[0:00] Where's Corey?

[0:04] » Hello everybody. Welcome to the Chelsea City Council for February 17th. I'm

[0:08] Scott Weygand, the Council President. Uh please bear with my voice. It's been a

[0:12] rough week. Um I'd like to call this meeting to

[0:15] order and our invocation tonight will be by Mr. Wayne Morris.

[0:29] » All right. Well, let's pray.

[0:35] Father, thank you for the time we have together and to do the work of the city.

[0:40] Uh Father, thank you for the place that you've given each one of us to serve the

[0:44] city. Father, help us to do it to the best of our ability.

[0:47] I thank you for all the uh

[0:50] minds of of intellect and and creativity that um

[0:54] allow us to to do what we do. And Father, I pray it's in the best interest

[0:59] everything that we do is in the best interest for the city.

[1:02] I pray for our citizens, Father. I pray that you continue to bless them as

[1:07] you've done so much over the past. And thank you for the opportunity to

[1:12] celebrate the 30th anniversary of the city and what all you've done, Father,

[1:16] to grow us as a community, to grow us grow us closer together, and provide

[1:20] family atmosphere for our citizens to to bring their families and and live and

[1:25] and celebrate in. Thank you for all you've done and for

[1:28] what you'll continue to do in Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:30] » Amen. >> Amen. Thanks, sir.

[1:33] Um next up we're going to do the Pledge of Allegiance with Councilman Fisher.

[1:36] » Could everyone please stand for the pledge?

[1:41] » Attention, salute, pledge. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

[1:45] United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation

[1:51] under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

[1:58] » Ms. Ethridge, if you please call roll? >> Donna Barnes.

[2:02] » Present. >> Scott Weigand.

[2:03] » Present. >> Chris Grace.

[2:04] » Present. >> Arthur Fisher, Jr.

[2:05] » Present. >> Casey Morris.

[2:06] » Present. >> All right, Council. First up, we have

[2:09] the approval of the agenda. Do we have a motion for that?

[2:12] » Mr. President, I make a motion we approve our agenda as presented.

[2:15] » All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second?

[2:16] » Second. >> Any discussion on the agenda as written?

[2:20] All in favor say I. >> I.

[2:22] » Any opposed, say nay. All right, that is approved.

[2:26] » [clears throat] >> Next up, we have the approval of the

[2:29] minutes. Uh do we have a motion for that?

[2:31] » Council President, I make a motion that we approve uh the minutes as written

[2:36] for February 3rd of 2026. >> All right, we have a motion. Do we have

[2:40] a second? >> Second.

[2:42] » All right, we have a motion and a second. Any discussion on the minutes?

[2:46] All right, all in favor say I. >> I.

[2:49] » I. >> Any opposed, say nay.

[2:51] Those are approved. On to the Council business. Uh first up,

[2:56] we have Resolution 1351. Uh who'd like to make a motion for that?

[3:01] » Uh Council President, I'd like to make a motion to approve Resolution 1351 to

[3:06] declare property surplus and authorize disposal.

[3:09] » All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second?

[3:11] » Second. >> A motion and a second. Any discussion?

[3:14] Uh Mayor, would you like to tell us about this?

[3:17] » Yes, this is a 48-in John Deere zero-turn lawn mower uh that's currently

[3:21] in parts and wreck that's uh no longer worth maintaining, so asking

[3:27] to uh dispose of it to surplus. >> All right, thank you.

[3:31] Um Anything else from the Council?

[3:35] All in favor of approval, please say I. >> I.

[3:38] » I. >> Any opposed, say nay.

[3:41] All right, that is approved. Uh next up is Resolution 1352. Uh do we

[3:46] have a motion for this? >> Uh Council President, I make a motion

[3:50] that we accept Resolution 1352 to appoint a planning commission member.

[3:54] » All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second?

[3:56] » Second. >> Motion and a second. Any discussion,

[3:59] Council? Uh Mr. Mayor?

