The newly elected Birmingham City Council has officially begun the new term. The council of nine; seven who are returning and two who are new, will serve for four years until October 2017.
All nine council members were officially sworn-in on Tuesday, October 22, 2013 in a brief ceremony just outside of City Hall. The inaugural week also included an Inauguration Ball with the Mayor and the new Birmingham City School Board, a ceremonial swearing-in of the councilors and a music festival at Railroad Park to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Birmingham City Council.
The new term begins with a new Council President, Maxine Herring Parker and President Pro-tempore, James “Jay” Roberson, Jr., also elected on Tuesday by the council.
“I’m truly humbled that my colleagues on the council have confidence in my leadership and elected me as President Pro Tempore. We now need to define success as a Birmingham City Council and really strategically plan in unison with Council President Parker and with all our colleagues on the council to work together for the betterment of our city. That also means building bridges with the Mayor, working in consortium with him to get projects done that will enhance our communities and the quality of life for all citizens,” said Council Pro-tem Jay Roberson.
The council now consists of returning Councilors: Council President, Maxine Parker; President Pro-tem, Jay Roberson; Valerie Abbott, Johnathan Austin, Steven Hoyt, Kim Rafferty and Lashunda Scales; and newly elected Councilors Sheila Tyson and Marcus Lundy.
Birmingham City Council, the legislative branch of city government, enacts all local laws and policies that govern the city.

Bio information on each councilor and contact information for their offices can be found on the Birmingham City Council’s web site at www.birminghamALcitycouncil.org.

During the Birmingham City Council Meeting held Tuesday, October 29, 2013, Council:

1. Approved a Resolution (1) finding that the allocation of up to $6,000.00 for 23 banners to be purchased and installed in the Crestwood North neighborhood, for pride and identification, constitutes a public purpose;

(2) authorizing the expenditure of the total amount of $6,000.00 in City of Birmingham funds, which have been allocated to the Crestwood North Neighborhood Association. For more information, contact the office of Councilor Valerie Abbott at 254-2355. 

2. Placed on consent an Ordinance authorizing the Mayor to execute a Purchase and Sale Agreement and a Lease Agreement with Birmingham Southern College under which the City will purchase properties located at 801, 805, 833, 901, 905, 911, 915 and 919 8th Avenue West from Birmingham Southern for a purchase price of $497,000.00 for purposes of future redevelopment, and the City will lease the property located at 801 8th Avenue West, which is currently being leased by Birmingham Southern to a third party for use as a restaurant, to Birmingham Southern for a term of eighteen months at a rental equal to one half of the rental paid by the restaurant tenant to Birmingham Southern, in order to allow the restaurant to continue its operations during such 18-month period. For more information, contact the office of Councilor Lashunda Scales at 254.2304.

3. Placed on consent a Resolution authorizing the Mayor to enter into the First Amendment to the Construction Agreement with Goudy Construction, Inc., Bessemer, Alabama for the Construction of the Dolomite Westfield Park Renovations, to increase the maximum amount payable to the contractor by $35,000.00 with the adjusted contract price increasing to a maximum of $651,299.00.

4. Approved a Resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute an agreement for and on the behalf of the City of Birmingham between the City and Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham in the amount of $55,058.00 for the development of the Titusville Community Framework Project and Western Area Framework Project.

5. Reappointed Brian T. Ruggs, P.E., to the Birmingham Planning Commission for a six (6) year term expiring October 6, 2019. For more information, contact the office of Councilor Valerie Abbott at 254.2355.

6. Approved a Resolution accepting the lump sum bid of Taylor & Miree Construction, Inc., 11 Dexter Avenue, Birmingham, in the amount of $2,578,219.00, for the Birmingham Intermodal Facility Phase 2 Bid Package 1, this being the lowest and best bid submitted, and authorizing the Mayor to enter into a contract with Taylor & Miree Construction, Inc. in accordance with said bid, providing that the total contract not exceed the appropriation.

7. Placed on consent a Resolution approving payment to Birmingham Jefferson County Animal Control, Birmingham, in the amount of $63,389.02 per month to extend the current animal control services contract for the period beginning November 1, 2013 through November 30, 2013. For more information, contact the office of Councilor Johnathan Austin at 254.2678.

