The Mobile City Council covered a wide range of city business this month, from a delayed vote on stadium lighting upgrades to funding for police body cameras, during a session that came in the wake of the 2015 Mardi Gras season.
Council members postponed a vote on a proposed $105,630 contract with Moody’s Electric Inc. for lighting upgrades at Hank Aaron Stadium after District 6 Councilwoman Bess Rich requested a one-week holdover. Rich argued that Mobile BayBears management still had not produced a new lease agreement with the city or proof that past stadium work had been completed, all while the team remained behind on rent. “We’re doing something special for the tenant that is not paid to date,” Rich said. Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s chief of staff told the council that delaying the contract could jeopardize the stadium’s readiness for its April 15 opening day, though an amended lease with the BayBears would not be ready within the week Rich requested.
In other business, the council unanimously approved an amendment to the city’s noise ordinance and postponed for two weeks a separate ordinance regulating the distribution of commercial and noncommercial handbills. Members also approved rezoning a parcel on Broadcast Drive to eliminate split zoning at the request of a private company, and signed off on a $26,678 contract with LeadsOnline to operate an electronic reporting and investigation system for the Mobile Police Department.
The council also approved transferring nearly $3.4 million in economic development incentive funds toward public safety needs, including new police and fire vehicles and body cameras for officers. Additional approvals included a $254,000 annual contract for unarmed security guard services at various city facilities, a $138,180 contract to re-roof the Mobile Municipal Archives building, the reappointment of a member to the Keep Mobile Beautiful Commission, and new appointments to an ad hoc committee studying city revenue and growth.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, two Mobile residents urged the council to take whatever steps necessary to reclaim the city’s official Mardi Gras flag, which was created in 1987, so that the city could benefit from its use throughout Carnival season and beyond.
The stadium lighting contract, along with several other big-ticket items funded during the session, reflects the council’s ongoing balancing act between funding city infrastructure and public safety needs while managing long-running disputes over the Hank Aaron Stadium lease with the Mobile BayBears’ ownership group.