Latest news with #TrussvilleTribune
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Former Trussville Chamber President Eddie Seal dies
The following article is by Chris Basinger, managing editor of the Trussville Tribune: TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — Eddie Seal, who twice served as president of the Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce and was the former owner of Jefferson Memorial Funeral Home and Gardens, has passed away. He was 74. Seal was a pillar of the community and through his life offered support to countless families in their times of grief. He was active on numerous boards and service organizations including the chamber, the Trussville Gas & Water Board, the Trussville Redevelopment Authority, the Alabama Board of Funeral Service, and Faith Community Fellowship Church. 'I've known Eddie for probably 30 years, our daughters cheered together in high school, and I just consider him a great friend and mentor. I'm just heartbroken over the loss,' Councilor Alan Taylor said. 'He did so much good in our community, he was just a true servant and we're gonna miss him. Trussville is gonna miss him because whenever something needed to be done he was always there and he was always a part of it and he's just gonna be missed, and I'm gonna miss him as a friend.' He was also a longtime member of the Trussville Rotary Daybreak Club where he served as president from 2015-16 as well as in other roles. The club posted on Facebook, 'In Rotary, Eddie's leadership and passion were unmistakable. He helped raise significant funds through projects like Smokin' 'n Stokin', brought in new members, chaired key committees, and crafted a 5-year strategic plan that shaped the future of our club. He also proudly recognized outstanding students and teachers during his presidency and welcomed respected community leaders to our podium—from Coach Josh Floyd to Congressman Gary Palmer.' The tribute continue, 'But more than titles and accolades, Eddie was kind. He was thoughtful, sharp-witted, and always looking for ways to serve others. He loved Trussville. He loved Rotary. And we loved him. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Barbara, Brian, Adam, Lauren, and all of Eddie's family. We will deeply miss his presence, but we will carry his spirit of service with us always.' Walker County Sheriff Nick Smith arrested In January, Seal received the 2024 Lifetime Achievement Award from Mayor Buddy Choat during the chamber's Toast of the Town for his years of service to the community. 'Eddie was not only a close friend, but when I think of Trussville, I think of Eddie because of everything he's been involved with in Trussville and how much he loved the city and doing things to help the city,' Mayor Choat said. 'I feel for his family. It's a shock to all of us and we can only keep the family in our prayers as they go through this very tragic time for them, but Eddie Seal has meant a lot, not only to me personally, but to a lot of people in Trussville and he will be missed.' He was also a member of Leadership Trussville's Class 2 with the organization posting, 'Eddie was the embodiment of servant leadership—humble, kind, and always ready to lend a hand. From serving on local boards and actively supporting the Trussville Daybreak Rotary Club, to quietly showing up with a grill and a smile for community events and first responders, Eddie gave of himself in countless ways. He was a friend to all and a light in every room. There are no words to fully express the loss we feel. Our hearts go out to his family and all who had the privilege of knowing and loving him. Eddie's legacy of service and compassion will forever be a part of Trussville.' Tribune Publisher Scott Buttram added, 'You may meet someone who loved Trussville as much as Eddie, but you'll never meet anyone who loved Trussville more. He continuously poured himself into his family and his community. I think he led almost every service organization in town at some point. Eddie thrived on serving others.' His visitation will be held at Faith Community Fellowship from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Friday, June 13. The service will start at 1 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Sunday services to proceed after fire strikes Solid Rock Church
PINSON, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — Pastor Larry Ragland of Solid Rock Church in Pinson took to social media even as firefighters from the Center Point Fire Department battled a blaze in the church building to explain the situation on Saturday night. Ragland said he was notified of the fire by an alarm company. The call, he said, came after power outages due to a storm at his home and the church. The Center Point Fire Department notified the public of a fire in the 5000 block of Pinson Valley Parkway at about 9 p.m. Storms cause significant damage in Mulga Ragland said in a later post that the fire did not reach the sanctuary, but the gym and administrative offices wing had sustained significant damage and smoke damage was extensive. While the cause of the fire is still uncertain, as is the condition of the structure, the pastor was not uncertain about Sunday services. They will proceed as scheduled. Ragland said special services to celebrate the Day of the Pentecost were already planned. The title of today's sermon? The Burning Ones. Services begin at 10 a.m. and will be streamed live on the church's Facebook page and on YouTube. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Former Pinson Mayor Hoyt Sanders seeks return to office
