Pre-Council Meeting December 8, 2025 Council members walked through the upcoming agenda, and heard updates on items like restricting a few on street parking spots on Linden Avenue, adding a crosswalk at Shades Road and Westover Drive, tightening oversight of vouchers and credit card use, and cleaning up shared dumpsters behind downtown businesses. The highlight was an item to appoint Sam Gaston to serve as Special Assistant to the City Manager, bringing his decades of experience to help guide Homewood through its transition to the new council manager form of government and support long term planning. Agenda: https://bit.ly/3YdB0J5

Homewood has voted to appoint Sam Gaston as the Special Assistant to the City Manager. This is a steady step as our city moves into a new form of government. Sam will work with city leadership and help guide the transition as we look to find a permanent City Manager. Sam brings 45 years in local government management and planning. He recently retired after more than 32 years as the City Manager of Mountain Brook. His roots run deep in public service. He holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in public administration from Auburn University. He has served as president of the International City County Management Association, the Alabama City County Management Association, the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning Association, and the Homewood Mountain Brook Kiwanis Club. Mayor Graham Smith of Mountain Brook offered this statement, "Sam’s decision to serve in Homewood is a gift to our entire region. He is one of the most respected municipal leaders in Alabama," she said. "His experience and steady leadership will be exactly what Homewood needs as it moves into this new government structure. Mountain Brook has benefited from his wisdom for decades and now our neighbors in Homewood will share in that same strength." Homewood Mayor Jennifer Andress shared this, "We are excited and grateful to welcome Sam Gaston to Homewood as Special Assistant to the City Manager," she said. "Sam is the gold standard for city managers in Alabama. He encouraged our move toward a Council Manager form of government and we are thankful to have him join Cale Smith in this important season." We are proud to welcome Sam and look forward to the experience he will bring to our city.

Homewood is rolling out text alerts. You can sign up for as many as you like, or choose 'HWDALL' to receive all alerts. Even if you subscribed before, you will need to sign up again using the info below: Text HWDALL to 38276 to receive ALL alerts Text HWDINFO to 38276 to receive news alerts only Text HWDSTREETS to 38276 to receive street closure info only Text HWDEMERGENCY to 38276 to receive emergency alerts only Text HWDGARBAGE to 38276 to receive holiday garbage schedule alerts only.

Board of Zoning Adjustments December 4, 2025 The Board of Zoning Adjustment approved three variance requests including a detailed appeal from the owners of 800 College Avenue to rebuild on their existing footprint with strong neighbor support, and granted requests to add a second story at 564 Forest Drive South and extend a front porch at 600 Handball Avenue. A fourth case for 1707 Reese Street was continued to the January 8 meeting. Case Packet: https://bit.ly/48M4fc3

Planning Commission December 2, 2025 The Planning Commission addressed items that included a pickleball court addition at Brookdale, a large two-part request from Homewood Community Church, and a Frisco Street re-survey. Most of the night centered on the church’s proposal, with neighbors raising concerns about traffic, construction access, buffers, lighting, and flooding; the applicant responded in detail, committed to no construction access on Columbiana, and the Commission sent both items to Council with favorable recommendations. Agenda: https://bit.ly/48M4fc3

Pre-Council Meeting November 24, 2025 The council moved through a handful of items including the TAP multimodal facility contract coming in under budget, a budget amendment to complete the project this year, and the continued 80% reimbursement through the TARP grant. They also discussed new fleet-maintenance tools that will help recruit and retain technicians, an ordinance to clear out old committee language that does away with the old style of committees and now has become one "Pre-Council" meeting, tiered year-end employee bonuses supported by a strong surplus, and a new agreement with Carr Riggs & Ingram to continue supporting the finance department. Agenda: https://bit.ly/4rhpXMe

City of Homewood staff and leadership enjoyed an early Thanksgiving meal thanks to the Homewood PTO. This annual tradition rotates around our elementary schools. Edgewood Elementary School hosted this year. It is their delicious way of thanking our city employees for all they do for us!

The Board of Zoning Adjustments has an open supernumerary position and applications are welcome from anyone interested in serving the city. This is a meaningful way to assist the vision of Homewood and learn how zoning decisions can shape our community. The deadline to apply is November 24 . To apply, send your resume and cover letter to bo.seagrist@homewoodal.org If you have questions about the scope of the work itself, email emily.harrismiller@homewoodal.org

Council Meeting November 10, 2025 The council opened with a proclamation honoring landscape architect Jane Reed Ross, announcing that the large Shades Creek Greenway bridge will be named for her, then moved through business, awarding the Homewood Public Library phase four renovation bid, approving contracts including one for acting city manager Cale Smith, and giving the city manager authority to sign contracts up to $100,000.  Agenda: https://bit.ly/3JV3BPS