Council Comments

Scott Brakefield Ward 6 | City Council President brakefield@cityofalabaster.com Greetings! The municipal elections are behind us. I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve the City that has given so much to me. We still have some pretty important elections coming up. We will have the runoff for Ward 5 on October 6th. Then we will have the big one in November. So, we aren't quite done yet. Please make sure you do not forget to exercise your right to vote! As we are approaching the end of the 2020 fiscal year, I am excited to report that the City is trending to have revenues well in excess of expenditures. That is a great accomplishment considering the impact that COVID has had on our local businesses. Thank you to all of our residents that continued to shop Alabaster first and help our local businesses during some very dark times. It is very encouraging to hear that ALDOT is finally making offers on ROW acquisition for the expansion on Highway 119. This is a huge step forward in the our progress. Once all the ROW has been acquired, it will be on to relocation of utilities and then road construction. Lastly, it was great to see the Warriors take the field vs. Oxford on August 22nd. The second Annual Go Gold Bowl benefiting Childhood Cancer Awareness and Children’s Hospital was a success. I am hopeful that we will continue to move towards some sense of normalcy as we continue to battle COVID. Thanks for everything that each of you do to make Alabaster the absolute best place to live! Scott

Sophie Martin | Ward 1 martin@cityofalabaster.com Progress continues in Ward 1. To improve safety for residents and to help address the speeding issue, new speed warning signs were installed in several locations along Weatherly Club Drive. Additionally, the directional street signage was repainted at all stop sign locations in the bike lanes. Thank you to Mark Harris and the Public Works team for getting this completed. Renovations and enhancements continue to be made at Abby Wooley Park located off Hwy.11. For the safety of residents, the park will remain closed until the work is complete which is projected for the first week of November 2020. Once the work is complete, please be on the lookout for a scheduled ribbon cutting and re-dedication service of this very special and historic park.

It is a true honor and blessing to serve as council member again for Ward 1 and the City of Alabaster, especially during these challenging times. I am deeply grateful to the residents of Ward 1 for their ongoing support and partnership as we continue to move our great community and city forward. cityofalabaster.com Rick Ellis | Ward 2 ellis@cityofalabaster.com I want to start this month by congratulating Scott Brakefield on being elected our city’s next mayor. I would also like to congratulate Stacy Rakestraw and Greg Farrell on their re-election as well as congratulate Seth Gandy on his election in Ward 6. Also, congratulations to Jamie Cole and Mike Mehlhoff on making it to a run-off in Ward 5 later this month. With Kerri Pate and Sophie Martin, who were unopposed, the voters of Alabaster have put together a tremendous team to move this city forward for the next four years! As for me, I would like to thank the residents of Ward 2 for entrusting me to represent you for another four years! It is an honor to represent you, and I look forward to doing so along with this great team!

Well, school has started and it is vastly different than any of us would have thought this time last year. Students are learning from home, teachers are not only trying to physically teach at school, but at the same time are trying to teach students virtually as well! Then there are the parents that have to balance a work life and a life with their kids staying home three days a week. This is definitely difficult at best for all of us! I believe that we will eventually get through this and get back to normal, but in the meantime we all have to work together to get through this time in history. Please keep the students, teachers, parents, and administrators in your prayers! Rick

Stacy Rakestraw | Ward 3 rakestraw@cityofalabaster.com First, I would like to thank the residents of Ward 3 for voting and allowing me to serve them and the City of Alabaster for another term. It is a joy to serve. As always, call me or email me any time you have a question or concern. On the back of this magazine is my contact information.

Our decision to purchase the Kingwood Field property was vetted by several department heads, and the fields and facilities have been kept in good condition. Also, the appraisal of the 8.3 acres with bathroom facilities, field house, sprinkler system, etc. came in around $660,000. The City was able to offer $575,000. We will be able to use this property for little league practice fields and games. It is a turn-key opportunity. In the future, we plan to put a walking trail and playground on the property. In our recent park study, a deficit in park facilities is shown on the north side of town and overall for our city. This purchase will help in the progress of our comprehensive plan and the desire

to build the Buck Creek walking trail from one end of the city to the other.

