CHILDERSBURG, Ala. – The Childersburg City Council opened its Tuesday, April 7 meeting as Fire Chief Shane Phillips presented a family member of a patient who received life-saving treatment from Shift A of the Childersburg Fire and Rescue Department. Mayor Ken Wesson, the Council, and the crowd gathered for the meeting gave the four-member team a standing ovation.
“This is special, and it is one of our goals as a Council, to have our First Responders trained and equipped for extraordinary efforts,” said Mayor Wesson. “Our relationship with UAB Hospital had them designate our ambulances as rolling emergency rooms, able to provide services that very few departments can offer.”
The first order of business was Resolution 2026-11, which dedicated and identified Grove Park Vita Course as “Laurie Eugenia Dunlap Park” in recognition of the Dunlap family’s generous donation of the property nearly 50 years ago.
Resolution 2026-12 gained approval that named Goodwyn, Mills, and Cawood to provide engineering services for plans to construct an industrial access road in the Childersburg Industrial Park, meant to handle the growth in traffic by a pair of industries located there – Cooper Steel South and Blair Block/Super Rock. The project will be funded through ALDOT’s Industrial Access funds.
In another grant matter, the Council approved Resolution 2026-13, which authorizes the City Of Childersburg to make a “TAP” grant application for pedestrian and streetscape improvements along 1st St. and 8th Ave., while authorizing the Mayor to execute necessary documents.
Mayor Wesson gave a quick update on several other grant-related projects. One was a $75,000 historical grant for the Kymulga Grist Mill, in part for repairs to the Covered Bridge and the Mill Store at the Park. Also, requests have been made through Alabama’s two US Senators to provide grant funding for a long list of current and expected needs for the Childersburg Fire Department.
With $13,000 in donated funds in hand, the Council approved Yarnell Construction to paint John Cox Stadium to include the field house bleachers, hand rail, and entrance in that amount from Fund 13.
The Fire Department had a trio of personnel matters approved. Howard O’Neal was classified as a part-time temporary Firefighter/Paramedic with no change in pay rate. Terry Thomas and Leyton Kent were approved hires as part-time temporary staff members on an as-needed basis. Thomas will serve as Firefighter – Paramedic at a rate of $16 per hour, and Kent as a Firefighter at a rate of $12.50 per hour.
Three advertisements were approved: the Kiwanis Ben Nelson Benefit Run/Walk on April 18 in the amount of $300; a quarter-page color ad with The Daily Home in their Graduation Special Edition in the amount of $236; and with the America 250 Tour event on April 11-12. All will be paid from Fund 23.
The Council approved payment of invoices in the amount of $141,269.28.
The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21 at 11:00 a.m., following a 10:30 a.m. pre-council meeting.
During the Town Hall, a handful of citizens spoke, representing what was estimated as the largest crowd ever to attend a Childersburg Council meeting, to ask various questions about data center proposal for the Childersburg Industrial Park.
Mayor Ken Wesson was quite consistent in answering all questions with, “We don’t know,” adding several times, “We won’t know a lot of things until the contractor completes their due diligence of the property. Then, the end-users will be identified, along with a lot of other details.”
Council Tommy Ivey added, “We have questions, too, and we will ask them before a decision is reached. We don’t want anything that will cause harm.”
Mayor Wesson explained the process through the state and the county industrial development entities involved, saying, “We are introduced to prospects with basic information such as how much property and the number of expected employment. Earlier, we amended the zoning ordinance to grant them access to the property for their due diligence, for them to know if the site meets the needs they have. Until then, we don’t know more than what we have told you.”
