Latest news with #DecaturCityCouncil
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council considers new point-of-sale system for Point Mallard Park
Jun. 14—The Decatur City Council is considering a proposal to hire a technology company to create a custom point-of-sale online system for Point Mallard Park. Stephanie McLain, Parks and Recreation operations manager, proposed hiring Medhtech, of Shelby County, to create the system for $120,000 a year for the next three years. She initially presented the proposal at the June 2 meeting, but council members had questions so it's now on Monday's agenda. McLain said Point Mallard's water park, campground and golf course run on different operating systems. She said the campground "as of now has no support," so should it fail, "we would have to go back to managing 216 (camping) sites with handwritten notes or EXCEL spreadsheets." Medhtech owner Dharmesh Vora said the "data is desperate" because it is in different systems. "If something goes wrong, there is no support or everything goes into management," said Vora, who met with multiple members of the Point Mallard administration to discuss their issues. McLain said the Aquatic Park can't sell a daily pass or admission ticket online so the customer can pick certain days to attend. People are unable to load money online to an armband the park provides so they don't have to carry cash. "All of these things you have to come to the park to do," she said. McLain said golfers are unable to book tee times or reserve a cart online. This requires calling and speaking to a team member during regular business hours, she said. "If you decide at 8 p.m. that you and a couple of buddies wanted to play golf the next day, you have to wait until morning to book that tee time," she said. McLain said she believes a more user-friendly system would create more business for the park. A major problem with the current systems is management of labor at the park. If it's a rainy day, McLain said, it's difficult to know how many employees to send home or allow to continue working because they can't tell exactly how many people are still in the park. She said they would like to know where to target the park's marketing efforts, but the current system don't show where the guests are visiting from. McLain said the park doesn't offer payment options for water park or golf passes that they would like to provide. "This would allow people to split up their purchases of season passes into three or four easy payments," McLain said. "A lot of us don't have the money to pay all of a pass at one time. This is a great feature that we could offer our community." McLain said Information Services helped her department search for an affordable alternative, including talking to people at conferences. She said one system they looked at is used by a lot of amusement parks, but the cost estimate was $1 million for installation and use and $500,000 for support. McLain said some they looked at didn't offer real-time data. Some companies offered online purchases but didn't allow an overnight reservation or everything they need to manage the park's business. Vora said his company would create a customer-relationship management system that's cloud-based for Point Mallard. "The important essence is not just catching the transaction, but how you roll it up to a financial transaction at a city level," Vora said. "We want a system that offers the services that customers are interested in, what we as a city can provide and where we can reach out to these customers." Council President Jacob Ladner asked if any of the system has already been developed or does it have to be built from the ground up. Vora said they're going to use an open-source system with "everything built into it," and then work with McLain to modify it to Point Mallard's needs. McLain said they would use money in the fiscal 2025 budget that's allocated for a new park app that the former Parks and Recreation director wanted but the current point-of-sale systems don't support. She said they would also use money they're paying for customer service and support of their current point-of-sale systems, which she called "very subpar." They would then have to add funding for the project in the following two budget years. "If we go through the first year and everything doesn't cost as much, that cost could be lower," McLain said. Vora said they will offer 24/7 service funded with the 20% cost for annual support, which he said is an industry standard. At the request of Councilman Billy Jackson in the June 2 meeting, Vora on Monday said he created a three-year schedule for the project with the goal of creating a point-of-sale system for the campground and golf course in fiscal 2025, Aquatic Park in 2026 and the new event center and Strike Zone in 2027. Councilman Carlton McMasters said Monday that he is concerned that the 20% might not cover unanticipated expenses or the project will take longer than planned. "That's not our fault if it takes longer to build out," McMasters said. Vora said the annual ceiling is $120,000 plus the 20% for support. His proposal shows six to seven Medhtech employees working on the project. — or 256-340-2432
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Qualifying begins with no announced candidates in Decatur District 5 council race
