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Council approves annexations, white-way lighting; expresses concern over senate bill

by

Emily Featherston

Four properties were brought into the city limits of Vestavia Hills Monday night after the city council approved annexations as part of its regularly scheduled meeting.

All of the properties were in the Acton Road area, and City Clerk Rebecca Leavings showed the council where the properties were located at the edge of the city while explaining how the 90-day and overnight annexation procedures work.

Homes at 3139 Renfro Road, 2696 Altadena Road, 2611 April Drive and 2470 Dolly Ridge Trail were brought into the city following unanimous affirmative votes for each property's annexation.

Place 4 Councilor George Pierce explained the details of each property, including the number of children and property value of each. He said all four met the $225,000 property-value minimum the annexation committee prefers, and each home had two or fewer children, with one having no children.

Mayor Ashley Curry reiterated the "Swiss cheese" nature of the edges of the city, with many properties that are part of the city surrounding properties that have not been annexed.

The council also voted to approve a contract with Innovis Lighting for the new white-way street lighting along U.S. 31.

City Manager Jeff Downes explained again how the previous proposal given to the council had fallen through due to ALDOT not approving the specific fixtures the company wanted to use.

Downes said the investment of just over $230,000 would reach pay-back status in roughly 1.5 years, and representatives from Innovis said that it may be sooner. Downes further explained that the savings on utility costs would free up funds from the gas tax to be used for other projects.

At the close of the meeting, Curry asked the council for and was granted unanimous consent to consider a special item of business with regard to Senate Bill 31 in the Alabama Legislature. The bill, known colloquially as the "prescription bill" would make prescription drugs exempt from the total sales volume cities use to determine business license taxes.

The bill passed in the senate, and moves next into the House committee process.

Curry said the bill would "hurt a lot of cities," and that current estimates have Vestavia Hills losing $60,000 in business license tax revenue annually due to the measure.

Pierce asked Curry if the area mayors' association has a lobbying effort in Montgomery, to which Curry said there was, but that he wasn't sure of their action on this particular bill.

Pierce said he had spoken with some state senators, and that they had said they were unaware of any opposition to the bill.

The council voted unanimously to approve a resolution opposing the bill, and Curry said the city would be making their opinion known to area representatives.

Other Council Business Included:

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