alabaster City Council approved the following ordinances:

• The rezoning of property owned by Larry and Patricia Edmondson at 8365 Highway 119 from B-3 Business Community District to B-4 General Business District.
• The pre-zoning of property owned by Samuel Brown at 1104 Kent Dairy Road to R-3 Residential District.
• An ordinance to alter and rearrange the corporate limits of the city and annex approximately 2.10 acres located at 1104 Kent Dairy Road.
• The pre-zoning of property owned by Kessteam LLC to R-4 prior to annexation.
• An ordinance to alter and rearrange the corporate limits of the city and annex property owned by Kesstream LLC.

The next regularly scheduled city council meeting will take place on Monday, Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. and a work session will take place Thursday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m.