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By JOYANNA LOVE |Managing Editor

The Clanton City Council will consider increasing its business license fee incrementally over the next three years during its Nov. 28 voting session.

The proposed change was discussed at the council’s work session on Nov. 23.

“We have been talking about this for two years (and) working on it,” Mayor Jeff Mims said.

While there have been increases to the processing fee for business licenses in the past, Mims said the entire fee schedule for business license fees has not been updated since 1976. The mayor said he had already been in conversation with the Merchants Association of Chilton County about the anticipated increases.

“We have been explaining it to them, what we wanted to do for over a year,” Mims said.

A phased-in approach is being recommended, which will have the new fees at double what they are now at the end of three years. Revenue from business licenses that is above what the city generated in 2021 will be put in a separate account to be used for the required matching funds when applying for city improvement grants. For last fiscal year, $150,000 was moved into the account, which was revenue above what business license fees generated the previous year.

While the Nov. 28 meeting will be the first reading of the ordinance change, the council is expected to suspend the normal reading rules in order to vote on it in the same meeting.

A public hearing for a rezoning request to change a piece of property on Highway 31 across from the property that used to be a drive-in movie theater from B2 General Business District to M1 Light Industrial district will be held at the Nov. 28 voting session. This rezoning request was recommended for approval by the Clanton Planning Commission because the property owners want to have mini warehouses on the site.

Also during the work session, City Clerk Jonathan Seale gave an update on getting all of the city ordinances available online with the help of a company. Seale said it had been a while since the city had done anything like this, and it was estimated to cost $3,000 annually. The plan is to fully upgrade the public database twice a year to keep it up to date.

During the Nov. 28 meeting at 5 p.m. at city hall, the council will also consider:

• Appointing Josh Inman as the municipal court public defender.
• Declaring some cell phones surplus property to be able to sell.
• Updates to the city’s financial policy to bring in line with new requirements.
• A different liquor license for The Bearded Peach since the business plans on adding food (pizza) to its offerings.
• Closing the Sixth Street alleyway to vehicle traffic. Decorative lighting will be added to the area.
• Accepting a bid for demolition services.
• An agreement with the Chilton County Commission for improvements to the house located on its jointly-owned property near Interstate 65, Exit 212. Repairs would be funded through revenue from selling timber that was cut at the site.