By Hamilton Richardson
Elmore/Autauga News
Top Photo: Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie shares his excitement about the James Hardie expansion with council members.
At Tuesday’s Prattville City Council meeting, Mayor Bill Gillespie spent much of his time-sharing comments with the group of leaders lauding the expansion of the James Hardie facility and speaking about the economic benefit to the city.
“I think everyone’s very much aware that some of us joined Governor Ivey and other local and state elected officials to officially break ground on James Hardie’s expansion,” Gillespie said. “It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since James Hardie first started coming to Prattville. We will now have the world’s largest James Hardie manufacturing facility in the City of Prattville.”
The mayor added that the facility will be providing over 400 jobs within the community.
“Making an additional almost $400 million investment in our community is very exciting to me,” said the leader. “Without the partnership with the state and the county, we would not be having such great announcements and success as we are in Prattville today.”
Gillespie also thanked city departments for their help with back-to-school events.
“These events help kick off the back-to-school year and please be mindful that school-zone traffic patterns will be back in place next week,” he said.
On the Consent Agenda for the night were two resolutions. The first was to accept improvements and maintenance of Prattville Business Park Plat No. 5 and the second was to declare various weeded lots abated.
Once the Consent Agenda was accepted, the council moved on to the items on the regular agenda, the first of which was a resolution dealing with weeded lots and the second being a resolution to authorize the mayor to have stagnant water at a property on Moncrief Street abated.
Next was an ordinance, which was first introduced at the July 5, 2022 council meeting, for the rezoning of property inside the city limits at 1976-1996 Fairview Avenue from FAR (Forest, Agriculture, Recreation) to B-2 (General Business).
The resolution, which came before the group next, amended the FY2022 budget and authorized the release of funds for the purchase of a 2022 John Deere BA84C Angle Broom from Warrior Tractor and Equipment Company, Inc. for the Engineering Department at a cost not to exceed $11,155.00.
The next two measures were similar in nature in that they released funds for the purchase of a 2024 Kenworth T380 Dump Truck through the Sourcewell Purchasing Cooperative from Kenworth of Montgomery, Inc. at a cost not to exceed $146,500.00, and a 2022 BOMAG 135AD-5 Compaction Roller and Trailer, also through the Sourcewell Purchasing Cooperative, from Warrior Tractor and Equipment Company, Inc for the Engineering Department at a cost not to exceed $85,790.00.
Two resolutions were introduced during the meeting which caused two separate abstentions.
The first was to set a public hearing to rezone property located inside the city limit at 2201 Cobbs Ford Road from FAR to B-2. Councilman Blair Gornto recused himself from the vote.
The second was to set a public hearing to rezone property located inside the city limits at the Eastern/Southeastern side of Highway 82 East, East of McQueen Smith Road and West of Constitution Avenue from B-2 and FAR to PUD (Planned Unit Development). Councilman Albert Striplin abstained from the vote.
Both of these measures were held until the public hearing on September 6, 2022.
In another resolution, the mayor was authorized to enter into an agreement with Regions Bank to purchase a temporary construction easement and a portion of the right-of-way for the widening of McQueen Smith Road in an amount not to exceed $23,000.00.
One of the last measures tackled by the council had been addressed earlier in the meeting by a resident who was concerned about the city charging a $5.00 fee for copies of requested documents.
When the measure came up on the agenda, several amendments were introduced by councilmembers changing some of the wording of the resolution concerning the fee schedule as well as other wording.
All measures on the agenda were approved by the council, except for those held for a future meeting.
With no further comments by the public or council reps, the meeting was adjourned.
