Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer addresses the crowd during the Feb. 23 State of Our Communities Luncheon hosted by the Shelby County Camber.
Mayors from municipalities throughout Shelby County spoke at the Shelby Chamber’s annual State of our Communities on Feb. 23 at the Pelham Civic Complex.
Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer said he was optimistic about 2022 and the amount of growth he’s seeing in many areas of the city.
“2021 was a very good year for our city with growth on many fronts,” he said. “With our population growth we are the second fastest growing city in the state. Our housing market is very strong. We issued 312 housing permits in 2021 and indicators for 2022 continue to be strong.”
Picklesimer also mentioned the Foothills Business Park is complete. The city owned development was created to bring jobs to the city and increase the daytime population. Currently two parcels have been sold with two more under agreements for development, he said.
He also expects a ground breaking on a hotel sometime this year and several restaurants have opened with more to come.
The city continues to focus on education giving the five schools $25,000 along with funds from the one cent sales tax that are used only for teacher grants. A project to turf and track the field at Chelsea High School is in the works, along with the realignment of the intersection at CR-39 and CR-47.
“The future is very bright in the city of Chelsea and I look forward to being part of that growth,” he said.
Hoover city councilman John Lyda spoke in place of Mayor Frank Brocato. He said the city will continue to focus on economic development and the recent opening of Lake Homes Realty along the Hoover section of U.S. 280.
Lyda also mentioned the interstate work set to take place along I-459 to create an exit 8, that will help several traffic entities including Ross Bridge, Brock’s Gap and Helena. Lyda added the Galleria continues to do well and the city’s financial health is in great shape.
Mayor Larry Riggins of the city of Westover said the mayor's of Shelby County are the most cooperative team he knows. Riggins said 2022 was going to be an interesting and challenging year for Westover. He hopes to maintain the momentum created through the first half of fiscal year 2022 which began Oct. 1.
“We have had some key annexations that have given us connections and an opportunity to move in different directions making our city more marketable,” Riggins said.
The city is working on a project with a private sewer partner to extend the sewer line in the northern part of the city where none is currently available.
Riggins said the city has also been able to increase its contributions and commitments to the schools and he is proud to be in a position to do so.
“Our school children are our future and we're going to be on board with trying to do whatever we can possibly do to help them.”
Brenda Bell-Geurcio, mayor of Indian Springs said their population is less than 2,500 and the town has kept with the mission when it was first established of having little commercialization.
“Our mission statement stressed protection and preservation for a peaceful atmosphere, to protect it from random commercialization, having minimal government with minimal expense, mainly relying on volunteer efforts.
“This past July, we instituted a 2% sales tax, the lowest in Shelby County, allowing us to help our schools,” she said. In six months, we were able to give a quarter of a million dollars to Oak Mountain Schools, and we plan to give a similar amount at the end of the school year.”
Other mayors who spoke were Gary Waters (Pelham), Rusty Nix (Montevallo), Brian Puckett (Helena), Theo Perkins (Harpersville), David Mitchell (Columbiana), Jon Grant (Calera) and Scott Brakefield (Alabaster).
