Photo courtesy of Scott Weygand
The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23.
Chelsea Park resident Scott Weygand is running for Chelsea City Council Place 2.
Weygand has lived in Chelsea since 2007 with his wife Liz Weygand, but his family has owned land in the area since the 1950s, and he grew up working on a farm in the area.
“Once I realized I was going to open up my own business, I wanted to locate it down here because it’s a wonderful place and the fastest growing city in the state,” said Weygand, who opened Weygand Insurance Agency in Chelsea in 2005.
As he grew up visiting Chelsea, Weygand said he was able to see the city grow while maintaining a close-knit atmosphere, which he hopes to help maintain.
In the upcoming election, all council seats will be up for re-election, and there is only one candidate running to retain his council seat. Weygand said he saw this August as a good time to increase his involvement in the city.
“I like the city government, I like how it works, I’m familiar with how it works,” he said, “ and with the whole reset of government Chelsea is going to experience, I really want to get in there.”
Weygand said his experience serving on the Chelsea Planning Commission has helped him gain familiarity with some of the city’s ordinances and governmental processes. If elected to council, he said he would like to look at the city’s budget to make sure Chelsea’s money is going as far as it can. There are a few projects and improvements that are important to Chelsea residents, he said, but all of that takes money.
“That’s where I want to come in and audit the city’s budget and see any places we can cut or squeeze and make the city of Chelsea’s dollars do more,” Weygand said.
A top priority for Weygand is safety, he said. There are safety issues along U.S. 280 and at the intersection of Highway 39 and Highway 47, he said, which will take working with the county and the Alabama Department of Transportation to improve.
“I don’t necessarily know what the answer is, but the speed limit is by far too fast [on U.S. 280],” he said. “I’d love to see the speed limits dropped and see what happened. They dropped it from 55 to 50 [mph], which is not enough. Harpersville and Vincent and all of those places on 280 are 35 to 45 [mph].”
Weygand said decreasing the speed limit on U.S. 280 would be a good first step, and if there continued to be accidents, the city would need to push for installing more traffic lights.
“That’s where the city has got to work with the department of transportation,” he said.
As a growing city, Weygand said Chelsea would also benefit from a growing business community.
“It’d like to see it grow in a manner, that is, where it won’t overly compete with the people [and businesses] that are already existing, but will bringing new, fresher businesses that people will be excited to see,” he said.
Through more businesses and revenue as well as checking in on the city’s budget, Weygand said Chelsea could begin to look toward more amenities “without saddling the city with more debt.”
“A lot of people want splash pads and pools, and I definitely that that’s necessary,” he said. “Four years ago, the big issue was ball parks, and the city has done very well with addressing those issues. So I think the next issue would be tennis courts and pools and splash pads. The biggest thing is all that stuff costs money, so figuring out how to pay for it.”
For more information, visit Vote Scott Weygand Chelsea City Council, Place 2 on Facebook.
The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23.
If you are running for city council or mayor in Chelsea, you can reach our community reporter Erica Techo at erica@starnespublishing.com.
