By Faith Callens
CENTER POINT – On Thursday, May 20, the Center Point City Council met for a regular meeting at City Hall and heard from concerned residents. In other business, two resolutions were discussed, one to authorize funds for an employee team-building event and the other on a 2022 transportation application with the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT).
During public comment, Resident Sharon Dunson said she was a first-time attendee of a council meeting and she came to meet and thank the council for their feedback and to address her neighborhood issues.
“I’ve been here, lived here since ’89 and we have a non-thru circle and by the way, we need a sign,” said Dunson. “If y’all could help with this, I already called the Office of Transportation and Roads with Jefferson County and I have no idea if somebody was on the other end getting the message.”
Dunson said the previous sign on her street helped to keep a lot of people safe while delivering packages and it put an end to people making a circle and going out the wrong way.
Dunson continued to say her neighborhood has had a great increase in traffic and she isn’t sure who’s coming into the neighborhood.
“We try to keep things safe; we try to look out for each other, but I haven’t spoken to too many older people but it’s several of us on the street,” said Dunson. “Several of us have been experiencing things taken from our yards and since we have had so much traffic in and out, it’s hard to know who’s coming in and out.”
Dunson said they are trying to get into the city’s Neighborhood Watch program and said she looked forward to telling her neighbors about it. The program is conducted by Councilor Tiffany Moore.
Dunson also mentioned issues with trash pickups in her area, the urgency for residents in her neighborhood to slow down, and the need for people to come together to help keep their community safe.
Library Director Joy Mayhand, of the Center Point’s Public Library, said she wanted to get the approval of a three-year subscription called Library Aware Novelist Plus. It would cost $9,400.
Mayhand said the EBSCO subscription provides professionally designed prints, email and digital templates with a strategic marketing plan specifically prorated for the library and library patrons.
“They provide newsletters because we are a new library and we are trying to get information out about the library, we are trying to market,” said Mayhand. “So, they have newsletters so we can inform our patrons of events at the library. They also deliver reader recommendations directly to the patrons’ inboxes, the newsletters we get unlimited subscribers, unlimited stands, unlimited users and unlimited individual quotes. Another service that is super important is readers advisory where they make recommendations in person, online, by phone, and so having readers advisory gives it templates so that we are able to easily, effectively, and efficiently make the content that we need for marketing and promote our services and resources.
The council approved Mayhand’s proposal unanimously.
Resident Stella Mitchell, of Center Point, said she and her husband are concerned about the appearance of their neighborhood.
“For the last month, we have not had a debris truck pickup on the street,” said Mitchell. “Last Monday, there was a tree service pickup that came by and picked up some of the debris but there is still a lot of debris on the street, and it’s been there for a while and it’s looking very bad.”
Center Point City Council. Photo: Faith Callens.
Mitchell went on to say, they pay for the service and they don’t have any in their area but the street itself and the community needs an urgent clean-up to make the community look better and appear safer.
Mitchell mentioned concerns of several cars in her neighborhood that have been parked on the grass for several days, cars being sold on the grass and neighbors not keeping the area clean.
“We never had a problem with our community being clean,” said Mitchell. “I don’t have anything against people renting but my concern is keeping the rental property clean. If feel like they want to live in our community, I feel they should keep their property clean also. It’s just disheartening to see because I always felt so much pride about my community and to see our neighborhood go down like that, it bothers me.”
Mayor Bobby Scott said that he contacts Waste Management daily and that a team will be sent out to Mitchell to help with the debris. He also said he will get code enforcement to come out next week to check on the cars that are parked on the street.
The following items were approved unanimously as part of the consent agenda:
- Resolution No. 2021-18 to authorize funds for the employee team-building event of $5,143 in honor of the city council staff to show appreciation.
- Resolution No. 2021-19 to submit 2022 application for Transportation with ALDOT and the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham and the Metro Planning Organization.
During the discussion, Councilor Copeland spoke about the LRY retainer which is $3,500 a month for media marketing for the council. President D.M. Collins said the amount is a big expense for a month and the council voted in favor to revisit the proposal next city council meeting.