8. The Council also approved the determination of several structures as unsafe public nuisances and directed that they be demolished. The structured are located at: 

• 9740 Williamsburg Drive 
• 9738 Williamsburg Drive 
• 1205 – 1st Avenue West 
• 5516 Cairo Avenue 
• 719 – 25th Street Ensley 
• 715 – 25th Street Ensley 
• 2772 – 17th Street Ensley 
• 1216 – 34th Street North 
• 5520 Cairo Avenue and Shed 
• 4724 – 9th Avenue North 
• 5113 Davis Street, Garage and Shed 
• 1609 – 17th Street North 
• 917 – 52nd Place North, Garage

Announcements and Reminders:

1. Birmingham City Councilor Sheila Tyson, District 6, will host a joint Halloween Party for the students of Our Future Daycare Center and the residents of the Princeton Towers Senior Living Center. The festivities will take place on Thursday, October 31, 2013, 10:00 a.m., at the Princeton Towers Senior Living Center located at 909 Princeton Avenue SW, 35211.

For more information, contact the office of Councilor Sheila Tyson at 254.2359. 

 Are you unable to attend the Birmingham City Council meetings? Watch Council Meetings on demand. From anywhere in the world you can log on to www.birminghamalcitycouncil.org and click on the tab Watch Council Meetings; or from the comfort of your home, tune to Bright House Cable Channel 244. The Birmingham City Council meetings are free and on demand. 
 The City of Birmingham will make reasonable accommodations to ensure that people with disabilities have equal opportunity to enjoy all city services, programs and activities. If accommodations are required for public meetings, please contact John Long, Senior Public Information Officer, with reasonable advance notice by emailing John.Long@birminghamal.gov, or by calling 205-254-2036.

 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Councilor Jay Roberson, who represents District 7, has been named the new Governmental Affairs Director for the Birmingham Association of Realtors®.
In his new role, Councilor Roberson will coordinate efforts in matters involving local, state and federal governments; as well as advocating on behalf of the association and its members to ensure policies, legislation and regulation are conducive to a positive and successful business environment.
“We are excited to have Jay on board here at the Association to head up our Office of Public Policy. As the real estate market continues to flourish and grow here in the Birmingham–metro area, it is important that we offer the best advocacy possible for our Realtor members. Because of his roots and successes representing the constituents of the City of Birmingham, Jay was the perfect candidate,” said Cliff Long, Chief Executive Officer of the Birmingham Association of Realtors®.
“I am excited about my new position with the association,” said Roberson. “In this role, I will be able to communicate with other municipalities, leaders and officials about the great work the association is doing on behalf of its members. I look forward to supporting the mission of the association and working with all of our members and supporters.”
Councilor Roberson previously served as Associate Director of Athletics at Samford University. He is the former Assistant Commissioner of the Southwestern Athletics Conference. Roberson received his Bachelor’s in Telecommunications from Alabama A&M University in 1996, where he was the starting quarterback from 1992-1994.
The Birmingham Association of Realtors® has 3,600 members who are real estate professionals engaged in all phases of real estate brokerage. They specialize in residential sales, commercial sales and leasing, development, appraisal and property management. Affiliate members include mortgage bankers, title insurance, closing attorneys, land surveyors, appraisers, home warranty, home inspection, etc. The Birmingham Association is a “metro-area” association with members serving Jefferson County, Shelby County and portions of Blount, and St. Clair counties.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  – Officials with Chilton County, the City of Clanton and the Chilton County Airport broke ground recently on a $2.6 million expansion and renovation project at the regional airport. The project will allow the airport to serve more corporate clients and transform the Clanton community where the airport is located.
“Very few improvements have been made to the airport in the last 25 years and it has been viewed by the community as only serving recreational flyers,” said Billy Singleton, a member of the airport authority. “We want to let people know this expansion will change that. Once the renovation and expansion is complete, the airport will not only support critical services for residents of Chilton County, but will be a resource for surrounding businesses, helping them grow, expand and bring more jobs to the area, therefore transforming our community.”
The project will use $2.6 million in combined grants to resurface the airport’s runway, replace runway lighting and provide new markings, install new lighting for night operations and purchase additional land surrounding the airport for better approach and departure for commercial aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration’s airport improvement program provided 90 percent of the funds, while 5 percent came from the Alabama Department of Transportation’s Aeronautics Bureau and 5 percent from Chilton County.
Singleton said the renovation and expansion will open the door for new clients, many of which have already expressed interest. He said the Chilton County Airport’s strategic location in the center of the state – between Birmingham and Montgomery – can also be accessed easily by state government. The Alabama Emergency Management Agency, the state’s coordinating agency for disaster preparedness, response and recovery, is located just 3 miles away.
Singleton said seeing the potential for the airport was a cumulative vision of the Chilton County Commission, the City of Clanton and the airport authority. The two governments worked closely with the airport to ensure the maximum benefits would be realized by this expansion for citizens in the city, county and state.
The airport authority also is working closely with Fred Crawford of the Chilton County Industrial Development Board and Mark Brown of the Birmingham Business Alliance (BBA) to help make the airport’s expansion impactful on the community and the Birmingham seven-county region.
“Airport development is such an important part of the total economic development program for Chilton County,” said Crawford. “Industry representatives for those national and regional accounts that we have working in Chilton County can fly into the county and have meetings and then go to the next site all in one day. New and expanding industries that have new or multiple sites can now fly in and inspect our industrial parks, arts and education and hopefully agree to make central Alabama home. Just as our five exits along Interstate 65 are important to auto and truck transportation and economic development, so is this airport important to transportation.”
As the Birmingham region expands, the Chilton County Airport will be there to help meet the demands of the business community and enhance the quality of life for the citizens in Clanton, said Fred McCallum, the president of AT&T Alabama and 2013 chairman of the BBA.
“These are the types of projects that require teamwork and vision at every level, which can transform a community,” said McCallum. “This asset in the Clanton and Chilton County area will help existing businesses grow and attract new industry that could serve customers throughout the state and Southeast through one central location.”
The Birmingham Business Alliance is a dynamic advocate, unifying voice and constant catalyst for economic development and business prosperity for the Birmingham region. For more information about the BBA visit its website at
www.birminghambusinessalliance.com.