[4:02] » Yes, this is to replace planning commission member Amanda Hardy

[4:06] who has moved out of the city. And so

[4:10] we would like to appoint Owen Watkins to the planning

[4:13] commission to continue the rest of her term.

[4:17] » All right.

[4:20] Council, anything else from the council?

[4:23] All in favor say aye. >> Aye.

[4:26] » Any opposed say nay. All right. Welcome to the planning

[4:29] commission, Mr. Watkins, and thank you for serving.

[4:33] Uh next up is resolution 1353. Do we have a motion for that?

[4:39] » Mr. President, I make a motion we approve resolution 1353 to accept a

[4:43] quote for landscaping services. >> All right, we have a motion. Do we have

[4:47] a second? >> Second.

[4:49] » All right. Um any discussion on this one?

[4:52] Mr. Mayor, you want to tell us about this one?

[4:54] » Yes, this is a yearly contract with Total Exterior for

[4:58] landscaping at city properties to include the city hall, the city library,

[5:04] the intersection of 280 and Chelsea Road, as well as uh

[5:09] Chelsea Road and 280 intersection behind Express Oil Change. And the total

[5:14] cost of the contract is $24,744.

[5:20] » Very good. Any further discussion, Council?

[5:23] All in favor say aye. >> Aye.

[5:26] » Any opposed say nay. All right, that is approved. And Mr.

[5:29] Mayor, I would like to say that the city maintenance crews have been working

[5:33] hard on those intersections and they're looking fantastic along with around here

[5:37] at city hall. >> Yeah, so if you hadn't been here to city

[5:40] hall, check it out. It looks really good.

[5:42] » It's It's all starting to shine. Um all right, Council, on resolution

[5:47] 1354, do we have a motion for that one? >> Council.

[5:51] » President. >> Oh, I thought that was me.

[5:53] » Go ahead, Arthur. >> Council President, I'll make a motion to

[5:56] approve Resolution 1354 to accept a quote for paving Willow

[6:01] Branch Trail. >> All right, we have a motion. Do we have

[6:04] a second? >> Second.

[6:07] » All right. Uh, is there any discussion on this one?

[6:12] Uh, this is paving the final road in Willow Branch

[6:16] Trail. Uh, we already paved the rest of the neighborhood. This one will finish

[6:20] it. Uh, Mr. Mayor, what was the total cost on this one?

[6:23] » Uh, that would be $33,836.77.

[6:28] » Thank you. Um, is there any discussion, Council?

[6:32] All in favor, say I. >> I.

[6:34] » I. >> Any opposed, say nay.

[6:36] All right, that is approved. Um, next up, we have Resolution 1355.

[6:42] Uh, do we have a motion for that?

[6:46] » Council President, I'll make a motion to approve Resolution 1355 to authorize

[6:51] reimbursement. >> All right, we have a motion. Uh, do we

[6:54] have a second? >> Second.

[6:56] » All right, we have a motion and a second. Um,

[7:00] Mr. Mayor, you want to tell us about this one?

[7:02] » Yes, this is a required as the city is um, in the process of obtaining bond

[7:07] money for to fund the project of the Chelsea High School gym and the tennis

[7:11] complex. And we're going to have to expense city

[7:15] funds before the bond money comes in. So, this is a resolution that's required

[7:19] um, that allows the city to reimburse itself for funds

[7:22] expend- expended before the bond money comes in.

[7:25] » Perfect. Thank you so much. Um, Council, do we have any more

[7:29] discussion on this? Um, all in favor, say I.

[7:33] » I. >> I.

[7:34] » Any opposed, say nay. All right, that one is approved.

[7:38] Uh, next up is one that I find exciting,

[7:42] resolution 1356. Do we have a motion for this?

[7:47] » Mr. President, I make a motion we approve resolution 1356.

[7:52] » Okay, we got a motion. Do we have a second?

