Lashunda Scales expressed confusion today when a resolution supporting Senate Bill 179 was tabled. The bill was said to affirm the actions taken Tuesday when the Jefferson County Commission approved its billing agreement with the Birmingham Water Works Board. During today’s commission meeting, Steve Ammons moved that the resolution be tabled to get more information. Read more.
The Jefferson County Commission, in a specially called meeting Tuesday, approved a new billing agreement with the Birmingham Water Works Board. The agreement follows months of negotiation between the two entities. Birmingham Water Works has served as the billing agent for Jefferson County Environmental Services for residents who are BWWB customers. These bills show both water charges and sewer charges. The sewer charges are based on the water usage for the same billing period. “We negotiated with them and came to a billing agreement which will allow more dollars available for our sewer repayment and make a more realistic and true cost of sewer billing for our customers,” Commission President Jimmie Stephens said. “It was a cooperative effort. We're proud to partner with the Birmingham Water Works Board on this and to be partners in perhaps future cost-saving methods surrounding the billing of water customers.” Read more.
As the Alabama Legislature considers a complete overhaul of the Birmingham Water Works Board, the Birmingham City Council is mulling its own legislation to meet state lawmakers halfway. For the second week in a row, the council on Tuesday postponed action on an ordinance that would place additional prerequisites on its BWWB appointees. The proposal, which first appeared on the council’s April 11 agenda, would tighten background and training requirements for council appointees. The language in the delayed ordinance closely echoes a bill currently being considered by the Alabama Legislature, which would add similar strictures to board appointees. But the Legislature’s bill, HB177, would go much further, firing all current board members and reducing the number of BWWB directors from nine to seven — removing two council-appointed seats from the board entirely. Read more.
More than half of Alabama counties grew in population between July 1, 2021, and July 1, 2022, reflecting more people moving into the state than in recent years and the population growth being more widespread than in recent years, according to a recent analysis by the Public Research Council of Alabama. The biggest growth was concentrated around the Huntsville area and in the south in Baldwin County, next to Mobile’s urban center, according to the report, with other growth areas in the Wiregrass and northeast Alabama. PARCA’s report was based on the Census Bureau’s latest population estimates. “Generally, counties along the Interstate corridors are growing, as well as counties bordering Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida,” the report states. “On the western border with Mississippi, most counties are losing population.” Alabama’s traditional urban centers — Jefferson, Montgomery and Mobile — lost population as people moved to other counties in the state. Read more.
A newly created City Council committee will spotlight housing issues in Birmingham. The Housing Policy Committee was established in a Tuesday vote, which District 5 Councilor Darrell O’Quinn called “a monumental occasion for fair housing.” The committee will evaluate local housing laws and housing programs and advocate for fairer housing practices in the city. Read more.
Jefferson County Commission President Jimmie Stephens said the commission is not guilty of illegally packing Black voters into two districts to limit the influence of Blacks, as it is accused in a federal lawsuit filed Friday. The lawsuit accuses the commission of intentionally packing Black voters into two supermajority Black commission districts based in and around Birmingham. The commission over the past decade, the lawsuit maintains, has siphoned Black voters living in the suburbs into those two districts to prevent them from exercising greater political power in surrounding districts. Read more.
Commissioner Steve Ammons expressed disappointment after the Jefferson County Commission tabled a proposal of more than $1.6 million to support Innovation Depot. The commission voted 3-2 Thursday to table the matter until May 25, with Ammons and Commissioner Sheila Tyson voting no. “I am disappointed because it puts it off that much longer,” said Ammons, the chair of the commission’s economic development committee. “Innovation Depot is working on a new strategy and their ability to get at it sooner than later is important." Read more.
Following a presentation from Innovation Depot, the Jefferson County Commission Tuesday moved to its Thursday meeting agenda a package of more than $1.6 million supporting the business accelerator. Brooke Gillis, CEO of Innovation Depot, told commissioners about the depot’s aim to nurture the efforts of entrepreneurs so that their businesses can grow beyond the walls of the business center in downtown Birmingham. Read more.
Birmingham City Council meetings are scheduled for a temporary venue change this summer. From May 2 through Aug. 1, the council’s regular Tuesday morning meetings will move from the third floor of City Hall to the second floor of the Boutwell Auditorium. The move will allow for renovations to be made to council chambers.
The Birmingham City Council has allocated $805,000 toward increasing the Jones Valley Teaching Farm’s presence in Birmingham City Schools. The money will go toward the nonprofit's wide-reaching Good School Food educational program, which is intended to foster skills in and appreciation for farming and the culinary arts in BCS students. The new funding will expand the JVTF’s capacity to host field trips and weeklong camps and will expand JVTF’s internship and apprenticeship programs. Read more.