PINSON, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — Hoyt Sanders has announced that he will be running for mayor of Pinson in this year's municipal election, seeking a return to the office he held for 16 years. Sanders served as mayor from when the city was incorporated in 2004 until his defeat to Joe Cochran in 2020. After Mayor Cochran passed away last year following a long battle with ALS, Councilor Robbie Roberts was sworn in as mayor. Sanders was appointed to fill Roberts' seat on the council. Brad Walker announces reelection bid for Pinson City Council In his announcement, Sanders highlighted numerous projects the city undertook during his time as mayor from paving roads and installing the traffic signal at Pinson Valley High School to enhancing their law enforcement program with the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office and providing funding to both fire districts and local schools. 'We purchased the former Carraway Medical Building to house City Hall and began the Pinson Public Library, which became 10th in circulation in the entire Birmingham Public Library Cooperative. We purchased the land and constructed Bicentennial Park and Splashpad. We then purchased the Rock School and renovated spaces for the Library and our newly formed Public Works division,' Sanders wrote. 'We did all this and maintained a firm financial footing and received stellar annual audits,' he added. 'I would be honored to be your Mayor and get back to work moving Pinson forward!' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Irondale to welcome visitors with new ‘Gateway' art celebrating city's identity
IRONDALE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — The City of Irondale is getting to work on a new project that will see the construction of three new design features that will greet residents and visitors as they enter the community. On Wednesday, Mayor James D. Stewart, Jr. unveiled the preliminary renderings for the city's Gateway Project, which aims to highlight the city's identity. Magnolia Soap & Bath Co. brings fresh scents to Trussville 'As Irondale continues to grow and evolve, it's important that the first impression we make reflects the pride we have in our community,' Mayor Stewart said. 'These new gateway designs will serve as bold, welcoming landmarks that celebrate our city's unique identity and signal to everyone—residents, visitors, and future investors—that Irondale is the place to be.' The gateway designs feature the city's new branding, beautiful landscaping, and artistic elements. The designs will be located at 16th Street & Crestwood Boulevard, the roundabout at Cahaba Crossing, and the Grants Mill Road exit off I-459. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trussville moves closer to implementing garbage fees, council discusses ways to alleviate costs
The following story is from Chris Basinger with our media partners at The Trussville Tribune TRUSSVILLE, Ala. (Trussville Tribune) — The Trussville City Council voted to accept the terms of an amendment to the city's waste collection agreement that would open the door to directly billing residents for service during a special meeting Tuesday evening. The vote was 4-1 with Councilor Perry Cook opposed. Though the council voted to allow the mayor to agree to the new terms, the agreement is non-binding and will still have to come before the council one final time on June 10 for final approval before it is enacted. Ahead of that meeting, the council will hold a workshop on June 5 where members will discuss how the new fees will be implemented and ways the city could alleviate costs for customers. Under the terms of the amendment, residents would be charged $29.90 a month for garbage and debris collection services, which will be the same service they currently receive. Customers would be billed by Amwaste on a quarterly basis. Family mourning loss of Regina Smith after body recovered from Noccalula Falls That rate would be subject to an annual price adjustment, which could increase the cost to residents after the first year, based on the consumer price index and fuel costs. Though participation in municipal garbage collection services would be mandatory for all residents, the state requires an exemption process for citizens whose sole source of income is derived from Social Security or those who have special permits granted by the State Health Department to dispose their own garbage. In addition to the mandatory exemptions, the council is considering ways to lessen the burden on residents such as expanding who could be eligible for an exemption, covering part of the cost to customers, or attaching a sunset clause to the amendment. If the council decides to widen exemptions or cover part of the $29.90 monthly cost to customers, the city would have to pay the difference. The current solid waste agreement with the Cahaba Solid Waste Disposal Authority and Amwaste as well as the new amendment can be viewed below. During Tuesday's meeting, Mayor Buddy Choat and the council again explained the main drivers behind the change in front of a packed house. Last year, the city was hit with a significant decline in sales tax revenue, which makes up about two-thirds of its general fund budget. In FY24, the city budgeted for sales tax revenues of $33.6 million but only took in $30.9 million. This fiscal year, the city budgeted sales tax revenues of $32.4 million, representing a 3% drop. Choat said the drop was not something the city had anticipated as sales tax revenues had steadily risen over the last five years. He attributed last year's drop to the post-pandemic economy, inflation, and the rise of online shopping. The city receives a smaller portion of sales tax revenues from online sales, and he added that if all the online purchases in 2024 had been made at a Trussville business instead, the city would have around $4 million more in revenue. '[Online shopping] is here, it's gonna stay here, so we're trying to find a way to rebuild our bottom line to where if online shopping continues, which it will, then we have to find a way to subsidize some of the things that the city's gonna need,' Choat said With the decline in revenue, the city passed its latest budget with a deficit spend of almost $1 million, believing that the deficit can be made up and they can end the year with a balanced budget by taking actions such as shifting the cost of garbage services. 