[7:53] » Second. >> All right, we got a motion and a second.

[7:56] Any discussion, Council? So, I will or go ahead. Go ahead and

[8:01] explain this. >> I should have said it's for the Liberty

[8:04] Road bridge replacement, but I thought the mayor may want to speak more to it

[8:07] as well. >> Yeah, he's going to give us the details,

[8:09] I'm I'm guessing. Go ahead, Mr. Mayor. >> Yes, this resolution allows us to

[8:14] partner with the Shelby County Commission on the bridge replacement for

[8:18] Liberty Road bridge. The low bid actually came in

[8:22] a little higher than what estimated. It came in at

[8:26] $1,192,876.76.

[8:32] That's this resolution allows the city to

[8:35] expand up to $250,000 from the city of Chelsea.

[8:40] The Shelby County Commission will pay $600,000 towards the bridge replacement.

[8:45] And Rebuild Alabama grant was received in

[8:48] the amount of $350,000. So, basically this

[8:52] accounts for the additional $200,000 over what we had budgeted

[8:59] as a city.

[9:02] Am I missing anything? >> This

[9:04] This is perfect. Yeah, this is a great example of governments working together.

[9:09] The The county deserves a big pat on the back. They really helped us out on this.

[9:14] They did a great job. This is a bridge that's needed to be replaced for a

[9:18] while, so I'm excited about it. And

[9:21] like I said, this is There was a grant out there. We went and

[9:25] got it. The county helped us get it, and the the money that comes in was $350,000

[9:30] towards the the city's contribution to this. So, we've got that money plus the

[9:35] 250,000 to do this, and then the county's paying

[9:38] cash for their part of it. So, it's >> [snorts]

[9:40] » it's a big win for both of us and a major thank you to the county

[9:44] uh for working on that. Is there any [clears throat] further

[9:47] discussion, Council? All right. All in favor say aye.

[9:51] » Aye. >> Aye.

[9:52] » Any opposed say nay. That is approved. And then to go along

[9:56] with that one is resolution 1357. Do we have a motion for this?

[10:01] » Council President, I'll make a motion to approve resolution 1357.

[10:05] » That's 57, authorizing the mayor to execute contract with Shelby County.

[10:10] » All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

[10:11] » Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Any

[10:13] discussion? This is to

[10:17] go through everything we just discussed on 1356, put it on paper, and now the

[10:22] mayor will be able to authorize it once it's approved.

[10:26] Um Go ahead.

[10:28] » And in addition to that, just so everybody knows, uh work is scheduled to

[10:31] begin the day after school is out for the summer,

[10:34] and to be concluded before school starts back. So, it would be about a 2-month

[10:38] project uh during the summer months that Bibb Mill Road will be shut down at the

[10:43] at the current bridge, but it's just part of growing pains, and it'll be

[10:46] worth it in the end.

[10:50] » All right, Council. Any further discussion?

[10:52] All in favor say aye. >> Aye.

[10:54] » Aye. >> Any opposed say nay.

[10:57] All right. That one is approved. Uh last up, we've got some bills to pay.

[11:01] Does anybody want to make a motion to pay the bills?

[11:02] » Mr. President, I'll make a motion we pay our bills.

[11:04] » All right. We have a motion. Do we have a second?

[11:06] » Second. >> We have a motion and a second. Uh any

[11:08] discussion on the bills? All in favor say aye.

[11:12] » Aye. >> Aye.

[11:13] » Any opposed say nay. All right. We will pay the bills.

[11:17] Um and now we will go into the mayor's report.

[11:20] » All right. And I'll uh I'll try and make this kind of quick tonight. Uh just the

[11:24] tennis complex update is uh moving along. The contractor did run into some

[11:29] bad dirt, which has required modif- modification of the parking area, but

[11:33] nothing that's going to uh change it in any major form.