Jun. 10—With qualifying beginning Tuesday for the Aug. 26 municipal election, no one has announced plans to seek the District 5 Decatur City Council position. Incumbent Jacob Ladner announced in May that he will not seek reelection. Tony Vest, a Madison County sheriff's deputy, had announced he was running for the District 5 council seat but said Monday that he won't seek the office. "I was going to, but there's too much of a gray area between working in law enforcement and serving on the council," Vest said. "I have 10 years left in my career, and I can't afford to have an issue." Meanwhile, there's at least one announced candidate so far in each of the other races for the Aug. 26 municipal election. The races for mayor and District 4 council member are the most competitive. Billy Jackson, Kent Lawrence, Butch Matthews and Suzie Wiley are the announced candidates for mayor, with incumbent Tab Bowling deciding not to seek a third term. District 4 Councilman Hunter Pepper announced Monday that he is running for reelection in District 4. Josh Horton also announced recently that he is running for the seat. Their announcements mean there are four announced candidates in this race to represent the Southwest Decatur district. The other candidates are Pam Werstler and Angie Thom. At 18, Pepper was the youngest person ever elected to municipal office in the state and city. The 23-year-old now owns two small businesses. Horton, 33, is a marketing and media manager for Bryant Brothers Automotive & Performance. The father of five also owns Expedition Marketing, a private marketing and social media company. Pepper joins District 2's Kyle Pike and District 3's Carlton McMasters as incumbents running for reelection. Pike and McMasters do not have announced opposition so far. With Jackson not running for reelection to his council seat after representing District 1 for 29 years, Terrance Adkins and Nick Perkins said they plan to run for the seat. Board President Michelle Gray King said four of the five Decatur school board incumbents are running again and, so far, they are unopposed. The incumbents seeking reelection are District 1's King, District 2's Peggy Baggett, District 4's Dwight Jett Jr. and District 5's Jason Palmer. Local accountant Katye Coats is the only announced candidate in District 3. This district seat will be empty because Doug Bacchus isn't running again. He has a new job and is moving to Birmingham. City Clerk Stephanie Simon said qualifying begins Tuesday and runs through June 24. City Hall will be closed June 19 for the Juneteenth holiday. Candidates can qualify at her office daily from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The qualifying fee is $50. Candidates should fill out the state's Statement of Economic Interest form that's available at the Alabama Ethics Commission website and bring it with them when they qualify, Simon said. Simon said the candidate will be swearing that the information in the qualifying paperwork is correct. She said this includes showing their home address is in the district if he or she is running for City Council or a school board seat. Simon said the candidate must be 18, a registered voter and live in the city and/or district since May 28. — or 256-340-2432
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Improvements to begin on Flying Dragon Disc Golf Course
May 30—Hall of Fame Course Design will begin to update and improve the Flying Dragon Disc Golf Course, located at the Jack Allen Recreation Complex, next week. The Decatur City Council approved a resolution Monday to allow Mayor Tab Bowling to sign a contract with the company. Hall of Fame first provided the city with a description of the scope of work in January. "It's basically just giving the course a refresh and making it more playable and safer," said Lavone Wolfe, owner of Hall of Fame Course Design. "We hope that it will help it get a lot more use." Wolfe estimated the project will take between four and eight weeks, depending on weather conditions. The scope of work contract estimates the project's total cost to be $114,312. The city received a grant for $100,000 from Alabama Mountains, Rivers and Valleys. The additional $14,000 will come from the Community Development grant-matching budget. "We have a ton of quality of life, recreation projects going on, so I think it shows that not everything is a $52 million rec center," said Councilman Kyle Pike. "Some things are as small as a $100,000 improvement to a disc golf course." In February, the city broke ground on the new Wilson Morgan Park recreation center, the largest Parks and Recreation project in progress. Pike said the disc golf course update is another way to support the varying hobbies of Decatur residents. Wolfe will focus improvements primarily on holes 11 through 18, including walkways. Updates will include installing new concrete tee pads, refurbishing the targets, adding new signs and removing boulders. The improvements will make the course more navigable, safer and easier to play on, Wolfe said. Players have requested upgrades to the course in recent years, largely because of the difficulty seeing targets and walking through the course. "It's to the point that it really needs it," Wolfe said. Hall of Fame first installed the Flying Dragon Course in 2012. Wolfe, a Disc Golf Hall of Fame inductee, has designed or built more than 78 courses in the Southeast. Brad Phillips, Decatur's director of Information Systems, is an avid disc golfer. He enjoys traveling to different disc golf courses in the area and spoke highly of Wolfe's work. The disc golf community in north Alabama has been on the rise in recent years, Phillips said. "With (these updates), I expect the playing on that course to go way up," Wolfe said. Decatur has two other disc golf courses: the Outback, at Central Park, and Riverside, at Rhodes Ferry Park. — or 256-340-2437
