Council holds public hearing, honors library employees

Clarion Top News

Wednesday, 26 October 2022 07:58

The Scottsboro City Council recently held a regular meeting followed by a work session on Monday, October 17, 2022.
During the meeting, two Scottsboro Public Library employees were honored for their years of service. Martha Avans (pictured on left) was recognized for her five years of service, as was Pat Chandler, who was honored for 15 years of service. Congratulations to you both.

The right of way for part of Jernigan Street, off of Howard, was vacated by the city to allow proper setbacks for new construction that will be done by Amy Patterson, owner of Cutie Petooties. At a previous meeting, Patterson stated the end of the street was not even being used by the city, and that the end of it was being used as a depository for paving/patching streets.

Accordingly, the portion of that street will be split down the middle with one half going to the property owner on the right side, and the other half going to the property owner on the left side. Council members approved this request.

A 2001 Chevy Silverado was approved to be surplused for the Scottsboro Police Department, as were two 2018 Freightliners for the Solid Waste Department. Council approved all of these requests.

Through a unanimous roll call vote, Reid Henshaw was appointed to the Water, Sewer and Gas Board. Brent Miller and Cliff Ford were later appointed to the Downtown Redevelopment Authority. There are still vacancies on the Historic Preservation Commission. City Clerk Whitney Phillips stated the city still has not received any letters of interest regarding these vacancies. If anyone is interested in any of the positions, they can apply in writing to the City Clerk’s office.

At the following work session, a public hearing to rezone 1290 Porter Road was held. Mr. Lamar Clark, who has previously presented his case to Council in other meetings was present to state he has taken care of the water run-off that is allegedly affecting nearby residents’ properties. Residents also stated that while they had to contend with water before any construction or site prep was done by Clark on the adjacent property, that since work began, there is even more water, and they stated it is sticking around much longer, causing damage to property. They have also invested thousands of dollars in dealing with the surplus of water, cannot use their yards, and they stated they are concerned about the site being zoned commercial, as this could allow for a parking lot to be paved, causing even more water runoff as it cannot be absorbed into that surface.

While Clark is not definite on his plans for the property where the site was prepared, he stated he has followed all laws and regulations and has taken action to circumvent the problem on the flow of water from his property and is requesting Council rezone the property to commercial. Council members will be voting on whether or not the rezoning will proceed at the November 14th meeting.

During reports, Mayor Jim McCamy stated the city has received a $35,000 Bynum Foundation grant for Caldwell Park for lighting and a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant through ADECA with thanks to Ken Boswell and Governor Ivey.

By Martha Smith