LOXLEY — The town of Loxley has begun the transition to city status and local students have a chance to win a scholarship in the process.
At its Nov. 8 meeting the council voted to approve a plan to have local high school and college students compete to redesign the municipality’s logo for when Loxley becomes a city.
Brooke Flowers, Loxley’s public relations coordinator, said she had already reached out to several local high schools that have design programs and Coastal Alabama Community College about designing the logo, all of whom expressed interest in the project.
Mayor Richard Teal suggested offering a $500 scholarship to the contest winner and Loxley Fire Chief Tony Lovell said the fire department would match it, bringing the scholarship to $1,000.
Council members voted unanimously to approve the measure during the Nov. 8 meeting and Teal asked if anyone who had any suggestions of what they would like to include in the logo could bring them before the council’s next work session for discussion.
The council, which currently meets the second Monday of every month, voted Oct. 11 to add a second meeting on the fourth Monday of the month beginning in January.
City status for the municipality is set to take full effect in May of 2022, Teal said.
In order to obtain city status, a municipality must have a minimum population of 2,000 residents.
In August, it was revealed that between 2010 and 2020 Loxley experienced the largest population growth percentagewise of any municipality in Baldwin County, rising from a population of 1,632 in 2010 to 3,710 in 2020, an increase of 127.3 percent.
In other business Nov. 8, the council voted on a pair of ordinances to annex and rezone property located in the Loxley Triangle off of U.S. 31.
Representatives for the property’s owners who were present at a public hearing before the regular meeting said plans were to sell the approximately 35.5-acre tract in order to develop the property into multi-use rental properties.
After voting to suspend the rules, the council voted unanimously to annex the property into the town’s limits, then voted to suspend the rules and rezone the property from A-O (agricultural – open space) to R-3 (residential – multi-family).
Also on Nov. 8, the council:
Adopted an ordinance declaring Feb. 25-27 as a Severe Weather Preparedness Holiday for the town.
Adopted a resolution to enter into an intergovernmental service agreement with the Baldwin County Commission to provide voting machines and the services of the county voting machine custodian for municipal elections.
Voted to leave the stop sign at Alabama Street and Second Avenue following complaints. Council Member Katherine Breeden voted against the measure.
Approved the town’s 2022 Business of the Year, which will be announced during the Central Baldwin Chamber of Commerce’s annual meeting Thursday, Jan. 20 at the Baldwin County Coliseum.
Approved a quote from AFS Foundation & Waterproofing Specialists for work on the crawlspace at the town’s Municipal Court facility in the amount of $14,870.25.
Approved a three-year contract with ICC and NFPA LiNK for online and offline digital access to fire codes and standards for the town’s Fire Department at a cost of $1,544.
Approved a quote from Midway Lumber Sales for materials to build a foot bridge at Municipal Park in the amount of $9,014.12.
Approved spending $160,000 to construct a transportation shop for the Loxley public works department. Suncoast Builders was the low bidder on the project at $132,355. Loxley Utilities Superintendent Robert Davis asked the council to approve the higher amount to cover any overages that might occur.
Approved a customer service lease agreement with UniFirst to provide uniforms for town employees.
Appointed Peggy Nelson to serve as Rosinton School’s representative to the Central Baldwin Education Committee.
The council also held a work session prior to the Nov. 8 regular meeting which included:
Discussion of making a donation to the Robertsdale High School bowling team to offset travel expenses. The suggested amount was $500.
Discussion of providing funds to offset the cost of travel and meal expenses for the Robertsdale High School Band to participate in the town’s Christmas parade Dec. 10. Officials said the Loxley Church of God has agreed to provide meals for the band members, leaving the cost of travel, which would be about $1,000.
Heard a presentation from Bruce White, president and founder of the Miracle League of Coastal Alabama, asking for a donation to complete construction of a special needs ballfield and playground in Summerdale. When completed the facility would host tournaments for special needs children and adults in the area. Officials said they would consider making a donation to the project at a future council meeting.
Heard a presentation from Robert Ori and Dianna Holloway with Raftelis of a utility rate study, asking the town to consider a 1 percent increase in water rates and a 4 percent increase in sewer rates over the next five years, in addition to the annual 2 percent increase currently employed by the town. If increases are approved, customers with both water and sewer will see increases of an average of less than $3 per month.
Breeden asked the council to consider paying for monthly breakfasts for DAV members who meet monthly at the Loxley Civic Center.