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Council ready to hire planning director after final candidate couldn't interview this week
May 24—The Decatur City Council majority is ready to move on with their first choice for planning director even though Councilman Billy Jackson wants to interview another candidate. All five councilmen said Clifford Cross, director of Economic Development, Planning and Zoning in Belleville, Illinois, impressed them in his recent interview. Four said this week that they're ready to offer the job to Cross. However, Jackson asked the council on Monday to interview Chad Bowman, planning and development director for West Memphis, Arkansas. He said former Decatur Planning Director Michelle Gilliam-Jordan recommended that they consider Bowman. The rest of the City Council agreed to interview Bowman, but only if he could come to Decatur this week. They said they want to move quickly because Cross said in his interview he is considering other options. Human Resources Director Richelle Sandlin said Tuesday that Bowman informed her that he can't come to Decatur this week. She also said that Cross knows that the City Council's next regular meeting is not until June 2. Council President Jacob Ladner and fellow councilmen Hunter Pepper, Kyle Pike and Carlton McMasters said they aren't willing to wait to interview Bowman even though they can't make an official decision until the next council meeting. "If Bowman can't meet this week, my intention is to move forward with Cross," said Ladner, who added that he won't be available next week. Pike reiterated his stance that he would be OK with interviewing Bowman if it were done quickly. But, since that's not the case, he said they need to move forward with Cross. "I don't believe we should risk losing a candidate that all five council members like," Pike said. Jackson said he doesn't think the City Council should be in such a hurry, especially since the city hasn't had a planning director since 2009 and they're risking missing out on a candidate who could be a superstar. Gilliam-Jordan was the last planning director certified in planning before leaving to work in Huntsville in 2009. The director of development, whether it was Wally Terry or now Dane Shane, has supervised the department that was run by a planning manager the last 10 years. The council upgraded the position to planning director in November. "It's so important that we get absolutely the right person for that position," Jackson said. "We have interviewed a candidate who is very good in everybody's opinion, but we do have a very good candidate out there who I would like to interview, and we should do everything that we can to interview this person." Jackson said he thinks the council "shouldn't rush into this situation" even though Cross says he has other opportunities. "We should respect that and work in the quickest way that we possibly can," Jackson said. "I don't think we should rush into a decision based on his schedule versus the schedule of the citizens of Decatur." He said he doesn't have a problem with the possibility of appointing Cross. He said he just thinks it's important that the council do its due diligence in the search, and that includes an interview with Bowman. After interviewing three candidates and holding a reception for two of them, Bowman and Cross were among the five supplemental applicants added late in the selection process. Sandlin initially recommended Cross because of his 25 years in planning. She added Bowman with "reservation because of his limited scope of experience." — or 256-340-2432
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Decatur Council President Ladner won't seek reelection as District 5 councilman
May 24—One term is enough for Decatur City Council President Jacob Ladner, who announced Friday that he will not seek reelection as the District 5 councilman. Ladner said he has known for a while that he would not run and felt it was time, with the June 10 beginning of the qualifying period for the municipal election approaching, to make his announcement. "I wanted to give potential candidates time to consider whether they want to run knowing that there's an open seat," Ladner said. "Hopefully, this will get more people interested." So far, there haven't been any formal public announcements from potential candidates for District 5, located mainly between Beltline Road Southwest and Gordon Terry Parkway. Ladner said several factors went into his decision not to run again. The 39-year-old has three young, active children. He is also chief executive officer of Thirdmark Capital, a commercial finance company that's 3 years old and growing. He said former Councilman Greg Reeves gave him some advice in 2020 when he was considering running. "Greg talked about having the mentality if I won that I was not going to run again," Ladner said. "He