[11:37] Um the Simmons property, which is behind the community center in Melrose Park, we

[11:42] have grass seed down now and have installed a couple of silt fences to um

[11:46] help with runoff on the neighboring properties.

[11:50] Um I don't remember if I had mentioned this

[11:52] before, but the COPs are

[11:56] we're looking at ways to get more active in the community,

[11:58] and one of them is uh going out and checking on homebound

[12:01] seniors in the city, as well as delivering uh meals to those same

[12:06] homebound seniors, so um

[12:08] we look we're planning to start that up as soon as possible. We got a couple of

[12:12] hoops to jump through with the health department and um M4A as far as

[12:17] contracts to sign, but that that should be up and running soon, and we hope to

[12:21] expand that pro- program as it grows. Um

[12:25] just some some updates around the city. Um if anybody

[12:29] ask about a sewer leak that is currently going on at Chester Road and Stanley

[12:33] Drive, the city is aware of it. We're working with our engineer, um

[12:38] as well as the uh um some local contractors to get that

[12:42] fixed as quickly as possible. Um

[12:45] there have been some issues reported with lighting at the new community

[12:49] center parking lot in Melrose Park. Uh we're in the process of fixing that. We

[12:53] think we've got it fixed. Um so we're going to keep an eye on that,

[12:56] but if you still notice that they're not coming on at night, uh let us know.

[13:00] We're we're trying to get by there and make sure, but um

[13:03] you know, 30 sets of eyes are better than one or

[13:06] two. And then uh all the people who play

[13:10] pickleball at the community center in the back gym will be excited about this.

[13:14] Uh we will be installing reflective tint on the windows in the new gym to keep

[13:18] the sun from blinding them when they're playing pickleball, so that that'll be

[13:22] done in the next few weeks, so that's all I've got.

[13:29] » Um, do you have any reports under you? >> Um, yes, we got

[13:34] Danny, you want to talk to us about the library and all the great things, the

[13:37] amazing things you're doing? >> I sure do.

[13:40] Uh So, we got a a lot of changes going on,

[13:44] um, or a few changes, I should say, with

[13:46] programming and everything. Uh, the next major thing coming up is,

[13:51] uh, our Beyond Books Trivia Night, the Marvel and DC trivia. That's March 16th

[13:56] at 6:00. There's still room, so get your teams. I

[13:59] know we've got, um one team, one person of a team back

[14:03] there, so y'all are welcome to get your teams in sign up. We do have prizes that

[14:08] are provided by the Friends of the Chelsea Library.

[14:10] So, when you buy books at the book sale, that's what that money, a lot of that

[14:14] money goes towards. Uh, you can sign up on the MyLibro

[14:18] library app or on the website. Uh, our crochet and craft group added a

[14:24] Thursday evening at 5:30. So, that started last week and they're also still

[14:29] meeting Fridays at 1:00. So, um, that's going on. We are kind of shelving

[14:35] our teen book club, lack of participation at the moment.

[14:39] But, we're starting different programming for teens. So, on March the

[14:45] 17th, there's going to be a Super Mario Smash tournament.

[14:52] So, uh, we'll have registration for that. There'll be prizes, we don't know

[14:55] what they are yet. Uh, I have a new employee, Melissa Strock, who has taken

[14:59] teen activities on. She's amazing and I think it'll be fun. Um, we could have up

[15:05] to 30 participate, so uh, we'll get the registration out this week for that.

[15:11] Then, um, our STEAM program is this Saturday, the 28th.

[15:16] Uh, no, it's not. Next Saturday, the 28th. This Saturday

[15:22] is Pokémon Trading Club at 10:00, Chess Club at 11:30.

[15:26] Our Todd Time still Wednesdays at 10:30 and Musical Munchkins 9:30 and

[15:33] 10:30 on Thursdays. I think I think I hit everything.

[15:38] So, we're staying busy and um doing doing good. I appreciate

[15:44] everything y'all do to support the library.

