By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

The University of Alabama’s appearance in the BCS National Championship football game and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday have caused local city councils to reschedule their January meetings.

The Alabaster, Pelham and Helena councils typically meet on the first and third Mondays of each month at 7 p.m., 7 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively, but the national championship game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 7.

As a result of the national championship game, the Alabaster council will instead hold its meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Alabaster City Hall Annex.

The Pelham council will hold its next meeting on Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. at Pelham City Hall. The Helena City Council will still hold a meeting on Jan. 7 at Helena City Hall, but will start at 5 p.m. rather than 6 p.m.

Because a football team from the state of Alabama has appeared in the past four national championships, many local city councils have rescheduled their meetings when they conflicted with the games.

The Alabaster council also rescheduled its Jan. 7, 2010 meeting when it fell on the same night as a national championship game between Alabama and The University of Texas, and the Pelham council rescheduled its Jan. 9, 2012 meeting when it fell on the same night as the national championship game between Alabama and LSU.

The Alabaster has council also rescheduled its Jan. 21, 2013 meeting, as the date fell on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a city holiday. The council will instead meet at 7 p.m. on Jan. 22.

As of Dec. 28, the Pelham and Helena councils had not yet rescheduled their Jan. 21 meetings, but city officials said they will discuss the matter during upcoming meetings.