On April 20, Huntsville city council began their bi-monthly meeting, where they honored those who have benefited the city of Huntsville, assigned different monthly celebrations and addressed city concerns.
The meeting began with celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Melvin White VFW Post 5871. The meeting continued with naming April as Fair Housing Month as well as Child Abuse Prevention Month in Huntsville.
Among the approved topics in the meeting included:
- The authorization of the city manager contracting TRT Abatement, LLC to demolish and help the abatement of substandard structures and AAA Asphalt Paving, Inc. to construct the Jenkins Road Widening Project
- Re-appointment of Dalene Zender to the Huntsville Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone (TIRZ) Number 1 Board of Directors
- Separating the Fire Chief department from the Police Chief/Public Safety director, which would make the Fire Chief an official department head
In a controversial five to three vote, the council chose to pass the motion in finding a solution to connect Ravenwood Shopping Center to Financial Plaza.
“I mean, right now, if anyone’s ever driven through there, you have one way in and one way out basically,” Ward 1 councilmember Daiquiri Beebe said. “We need more ways to get out and if you were able to go to Veteran’s Memorial [Parkway] that would make it a whole lot easier for people to move around the plaza in general even without the construction that’s planning to get done soon.”
Freeway construction was an important issue throughout the discussion, with the issue of having too much construction, looming over the heads of some of the council members.
Position 2 councilmember at Large Dee Howard Mullins also expressed her support over the new road.
“I always thought the arrangement, based on my experience living in various cities was a little… off centered,” Howard Mullins said. “I understand that history can affect all sorts of local decisions. But I think that as we grow and expand, I think it will benefit the city and I will definitely support it.”
As the motion to look into road construction motion was passed, Beebe then announced a Take Back the Night event, which was approved for April 28. A further announcement was made as The Huntsville Library reopening was also approved and will function at normal hours Monday-Friday from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
For further information about the city council meeting or to view past meetings, visit the Huntsville website here.