'To be quite honest with you, that's not something we were proud of, but there was no way around it,' Choat said while speaking on the budget. 'We had some things that were already happening that we were responsible for that were coming in this year that we had to paid for that were [purchased ordered] out the year before or even the year before that, but when we saw that we started looking at different ways of producing some other revenues for the city.' Some of those measures the city has taken include doubling the city's lodging tax from 6% to 12% as well as instituting a hiring freeze and limiting overtime for city employees in an effort to balance the budget. Councilor Ben Short noted that about 80% of the city's spending is on salaries while about 6.8% is on residential waste collection. The city has paid for residential garbage services since 2002 under an agreement made by Mayor Gene Melton's administration after the city raised its sales tax by 1 cent to help create Trussville City Schools. Since then, Trussville has grown significantly, rising from 12,000 people in 2002 to about 27,000 now. With that, the city has gone from budgeting around $500,000 annually for resident garbage collection to $2.6 million. Choat also addressed funding for Trussville City Schools following last year's failed vote to increase property taxes, which would have gone toward funding three major TCS expansion projects. Without the additional tax revenue to support bonding at a cost of $90 million, the district has prioritized the construction of the C-Wing at Hewitt-Trussville High School, which is currently at 104% capacity. 'Going into the budget year we knew we had a shortfall, we had discussions, and there's a lot of misconceptions out there that this is punishment for the property tax vote not passing–it is not,' Choat said. 'This is not a school funding issue, this is about a general fund issue.' Multiple residents spoke at the meeting, posing questions about how the garbage fees would be implemented and the possibility of costs rising as well as criticizing the council for purchasing the properties at Glendale Farms and along Service Road. The city spent around $4 million on Glendale Farms to use as the site of new elementary school and $5 million for property on Service Road to prevent the construction of a proposed 500 unit apartment complex. The city has since agreed to sell the Service Road property to a developer who plans to build about 190 homes, but was only able to make up $3 million on the sale with the mayor saying that city had to match the price the apartment developer was willing to pay but that selling it for the same amount would be too expensive for a housing developer. Choat defended the Service Road purchase, saying the city felt an obligation to buy the property in order to keep the apartments out and combat overcrowding in the area. Though Glendale Farms was initially intended to be used as the site of Trussville's next elementary school, the failure of the recent property tax vote has put those plans on hold and the city is now accepting offers to sell the property. During the council's discussion on the amendment, Councilor Alan Taylor discussed the rapid development and growth of the city as well as the cost of it. 'We'll get through this, and we're determined to get through it and I certainly love having the downtown, the Edgar's, and the places have versus Sticks N Stuff and a thrift store and all of those things which we could've had which also would've affected our school system,' Taylor said. Councilor Lisa Bright added that according to the Alabama League of Municipalities that between 2000 and 2020 the City of Trussville grew 83%, saying that the city is now playing catch up with its schools and infrastructure because of how fast the city has grown. 'Yes, we don't want a deficit, and we are gonna get through it, but we can't just stop what we're doing because if we stop we're gonna go backwards, and if we go backwards we're gonna lose families, and if we lose families we're gonna lose our school system,' Bright said. Councilor Jaime Anderson personally apologized to the public for the city coming in under its projected revenue. 'I would like to personally say, you know, that I'm sorry about that. We really do want to do what's best for Trussville,' Anderson said. 'What I won't apologize for is the decisions that we made to keep apartments out of Trussville and to try our very best to provide for the school that we thought we we're gonna have.' She added that she would like to see a sunset clause in the waste collection amendment and believes the city is taking every step to end the year with a balanced budget without losing services. Councilor Perry Cook and Councilor Short also spoke in support of a sunset clause with Short adding that he would like to see some way the city could subsidize payments. If the amended garbage services agreement is approved by the council at the June 10 meeting, direct billing would likely begin in July or August. The council will next meet for a workshop on Thursday, June 5 at 5 p.m. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
