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By NOAH WORTHAM | Managing Editor

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council agreed to the formation of an Entertainment Committee which will oversee how the city’s new amphitheater is used during a meeting on Monday, Dec. 16.

During the work session held prior to the meeting, Council President Sophie Martin opened up discussion regarding the formation of an Entertainment Committee, at the request of Mayor Scott Brakefield.

“Requests are already coming in to use the amphitheater for events, so I think we need to go ahead and establish an Entertainment Committee who can make decisions,” Martin said.

After further discussion on the formation of a committee, Councilmember Kerri Pate asked if the city was going to create an entertainment district to which Brakefield confirmed conversations were ongoing.

“Russell (Bedsole) met with Brian (Binzer) and Jeff (Brumlow) to outline what it looks like,” Brakefield said. “(The police department) has already given some preliminary thoughts on how they would like to do that. So, again, all this will run through the Entertainment Committee.”

Martin suggested the Council get the Entertainment Committee in place and then let those selected to meet, answer questions and decide how the area would be managed.

“Requests (to use the amphitheater) are starting to roll in,” Brakefield said. “I think this is the easiest way for the Council to have a committee to work through Morgan (Lawley) and parks and rec and all the people that are going to have to be involved in supporting the events that we have out there.”

During discussion, the Council also determined that a committee would be needed to determine if the amphitheater would be open to events outside of ones held by the city, in addition to considerations such as rent price and area cleanup.

At the work session, Councilmembers Jamie Cole, Zach Zahariadis and Pate volunteered to serve on the committee and they were subsequently appointed by Martin.

“I would like to thank Councilman Cole, Councilman Zahariadis and Councilwoman Pate for agreeing to serve on the Entertainment Committee,” Martin said during the council meeting. “This is a committee that is now in place who will partner with parks and rec and some other city employees to develop the utilization guidelines for the amphitheater.”

In other business, the Alabaster City Council:

• Approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign streetlight agreement with Alabama Power for a light at 200 Sycamore Lane in the amount of $7.47 per month
• Approved a resolution reclassifying the positions of fire inspector marshall and deputy fire marshall within the Alabaster Fire Department
• A resolution authorizing the mayor to sign all documentation needed in relation to the Alabaster Fire Department client specifications and billing for the new AFD Ambulance Service

The next regularly scheduled Alabaster City Council meeting will take place on Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. with a prior work session on Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025 at 6 p.m.