We are currently working on our 2021 Budget. During the COVID season, our revenues have stayed above the projected revenues. However, our gas tax is down, which is going to limit repaving this season. Gas tax can only be used for roads.

Welcome, Dunkin’ Donuts, and thank you for choosing Alabaster. This enhances the Medical Mile and is conveniently located for residents. Stacy

Greg Farrell | Ward 4 farrell@cityofalabaster.com I would like to take this time to say thank you to the citizens of Ward 4 for your support during the recent election. I am humbled and honor to have served the citizens the last four years and looking forward to serving you the next four years. With your support I will do my best to meet the needs of the citizens and propel Alabaster forward in continuing to make this a great city. I also would like to commend all the candidates that participated in the election. The sacrifices that you make to run for office does not go unnoticed; it means stepping out of comfort zones testing your limits. Thank you again for your dedication to your campaigns and willingness to run for office to help make Alabaster great. To the citizens of Ward 5, there is a run-off for your council seat, please do your part and support your candidates on October 6th.

During the last few months, the city held groundbreakings for several projects around the city. These projects include the total renovation to Abbey Wooley Park, expansion of Veterans Park, and the new Alabaster Police Headquarters. These projects will continue to enhance the city in more ways than one. I am proud to have supported these projects, especially the Police Headquarters. When I ran for Council four years ago, this was one of my reasons for running. I wanted to see a much-needed new police headquarters. This project will help recruit and retain qualified police officers, bring them under one building, and give them the much-needed tools and facilities to perform their job in a professional manner. We are proud of our police officers and the job they do. Greg

Russell Bedsole | Ward 5 bedsole@cityofalabaster.com Greetings! With all of the uncertainty in the world right now, I want to say how great it is that schools and sports have started back. Our parks and recreation department has done a great job of creating opportunities for our young athletes to still enjoy fall sports. the council recently passed a resolution to enter into a purchase agreement for the athletic fields and fieldhouse that was formerly Kingwood Christian School. We are currently in the process of due diligence to make sure this is a wise investment for all our citizens. I also commend our library and senior center for the creative ways they are still supporting our community with online activites, drive up services, and availability to help. Finally, I would like to congratulate those who placed their name on the ballot. A democratic society only works when people step up to serve and our citizens stay informed and vote for their preferred candidates. We have a run-off for Ward 5 residents on Oct 6th to fill the seat I am vacating. Russell

Kerri Pate | Ward 7 pate@cityofalabaster.com First off, I would like to commend our City Clerk Mark Frey and Deputy Clerk Lisa Glasgow on you and your team’s outstanding efforts in a very professional and well-orchestrated election. Secondly, I would like to congratulate all the newly elected officials. I look forward to serving with each of you over the next four years. As you know, I was unopposed this election, and with great honor comes an even greater responsibility. My hope is that you all were satisfied and/or felt that I represented you well, and that you entrusted me to continue doing so. I have learned so much in the last four years. I have met so many of you all and heard your concerns, ideas and even some of your displeasure with decisions that we have made. I will continue to serve each of you honorably and humbly. I will continue to be accessible to you and to answer your questions to the best of my ability. Like I have said before, I may not give you the answer that you may want, but my goal is to at least answer what you ask of me and to take your concerns back to the proper department heads at City Hall. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for allowing me to be the voice of Ward 7.

Fall’s activities and sports are back in full swing, and it has been wonderful to see the students in our city able to participate and share their talents with us all through sports and the arts. The band looked and sounded great at the season opening football game, and our cheerleaders cheered our mighty Warriors on to a huge victory! Our cross country team and volleyball teams are once again proving that we have amazing athletes of all kinds in our programs. I want to commend our school system on executing an outstanding plan to bring normalcy back in to our lives. Our children, teachers and all of us were hungry for the interaction of the classroom and extracurricular activities, and I am grateful we are moving in that direction, although with some restrictions. Kerri