said that would really free you up, so you don't have to worry about whether you're making the right decisions just to get reelected." Despite this mentality, he said it wasn't always definite that he would just serve one term. Mayor Tab Bowling, who has had an occasionally rocky relationship with Ladner, said he's "disappointed (with the decision) but I understand." The mayor complimented Ladner, saying he "has a good mind for business," but that working as council president takes a lot of time away from his family and company. "I know people see what goes on during Monday's council meetings, but they don't see all of the other work that goes on," Bowling said. "They don't see us working with developers or making plans for other types of quality-of-life projects." As president, Ladner has led the council during the almost 20 months of controversy following the Sept. 29, 2023, shooting death of Steve Perkins by a Decatur police officer. The controversy included criticism of Ladner by Bowling and others for continuing the often loud and rowdy public comment periods at council meetings because some felt the sessions were having a negative impact on the city. "No, that had no bearing on my decision on whether to run again or not," Ladner said. Ladner and the council majority also pushed out Todd Pinion as police chief and hired Torry Mack, who starts June 2. Sharonda Acklin, of Standing In Power, a social justice group group that has led many protests related to Perkins' death, said she's surprised that Ladner isn't running again. "We wish him the best of luck on his future endeavors," Acklin said. "I think he did the best he could with the way he knew how to do it. He was open to hearing what the community had to say regarding the state of the city, whether or not that was put into action or taken outside of the words he heard." Most recently, Ladner was criticized for pausing public comment at two council meetings and changing the public comment rules after a chaotic meeting that led to the arrest of six people in attendance. Bowling also banned the six from City Hall. "I think he did the best he knew how with everything that's going on," Acklin said. "I believe making change to the public comment was to appease his higher-ups." While he's not running again, Ladner said serving on the council for the last four and a half years "has been one of the greatest honors of my life," and he's "incredibly proud" of the accomplishments during this term. He said he is proud of how aggressive this City Council has been. He mentioned the $98 million 3M Co. lawsuit settlement, which led to the ongoing construction of the new Wilson Morgan Recreation Center and multiple recreation facilities. Bowling said he thinks the 3M settlement was the biggest accomplishment of Ladner's term. He said this set in motion Ladner's goal of making Decatur a leader in recreation again with the construction of the new sports facilities. Ladner is council liaison to Decatur Utilities, and the utility is working on ending sanitary sewer overflows with a $165 million rate increase. Previously a problem that led to state fines, the city hasn't had a rain-induced sewer overflow in more than two years. The city also made public infrastructure improvements like the new Morgan County-Decatur Farmers Market and a new downtown parking deck. The council built the deck as an incentive for a new Fairfield Inn by Marriott hotel. The council under Ladner's leadership agreed to an incentive package that is bringing GreenPoint Ag's headquarters to Lee Street Northeast. Ladner is also proud of the renewed focus on residential development. "This led to more housing growth this term than in recent memory. People are choosing to make Decatur home — an encouraging sign of the city's momentum," he said. He said that when he ran, he "wanted to change the attitude of waiting for things to happen. I hope this is a good thing, but I wanted to make things happen and change how aggressive we are." Ladner said he hopes the next administration stays aggressive in adding quality-of-life attractions to the city. "I hope it doesn't just sit around worrying about mowing the grass and paving the roads," Ladner said. "Those things need to occur, but I want them to make things happen." He said several important projects are underway and will continue beyond his term. These include the Sixth Avenue streetscape, drainage improvements at Princeton Place, widening of Modaus Road and Bunny Lane, the planned $30 million Ingalls Harbor commercial and residential development and a hoped for additional Tennessee River bridge. City leadership will change when the four-year term begins Nov. 3. Bowling is not seeking a third term. In addition to Ladner's decision, Councilman Billy Jackson is running for mayor after almost 29 years on the council. He has three announced opponents for mayor so far. District 2 Councilman Kyle Pike is running again while Councilmen Carlton McMasters (District 3) and Hunter Pepper (District 4) have not announced their decisions. District 4 has two announced candidates, Pam Werstler and Angie Thom, and District 1 has one announced candidate, Terrance Adkins. Qualifying for the municipal election is June 10-25 at the City Clerk's office. The registration fee is $50. The election is Aug. 26, with the runoff, if necessary, on Sept. 23. — or 256-340-2432
