Meeting Minutes for September 2022

Crestwood South Neighborhood Association - info@crestwoodsouth.com

  1. Read & Approve Previous Meeting Minutes - August 2022

    • August 2022 meeting minutes were read to meeting attendees.

      • Motion to approve minutes was made by Sandy Melof and seconded by Renee Tucker.

        • Motion was approved by unanimous consent.

    • MLK Unity Breakfast - Monday, January 16, 2023 @ Boutwell Auditorium

      • Cost of attending for a table of eight is $480.

        • Motion to approve the allotment of $480 to pay for a table at the 2023 MLK Unity Breakfast was made by Sandy Melof and seconded by Bri Wright.

  2. Reports

    • Officer Reports

      • NNO - Tuesday, October 4th @ 6-8pm on Clairmont Walking Trail

      • Neighborhood Officer Elections - October 18, 2022

        • Due to budget cuts, there will only be four voting locations for neighborhood elections.

          • Hooper City Recreation Center - 3901 4th St W 35207

          • Memorial Park Recreation Center - 524 6th Ave S 35205

          • Hawkins Recreation Center - 8920 Roebuck Blvd 35206

          • Legion Field - 400 Graymont Ave W 35204

        • Residents can vote “absentee” in person with valid photo ID at City Hall at the Community Resource Office from September 26 - October 11.

    • Fire

      • Not present.

    • Police

      • Not present.

    • Birmingham Library - Vincent Solfronk

      • Not present.

      • Check out BPLOnline.org for library events and program offerings.

    • Public Works - Arthur Wilder

    • Community Resource Office - Alice Williams

    • CAB - Elizabeth Murrary

      • New City trash cans

        • First 25,000 “trash carts” will be delivered in 6-7 weeks and will be equally distributed amongst all four waste districts (North/South/East/West).

          • Distributing 25,000 trash carts at a time until the City gets more trucks in the fleet.

        • Trash carts have location IDs so they can be traced back to the owner if absconded or washed away.

        • Sandy Melof asked how the City will accommodate citizens who cannot bring the large cans to the curb.

          • Councilor Hunter Williams said residents who need accommodations can request through the Public Works department.

        • Twelve new garbage trucks and fourteen new refuse trucks will be added to the City’s waste management fleet.

      • Robotic mowers in Linn Park

        • The City is trying a new automatic, robotic grass-cutting system in Linn Park called “My Goat”.

      • Code Enforcement

        • Officers for the Code Enforcement department now fall under the purview of the Planning, Engineering and Permits department.

      • Grass and weed abatement efforts

        • The City recently approved seventeen independent contractors to help with weed abatement and grass cutting around the city.

      • Railroad crossings and traffic jams

        • Councilor O’Quinn has applied for a grant for a proposed project to solve the problem of dangerous railroad crossings and traffic jams due to trains.

          • The plan is to replace them with either over or underpasses on the Eastern side of town.

          • Focus is on the Eastern side due to there being an extreme case of a community with a public housing complex which is, at times, completely cut-off by idle trains and people cannot enter or exit even in an emergency.

  3. Representatives

    • City Council Representatives

      • Hunter Williams, Councilor, District 2 (Represented by India Bailey)

        • Maureen Pezzementi (via email) noted how Veo electric scooters and bikes are being discarded around town.

          • Councilor Williams noted users who do not park their vehicles in an appropriate location get ticketed by the system and they have one week to pick up the scooter or bike and return it to a proper parking location or it will be impounded.

            • If parked outside of a service area, the offending user may be charged a retrieval fee that can range from $15 to $120, depending on the distance.

          • To report a Veo scooter or bike parked in an area it should not be, contact Veo Support at 855-836-2256 or hello@veoride.com to report the vehicle’s address and the vehicle number located in between the handlebars.

        • Betty Brown (via email) requested a stop sign be installed at Clairmont Ave and Lincrest Dr for East/West traffic.

          • Councilor Williams noted he would relay her concerns to the traffic department.

        • Hana Berres (via email) requested an update on the traffic calming efforts for Cresthill Rd.

          • India Bailey said parts have still been on back order since the last update provided. They hope to have them installed by the end of the year.

        • Doug Yarbrough asked what entity is responsible for maintaining the fairway for Crestwood Blvd, the City or ALDOT.

          • Councilor Williams noted it is technically under the jurisdiction of ALDOT but the City has been maintaining it recently.

        • Doug Yarbrough noted a house on the 4800 Block of Clairmont Ave. with large amounts of refuse and garbage in the driveway that is spilling into the front yard and street.

          • Councilor Williams noted he would report to Code Enforcement.

        • Councilor Williams gave a brief description of how Code Enforcement works within the City of Birmingham.

          • He noted that cases typically allow up to 90 days to address the issue that has been cited by the City and so this can often lead to issues not being resolved quickly.

        • Bri Wright asked for an update on the safety concerns regarding the intersection of 56th Street S and Crestwood Boulevard.

          • Hunter Williams reported that the City has requested ALDOT conduct a safety study but they have not yet agreed to conduct the study.

        • Bri Wright asked for an update on the tennis court/pickleball updates to Crestwood Park.

          • Councilor Williams reported that the Parks & Recreation board decided to not reverse their original decision to approve the update to convert one of the tennis courts at Crestwood Park to additional pickleball courts.

        • John Davis asked about the recent sale of the Crestwood Festival Center.

          • Councilor Williams did not have any information to report.

      • Valerie A. Abbott, Councilor, District 3

        • Not present.

    • School Board

      • Neonta Williams, District 2

        • Not present.

      • Mary Boehm, District 3

        • Not present.

  4. Announcements

    • Brush pickup dates - TBD

    • Recycling pickup dates - October 5th, October 19th

    • Next meeting - October 24th

Note: President Camille Worthington and Secretary Kayla MacNeil were present at the meeting. Vice President Murrary was absent and excused.