Photo courtesy of Wayne Morris
Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer presents a check to Owens House. Pictured from left: are Owens House employees Erica Smith, Tori Overton, Maribeth Bowman, board member Robert Rodriguez, executive director Vetrica Hill and board treasurer Joshua Bergeron.
After receiving approval for a donation at a previous city council meeting, staff and board members from Owens House were on hand to accept a check from Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer during the March 15 Chelsea City Council meeting.
Vetrica Hill, executive director of Owens House thanked Picklesimer and the council for the donation which will assist them as they work to serve children in Shelby County.
“Owens House has been around for about 29 years and we serve kids ages 3-19 in the capacity of conducting forensic interviews for those who have experienced some type of abuse or trauma,” Hill said. “We also provide mental health counseling and preventative services. We are just truly thankful for you guys supporting us over the years and we look forward to continuing to work with you all and continuing to serve the children here in Shelby county.
Mayor Picklesimer presented the $15,000 donation check to Owens and said he and the council voted unanimously to support the organization and they appreciate the work they do.
Matt Casey was in attendance at the meeting and spoke regarding his candidacy for Shelby County District Attorney. Casey has worked with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s office for 14 years, but is a resident of Shelby County. He lives in Indian Springs and has two daughters who attend Oak Mountain schools.
“I've been the lead prosecutor on thousands of felony cases. I’ve been the lead trial attorney on hundreds of jury trials includeint murder trials, capital murder trials, death penatly eligible trials and sexual assualt of children,” Casey said.
Casey said he has the support of current Shelby County District Attorney, Jill Lee, who is not seeking re-election, along with the support of Sheriff John Samaniego and former sheriff Chris Curry.
“I’m honored to have that support and looking forward to hopefully having the opportunity to serve my fellow citizens of Shelby county as your DA,” he said.
The council approved the following items during the meeting:
- Authorization for the mayor to execute an agreement to review cable franchise fee payment compliance.
- Adopt the Shelby County Hazard Mitigation Plan. Picklesimer thanked EMA Director Hub Harvey and the many other people that put an awful lot of work into this mitigation plan.
- Declare property as surplus and authorize its disposal.
- Authorize the mayor to purchase real estate property for the city of Chelsea.
- Approval for the mayor to accept a proposal from LED Solutions to replace lighting in city buildings to be strictly LED.
- Approval to amend the city’s zoning ordinance to include a definition of short-term residential rental and only allow short-term rental in B-2 (general business district).
- An ordinance to establish speed limit which would extend the 55 mph zone on U.S. 280 eastbound from mile post 15.6 to 16.1 (between Walmart to CR-39, which is currently 65mph and will be decreased to 55 mph)
- Approval to pay the city’s bills
During the community forum, Jane Ann Mueller announced the Splash Pad at Melrose Park will open on May 1. Applications for seasonal employees (ages 15 and up) are now being accepted and can be picked up at City Hall or the Chelsea Community Center.
Important dates:
March 28: Planning commission, 6 p.m.
April 1: Bulk trash pick up day
April 2: Chelsea Car Show, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at City Hall
April 2: Fire at the Foothills BBQ and dessert cook-off, 1-4 p.m. at Chelsea Community Center
April 5: City council meeting, 6 p.m.
April 19: City council meeting, 6 p.m.