[15:46] So, thank you.

[15:49] » And then I've got a Ms. Brandy Pate to talk about community events and

[15:55] everything she's doing. >> She was talking about me. I'm joining

[15:58] that Marvel thing and the challenge Mr. Arthur Fisher.

[16:02] Um all right, so we have pretty much the same events that we've been sharing on

[16:06] our Facebook and our blog. Um this weekend is the severe weather Excuse

[16:10] [clears throat] me, preparedness sales tax holiday. We've posted about that and

[16:14] Ms. Ethridge has put uh helped us put up a

[16:17] PDF of everything that you can get discounted. So, please be sure to to

[16:22] participate in that. And then we have several events happening on February

[16:26] 21st, the Kiwanis pancake breakfast as well as our Arbor Day celebration. And

[16:31] so, we've been publicizing that throughout the town. So, the community

[16:35] center has been doing a great job planning those events and hosting lots

[16:38] of events. The library's doing a great job and that leads me into some of our

[16:42] smaller uh things around the city that the city

[16:45] handles like the museum and our splash pad and those types of things. We're

[16:49] trying to incorporate the events that we're doing along with those facilities

[16:53] [clears throat] so that we can get the word out there and get some more

[16:56] participation. So, the 30th anniversary celebration that I talked about last

[17:00] week, we're actually going to have a reception. It's open to the public and

[17:04] everyone attending and we're going to meet at 2:15 at the historical museum.

[17:08] And we have some amazing ladies, Marie Alverson who's 92 and her sisters will

[17:13] be there. They will be giving tours and we have some local students. We have one

[17:17] in particular who wants to be an archivist and go to college for that.

[17:21] So, she's going to be there as well. So, we really want people to enjoy the

[17:24] history museum and then come over and learn about what's going to go in the

[17:28] time capsule to celebrate our 30th, and then hopefully on the 50th, when it gets

[17:33] opened, they'll just love everything we've prepared. Um we have uh several

[17:37] things in April. So, we're posting about those. We're working with the community.

[17:41] If the community has events, please let us know. Um some local churches are

[17:45] doing the Easter Extravaganza on the City Hall lawn like they've done in the

[17:49] past, and we're collaborating with them. And then we have Shelby County's

[17:53] Pinwheels for Prevention, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month in April, and

[17:57] they will be coming out to host their event here. They have a medical truck.

[18:01] It's free to the public, bouncy houses, lots of information and activities. So,

[18:05] we're excited about that. And then, of course, the community

[18:09] center's also having their spring craft fair on the 25th, which is a huge event

[18:13] that they do every year. So, other than that and the 25 food trucks that have

[18:18] already signed up for Chelsea Fest, we're doing great. So, just keep giving

[18:21] us those ideas. The Cupid event was fantastic, and we hope to do one for um

[18:26] St. Patrick's Day. We might have to go find a leprechaun. So, we love

[18:30] supporting our community, including our local businesses. So, thanks for giving

[18:35] us the opportunity, me and Mr. Wayne, to help promote the city and all the great

[18:39] things we have. Have a good evening.

[18:43] » All right, thank you. And uh we got a lot going on in this city.

[18:48] Uh next up, we'll move into our community forum. Uh this is where we'll

[18:52] invite anyone that would like to address the council.

[18:55] Uh This This is your opportunity.

[18:58] Does anybody want to say anything?

[19:03] All right. Um council, do you have anything

[19:06] you want to add?

[19:09] Okay. Sounds like it's uh time to to adjourn. Do we have a motion for that?

[19:15] » Council President, I make a motion we adjourn.

[19:17] » All right, we have a motion do we have a second?

[19:18] » Second. >> All right, any further discussion? All

[19:22] in favor say I. >> I.

[19:23] » I. >> Any opposed say nay.

[19:25] All right, we are adjourned. Thank you everyone.

Chelsea City Council Mtg. - Feb.17, 2026.

Transcript