City Council certifies election of Welch, Smith, both unopposed Aug. 25

Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart H. Welch III and City Council President Virginia Carruthers Smith are both unopposed in the city’s municipal election to be held August 25.

Therefore, the Mountain Brook City Council — at its regular meeting for Monday, July 27 — voted to certify their election. As part of its consent agenda, members approved a standard Certificate of Election (without opposition) for each candidate.

Beginning the first Monday in November, Welch will begin serving his second 4-year term, and Smith will begin another 4-year term in Council Place 4.

Candidate qualifying for the election ended July 21.

One race will still be contested on August 25. Councilor Philip Black, who is seeking his second term in Council Place 2 after winning election in 2016, will face a single challenger, Gerald A. Garner.

Garner is a former member of the Parks and Recreation Board who was made a full member of the Board of Zoning Adjustment after a vote by the City Council July 13.

The terms of the other three council members — Billy Pritchard, Lloyd Shelton and Alice Womack — continue until 2022.

The Council also voted Monday to ratify a municipal election services agreement between the city and Jefferson County to carry out the August 25 election.

Due to COVID-19, the Council once again met via online video conferencing.

OTHER BUSINESS

Here are a few of the other items passed by the Council on July 27:

• The Council voted to have Skipper Consultants inc. carry out four traffic studies. The firm will look at the possibility of installing a three-way stop on Brookwood Road at South Brookwood Road; a four-way stop on River Bend Road at Briar Oak Drive; and a three-way stop on Briar Oak Drive at River Oaks Road. Skipper will also consider a proposal to reduce the maximum speed on Briar Oak Drive from 30 mph to 25 mph. Police Chief Ted Cook said that he will supply Skipper with data from the speed and volume studies his department has already done in the area following requests by residents of the area. The fee for Skipper Consultants will be $11,400.Members voted to extend the on-call/on-demand professional services agreement between the city and Sain Associates, an engineering consulting firm in Birmingham, for another two years at the same fee. “We can pick up the phone when we have some small surveying or engineering job,” said City Manager Sam Gaston. “It would be nice to renew this.”
• The Council passed a resolution honoring Doris Young upon her retirement from the O’Neal Library after 44 years of service. Young began in 1976 as a page and eventually became manager of the circulation department. She also served as staff representative on the library’s building committee and as chair of the Jefferson County Library Cooperative Circulation Roundtable. “Doris left big shoes to fill,” said Library Director Lindsy Gardner. “It is hard to imagine the library without her,” she said. “I've enjoyed working there so it's been great,” Young said.
• The Council voted to appoint Vince Schelleci to serve another term on the city’s Editorial Board. His term will run through Aug. 8, 2024.
• Members passed a resolution recommending that the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board issue a restaurant retail liquor license to Ireland Fresh Foods LLC for use at a new restaurant called Porch at 2 Dexter Ave. in Crestline Village. Manager Frank Alverson told the Council that he hopes to open the eatery by the end of August. They will occupy about half of the space once occupied by the former occupant, Mafiaoza's Pizzeria & Neighborhood Pub. Porch will feature locally and regionally sourced produce and will offer sandwiches, salads, snacks and a few plates, along with local beer, classic cocktails and a few international wines, Alverson said. “We want to be a family-oriented place even though we will have a bar,” he said. “We want people to be able to bring their kids and bring their dogs and hang out.”