Don Spencer receives next city coin at Madison City Council meeting

MADISON — Longtime Madison resident Donald Hughes Spencer was recognized for his contributions to the city at the Jan. 28 Madison City Council meeting before District 3 Councilman Teddy Powell presented him with the next city coin in their initiative to recognize influential citizens.

Powell listed several ways Spencer has been an influencer in Madison, from his work as a lawyer to his efforts with others to keep Huntsville from annexing Madison. In addition, Spencer served as one of Madison’s first city councilmen and was selected to serve as interim mayor in 1989. In 1995, he was part of the group of citizens who supported the secession of Madison’s schools from the Madison County school system and went on to serve as the first chairman of the Madison City Board of Education.

“He’s done quite a bit for our city—a lot of great accomplishments,” Powell said. “… One of the best things that he’s done for me and benefited me and my family is Don was my neighbor across the street, and he was a great neighbor, and I appreciate it.” To this, Spencer gave a smile.

At their Nov. 13 meeting, the newly named Council President Steve Smith announced the council’s plans to present one of these special city coins at a meeting once per month to local residents who have made a difference in the community.

The first two recipients were BeBe Oetjen, presented by Madison Mayor Paul Finley, and Jack Clift, presented by District 4 Councilman Greg Shaw. District 5 Councilman Tommy Overcash presented a city coin to each member of the Madison City Board of Education in observance of School Board Recognition Month.

Prior to the coin presentation, representatives from three more organizations each gave their own presentations in connection with their annual appropriations.

Amber Braman, Madison Beautification and Tree Board president, noted the organization’s various awards and honors for 2018. She also touched on their work to remove dead and diseased plants in Madison, their Arbor Day workshop, the elementary Arbor Day poster contest, and their Arbor Day workshop and their work with Tree City USA.

Braman also explained the organization’s plans in conjunction with Madison’s sesquicentennial. She said they will be providing 150 tree saplings to workshop attendees to encourage more tree planting in Madison. For their tree planting this year, Braman said they plant to do a special tree as a “heritage tree” at the Madison Public Library that will also be a celebration of their birthday.

Jeff Birdwell, director of the Huntsville-Madison County Emergency Management Agency, said the organization continues to expand their outreach, and CERT classes continue to be successful. Right now, the EMA is working with Friends of Dublin Park to hold a CERT class at Dublin Park over the next 10 weeks. He also presented the council with a three-year strategic plan for HMCEMA.

HMCEMA also uses social media to reach more county residents and keep them updated. They are currently on Facebook, Twitter and Nixle.

“I’m proud to say, at least with what we’re using now, the numbers are up,” Birdwell said. “… It’s working, but it’s a process, and we hope to continue with that as well.”

For more information, visit madisoncountyema.com.

Michael Glenn of the Madison County Health Department broke down the numbers of visits and variety of cases they have addressed in the past year. Glenn said the whole health department had nearly 5,000 visits.

Later in the meeting, council approved all three appropriations: $10,000 to the Beautification and Tree Board, $55,000 to the EMA and $20,000 to MCHD.

In public comments, Tom Scovill returned to the podium to voice his thoughts on the new property tax increase. He once again expressed his belief that Madison should revisit their agreement with Triana to make things fairer for taxpaying Madison residents. He also said Triana is making city planning and growth more difficult, which affects Madison City Schools as well.

“While city government is trying to manage growth in Madison to a level our city education budget can accommodate … growth in the other part of the school system is out of control because Triana does as it pleases,” Scovill said. “It seems their pleasure is to make developers like Mr. (Louis) Breland happy, and these developers work both in Madison and in Triana.”

In response to Scovill’s comments, Donnie Spencer said the deal with Triana was a requirement from the United States Department of Justice and that the board did not have a choice at the time. To this information, Scovill said they had the choice not to secede from the county school system.

David Hergenroeder, who served five years as a member of the Madison City Board of Education, said that the system did have a choice, but he also said he believes the choice made was “the right one for the city.” He suggested that the council consider impact fees as another way to help the schools. Members of the council later said they would take a look at that possibility.

Council voted to approve all items under the consent agenda and finance committee report. Most of these were in relation to the multi-use venue stadium: $1,569 to Grand Rapids Chair Company for stadium chairs; $300 to Geo Solutions for NPDES monitoring in December; nearly $2 million to Hoar Construction for construction of the stadium; and nearly $73,700 to Turner Construction for construction documents, bidding and construction services phase.

Other items included $400 for two MARS buses used during the 2018 Madison Street Festival and nearly $12,000 to Alabama Fence and Play for the installation of vinyl fencing with a custom gate for the library’s children’s garden. The latter item is to be paid from the general fund with full reimbursement to the city.

The council also accepted a $100 donation from Veda M. Smith for the fire department.

During the presentation of reports, Finley reminded everyone of the rules regarding the placement of signage and the City’s right to regulate and control these signs in the city limits. More information can be found at madisonal.gov. On a more positive note, Finley shared a letter of appreciation from a business concerning their recent fire inspection.

Powell reminded everyone that the Trash Pandas store will reopen Feb. 1 at 10 a.m. District 7 Councilman John Seifert reminded parents that time is running out to register children for the Madison Baseball Association.

Overcash explained a proposed ordinance to amend section 12, compensation and benefits, of City of Madison personnel policies. Part of this amendment would bump up the pay for crossing guards. Overcash said the city still needs more of this personnel. The council approved this ordinance.

District 1 Councilwoman Maura Wroblewski nominated Madison City Schools employee Michelle Hyams to fill place 5 on the Madison City Disability Advocacy Board (MCDAB), and council appointed her to the position.

Two public hearings continued from the previous council meeting. The first concerned the rezoning of about 64 acres of land from agriculture (AG) to residential cluster zone district 2 (RC-2). The land is located on the south side of Powell Road, east of Segers Road.

Dr. Terri Johnson brought up concerns about the cost per student in these new homes and encouraged the council to wait until the tax vote to approve such development. Donnie Spencer said the development will not present a loss to the schools. Scovill recommended putting a pause on development and building.

The second hearing concerned the same type of rezone but for property located on the south side of Hardiman Road, east of Segers Road. The development plans include 134 homes that would be phased in over the next few years. Planning Director Mary Beth Broeren said the planning department recommended approval for the rezone.

Several council members explained the benefits of slow, controlled growth and said this rezone would fall in line with their latest growth policy. Shaw added that the council has been working with the school system on development like this and do not move forward on such plans without their blessing.

Council voted to approve both of these rezones following the public hearings. They later approved the respective development agreements with Tennessee Valley Communities as well.

All other items on the agenda for the fire, planning and legal departments were also approved. These included an agreement of nearly $6,400 with TargetSolutions Learning for a subscription to online training for Madison Fire and Rescue; the setting of two public hearings concerning more rezones for the March 11 meeting; an amendment to the trash pickup fee schedule, which would entail an increase of 20 cents per household in the Athens Utilities area; and the awarding of a bid to Republic Services for dumpster services.

Madison City Council typically meets on the second and fourth Mondays of every month at 6 p.m. in the council chambers on the main level of Madison Municipal Complex, located at 100 Hughes Rd. Stay up to date on city and council matters at www.madisonal.gov.