We sat down with the City Council to discuss priorities, the new term, and what’s in store for Alabaster in the new year.
By Barry Wise Smith
Photos by Neal Wagner
Alabaster Connection: This question is for the two new Council members, Jamia and Mike. Sometimes coming in as the new person onto an existing team can be hard. How has the beginning of your first terms been and how has it been integrating onto the Council?
Jamia Alexander-James: It’s been fantastic! It’s so great to work with such a good group of people because they’re so welcoming. Any questions I’ve had, they’ve answered them with smiles and made me feel so welcome. There’s a huge learning curve, and they’ve helped me through that.
Mike Myers: It’s been so nice to experience this with someone else who’s new to this like I am. This last month has been a bit of a whirlwind, but we’re starting to get our feet under us. Everyone has been so nice, and we’re all working toward the same goals.
AC: This Council has accomplished so much over the past five years. With the new Council in place, what are the priorities for this new term and for the next year in Alabaster?
Council President Greg Farrell: I think the top priority is to get Phase 2 of 119 done and the widening of Interstate 65 as well. The city has put the funding into that along with Calera, ALDOT, and Shelby County, so that’s big. We would like to at least get the new fire station #4 bid out. We already have the land—five acres off Simmsville Road—so we’d like to get that project bid out. The funding is there, and it will get our services more centrally located.
Mike Myers: The Ward 1 priority and for me personally is to start to see the District 31 project come out of the ground. The progress being made is very exciting!
Jamie Cole: We’ve been very active as an administration over the past five years funding projects and creating projects, and now it’s execution time. We’re going to start seeing things coming out of the ground. We’re less than a year into our ambulance service, and we’ve already made 1,300 service calls. Since we’ve kept the core of our team and added two incredible new members who are no strangers to leadership in our city, it fits right into that execution phase. All the things that we’ve talked about for the past five years are actually happening in the next four.
President Pro Tem Kerri Pate: We also are all aware that none of the things that are happening would be possible without our employees. We want to make sure we are staying competitive in salaries and benefits. Also staying on top of the benefits for our retirees, which Greg does a great job of. And making sure we put the right person in place as head of the new recreation center. We’ve invested so much in this project, we want a really strong leader in that position. Another thing is the new Walker Springs residential development and making sure the city gets the project we were promised. People are wanting to move here and have their kids go to school here, and we have to give them places to live.
Rick Ellis: I want to look at the things we’re already doing and make sure there aren’t things we can be doing better. We’re talking about taking another look at junk and rubbish pickup and recycling again. Just making sure that we’re looking at all the services we’re providing now and seeing if we can make them better for our residents.
AC: What are the Council’s wish list items?
Mike Myers: Connecting Alabaster Boulevard to Highway 31. That would be number one for me. The traffic congestion is unreal. Having that as a pass through would be really great.
Kerri Pate: I would say a retirement or senior living community. We have residents who want to stay in Alabaster, but they don’t want the big house and the big yard and upkeep. We’d like to provide that option for our residents.
Jamie Cole: We do need more of the mixed-use element in our City Center with loft living. We want to make it as walkable and accessible as it can be to anyone who wants to use these amenities. Jamia has said this several times since she was elected, ‘why are we letting people leave Alabaster for things that we can provide for them?’ We don’t want people to leave and go other places; we want to provide everything right here.
Greg Farrell: We’re one of the fastest growing, continuously growing communities in the area. In the next five to 10 years, we are adding approximately 2,000 rooftops. There’s a lot of potential here.