MONTGOMERY – Gov. Robert Bentley has awarded a $130,220 grant to help a nonprofit agency in Jefferson County continue assisting child victims of sexual assault.
The funds will support the Bessemer Cut-Off Advocacy Center’s efforts to help abused children. The center provides counseling, court advocacy and specially trained nurses to examine victims. Center staff members work with law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, child protective services and medical and mental-health professionals to ensure victims receive professional, comprehensive care.
The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available to the state by the U.S. Department of Justice. ADECA administers a wide range of programs that support law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, workforce development, water resource management and recreation development.
Matching funds of $32,555 will supplement the grant. Bentley informed Arthur Green Jr., president of the center’s board, that the grant had been approved.
Along with grants, the organization depends on private donations and local public funds to ensure that free services remain available to victims.

Cash for Crooks Div. of Refuge In (RITT) Trouble Times Community Development, Inc., PO Box 28083, Birmingham, Ala. 35228-0001.

On November 7, 2012, at 3:30 a.m. near an alley, James Otis Holmes, age 21, after being charged for a murder; several months before, was found in a neighbor’s yard by the workers of Sanitation in the 4800 Block of Central Park next to a shed laying face down. No one has been arrested or named for his murder.
Please if you have any info concerning this or any cases found here, please contact Crimestoppers at 205-254-7777or text CRIMES7777.  RITT has for the past 2½ years printed these cases in hopes that we can help solve unsolved homicides.  We have assisted in founding four cases. Our police cannot be everywhere so it’s up to us, the citizens, to help. Will you make the call?  NO NICK NAMES PLEASE. If you know of any case that needs to be seen again, please contact Minister Ward at 205-240-9910 or email us at odussasplace@yahoo.com. Always remember, trouble has no destination, it comes like the Invisible Body Bag, unaware.  Don’t allow the opportunity to help someone pass you by. Help before it comes to your door; reality is when it happens to you. Thank you.

The Birmingham Police Department reports that detectives have arrested and charged four suspects in connection with a burglary investigation. The incident occurred on Thursday, October 24, 2013 at approximately 1 p.m., in the 5500 block of Crestwood Boulevard.
Officers responded to the incident location to investigate a call of a possible burglary in progress. Officers received information that the suspects exited a gold SUV and were acting suspiciously in a nearby wooded area behind nearby homes. Just before officers’ arrival, witnesses observed the suspects coming from the wooded area with electronics. Burglary investigators and officers arrived just as witnesses approached the suspects and caused them to flee the area. Detectives and officers were able to apprehend all four suspects a short distance away. Detectives were able to verify that the electronics and other valuables were taken from a nearby home.

The first suspect has been identified as:
Deangelo Williams, B/M, 28, of Birmingham, Alabama. A Burglary warrant has been obtained against the suspect. The suspect is in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail.

The second suspect has been identified as:
Reginald Martin, B/M, 18, of Birmingham, Alabama. A Burglary warrant has been obtained against the suspect. The suspect is in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail.

