By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

ALABASTER—Citizens in the Ward 1 section of Alabaster organized a meeting with Alabaster Mayor Marty Handlon and city leaders on March 29 to voice concerns within their community.

The meeting mainly focused on flooding and drainage issues, the condition of streets, traffic on County Road 11 and creating additional activities for kids within the city.

“The issues that were addressed is stuff that has been in place for 25 years plus,” said Cindy Hawkins, executive director of Kids First Awareness. “The flooding, the draining, the street repairs are issues that have been there for 25 years.”

Resident Alvin Swift told Handlon that he has an issue with flooding on his property. After getting a representative from the city out to his property, Swift said the representative told him it was a homeowner issue.

To fix the problem, he said he tried to redirect the flow of water away from his yard using dirt, but the city stopped him from doing so. At the meeting, he asked Handlon what he should do to fix his problem and what the steps are.

The issue, according to one of the city engineers, is that Swift did not have a permit for the type of work he was doing in his yard.

Redirecting the water from his yard using dirt could cause flooding on County Road 11, so Swift was urged to turn in some paperwork to the city.

While this problem requires many components to be up to city code, Handlon stressed that it is the city’s job to make sure representatives are consistent with residents concerning city policies.

“One of the things I campaigned on is that we are going to be consistent,” she said. “We are going to get professional people in positions, and we are going to enforce ordinances consistently across the board.”

Several other residents had questions concerning city ordinances, such as other flooding issues in homes and codes restricting trailers on particular properties.

One resident also asked city leaders to find a more affordable way for young single mothers to live in Alabaster and touched also on the poor conditions of the roads in Ward 1.

Handlon took note of the roads in poor conditions and told the residents the city would inspect those places.

The city leaders took turns answering each question and explained how residents should proceed with each problem. Residents were also urged to contact Handlon in the future to delve into issues more specifically.

“I don’t think there is a problem here we can’t solve if we all work together,” Alabaster Fire Chief Jim Golden said at the conclusion of the meeting.