Council approves Plan with edits, talks Road bonds

Mar. 22—The City of Huntsville has a new Value Statement that addresses a new set of values chosen by Council and Staff, and discussed a possible road bond in November for citizens to vote on.

The new Value Statement reads "develop and implement a culture that builds and engages our organization, team and community, through the values of Service, Trust, Accountability and Respect. We commit to doing everything we do, utilizing these core beliefs."

The Strategic Plan final draft was presented to Council on Tuesday, listing the new five broad areas of strategic initiatives aimed to address issues in Huntsville. The initiatives are designed to provide the City Council with mechanisms to gauge performance, provide direction to staff, and adopt changes to the strategic plan as success merits and needs dictate. Those five areas are: — Public Safety — Economic Development — Quality of Life — Infrastructure — Engagement

City Manager Aron Kulhavy went through the proposed document. He noted that he added two items that were not discussed in depth — the monitoring of future transportation planning and focusing on the impact of reaching 50,000 in the future.

He asked council for their blessing on the document.

Mayor Russell Humphrey said that current staff is already well-versed in the STAR values.

Mayor Pro Tem Vicki McKenzie noted that quality of life and affordable housing were two big things discussed.

"We have hired new (code enforcement) officers and I would like to see us get more bang for the buck there," McKenzie said. "Of course the quality affordable housing is critical if we are going to continue to grow and maintain college students outside of college and offer them jobs. We have 300 open jobs but they can't afford to live and stay here."

She asked that Kulhavy keep the two topics as a priority.

Councilmember Casey Cox addressed the need for more focus on staffing.

Councilmember Bert Lyle expressed his concerns with the document.

"I think some of the words chosen right now are pretty relaxed," Lyle said. "They are not quite the action verbs that I would love to see. We need to be aggressively doing."

Lyle added that he felt administration should be more actively anticipating the growth of Huntsville getting to 50,000 population, not just receive a presentation.

Kulhavy said once the plan is adopted, and starts happening, an update can be provided with a timeline.

Councilmember Lyle made the motion to adopt the plan with all amendments discussed and it was approved unanimously.

City Council also received their annual audit report from Pattillo, Brown, and Hill LLP CPA and approved it.

"You are in a strong equity position," said Chris Pruitt, partner with Patillo, Brown & Hill, the city's current Certified Public Accountant firm.

Mayor Humphrey thanked for the firm for their diligence and thanked staff for a "smooth audit."

Council also heard about a grant application for funding for nine firefighters over a three year time period from Ashley Brown, Grants Manager.

Councilmember Anissa Antwine asked Brown how staff makes sure it is transparent in the financial piece.

Brown said that quarterly reporting is where staff would specify those expenses for employees that are hired through the grant.

Nine new positions would have to be maintained in that 36 month period from the date of award, plus 180 days to recruit.

Those nine positions would eventually hit the 2028 budget, if awarded.

Huntsville Fire Department Captain Tim Buehler told Council that the department likes to acquire new firefighters within the County and only has one opening at this time.

If approved for the grant, the City will be responsible for funding to provide for equipment and training costs of $15K per firefighter.

City Manager Aron Kulhavy said he feels better about our success this year.

Contact Brenda Poe at editor@itemonline.com