The third suspect has been identified as:
. A Burglary warrant has been obtained against the suspect. The suspect is in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail.

The fourth suspect has been identified as:
JUVENILE, B/M, 15, of Birmingham, Alabama. A Burglary petition has been obtained against the suspect. The suspect is in the custody of Jefferson County Juvenile Detention.

The Birmingham Police Department reports that detectives have arrested and charged a suspect in connection with a traffic fatality/murder investigation. The incident occurred on Saturday, October 19, 2013, at approximately 12:43 a.m., in the 1600 block of Vanderbilt Road.

The victim has been identified as:
Rashaad Cole, B/M, 10, of Birmingham, Alabama.

Officers responded to the incident location to investigate a report of a traffic accident. Upon arrival, officers observed a wrecked vehicle on the property of Brother’s Recycling. Officers also observed two adults and four children suffering from injuries. Birmingham Fire and Rescue arrived and pronounced the victim deceased on the scene. The adult victims were transported to U.A.B. Hospital for treatment. The surviving juvenile victims were transported to Children’s of Alabama for treatment. All surviving victims are expected to recover from their injuries.
Upon further investigation officers observed that the suspect/driver appeared intoxicated. Officers received additional information that the suspect/driver had consumed alcohol prior to driving the vehicle. Officers also learned that the suspect/driver had stopped at a nightclub prior to the accident while leaving the children in the car.

The suspect/driver has been identified as:
Sherita Harvey, B/F, 34, of Birmingham, Alabama.
The following warrants have been obtained against the suspect:
Murder with Reckless Indifference
Assault 1st Degree
Aggravated Child Abuse
Felony Child Abuse (3 Counts)
Total bond – $305,000

The suspect is in the custody of the Jefferson County Jail.

 
Homicide Investigation Update  

The Birmingham Police Department reports that detectives have identified the victim in a homicide that occurred on Sunday, October 27, 2013 at approximately 7:34 p.m., in the 300 block of 83rd Street North.

The victim has been identified as:
Benjamin Sloan, 31, of Gardendale, Alabama.

Officers from the East Precinct responded to the incident location to investigate a report of a person down. Upon arrival, officers discovered the 31-year-old victim sitting in an SUV that was in the roadway.  he victim was suffering from an apparent gunshot wound and was unresponsive.
Birmingham Fire and Rescue responded to the scene and pronounced the victim deceased.
There have been no arrests made in the case.
If there is anyone who has information pertaining to the case, they are encouraged to contact the BPD at 254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 254-7777.

Talladega County Man Pleads Guilty to Murder for Hire

BIRMINGHAM — A Talladega County man pleaded guilty in federal court to attempting to hire a member of the Ku Klux Klan to murder an African-American neighbor he suspected of raping his wife, announced U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance and FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard D. Schwein Jr.

ALLEN WAYNE DENSEN MORGAN, 29, of Munford, entered a guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Karon O. Bowdre to one count of using and causing someone else to use interstate facilities and travel — a telephone and a motor vehicle — with the intent to commit a murder-for hire. Morgan’s sentencing is scheduled Feb. 27.

“The defendant attempted to arrange the brutal murder of his neighbor as vengeance for a perceived wrong,” said Jocelyn Samuels, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice. “The Justice Department will prosecute with vigor those who seek violent vigilantism.”

“This defendant’s effort to solicit a murder for hire is a federal crime,” Vance said. “The prosecution here was swift and the punishment will be in a federal penitentiary. Future wrongdoers are on notice that we vigorously prosecute these crimes.”

Federal officials arrested Morgan in August after he told FBI agents posing as members of the KKK that he would pay them to murder his neighbor. Morgan admitted he offered a watch, a necklace and a gun as payment for the murder and gave explicit details for the man’s torture and murder.

Morgan’s efforts to arrange the paid murder of his neighbor unfolded as follows, according to his plea:

Morgan talked to an undercover FBI agent by telephone on Aug. 22, who identified himself as a KKK member. The men arranged to meet three days later at an Oxford motel to discuss payment for the murder. In that phone conversation, Morgan used a racial slur to describe the man he wanted killed and bragged that he had just fired several shots toward the man to intimidate him. Morgan also described, in detail, how he wanted the man “hung from a tree like a deer and gutted,” to have body parts cut off, and to “die a slow, painful death.”

Morgan faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Pat Meadows and John B. Felton of the Northern District of Alabama and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney David Reese are prosecuting the case.