BY MICHELLE KEY
PUBLISHER
OPELIKA — The Opelika City Council approved a resolution that authorizes imposing a temporary moratorium on the issuance of business licenses relating to consumable hemp products during Tuesday night’s city council meeing.
Act No. 2025-385 which was signed into law by Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on May 17, requires all consumable hemp products available for sale in the state to be tested and labeled in accordance with strict standards and to prohibit the sale of those products to individuals under 21 years of age.
The Act authorizes the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board to license retailers of these products and to establish restrictions on retail establishments; and also provides that the ABC Board may not issue a license unless the governing body of the municipality in which the licensee’s facility will be located has approved the application for licensure.
Although the act is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2025, the licensing provisions in the act does not take effect until Jan. 1, 2026. This temporary moratorium shall take effect immediately and shall expire on Jan. 2, 2026, unless repealed or extended by further resolution of the City Council before that date.
PRESENTATIONS
The Opelika City Council and the Character Council presented the family of the late Henry Jones with a certificate of Character Council Citizen of Excellent Character for the month of June. The Character of the Month is courage. Notably, Jones was the first African American to qualify to seek a seat on the Lee County Commission in 1969. He did so while receiving threats of physical violence and intimidation not only against him but also his family. His campaign slogan was “Give me a chance to serve my community.”
IN OTHER BUSINESS
- The council held a public hearing – weed abatement assessment for property located at 606 Dogwood Ave. Later during the meeting, the council approved the assessment.
- The council approved a request for a temporary street closure from Ferguson Chapel CME Church for an event to be held July 14,15 and 16.
- The council approved a request for a temporary street closure for a National Night Out Event to be held Aug. 5.
- The council approved a bid from Knight Sign Industries Inc., for the design and installation of signs on an as-needed basis for the Opelika Community Relations Department.
- The council approved the expense reports from various departments.
- The council approved the purchase of nine two-way radios for the Opelika Fire Department from Motorola Solutions in the total amount of $73,766.72.
- The council did not approve the purchase of Christmas decorations from Downtown Decorations Inc. not to exceed $120,388 due to the lack of a second motion on the resolution.
- The council approved the purchase of a 2024 15-cubic yard CollecStar Ministar automated side loader for Environmental Services from GSP Marketing LLC in the amount of $231,669.50.
- The council approved the purchase of a service agreement with MCCi LLC for digital records management and scanning of paper docuuments. The total scanning project cost is $497,648.91.
- The council approved the purchase of digital storage solution software for OPD and Aubix Datacenter. The Cisco Nexus switches include one Dell PowerScale Primary with a five-year agreement and one Dell PowerScale secondary also with a five-year agreement from CDW Government LLC for a sum of nearly $750,000.
- The council approved the 2025 annual MWPP reports for the East and West Sewer Treatment Plants for their submission to ADEM.
- The council approved Change Order No. 1 to the proposal for a Sutphen heavy duty 75-foot mid-mount aerial ladder truck for the Opelika Fire Department. This change order will increase the total contract amount by an additional $19,630.71 resulting in a new contract amount of just under $1.5 million.
- The council approved the Lee County Solid Waste Management Plan and the participation by the city of Opelika.
- The council approved the reclassifying of the pay grade for the assistant director of Opelika Power Services from a contractual service position to a classified service position (exempt) at pay grade 127.
- The council approved the Vacation of the right-of-way located at 1000 Block Fox Run Parkway. This is an unimproved ROW in Fox Run Industrial Park Subdivision.
- The council approved a request for a special use permit by Verizon Wireless for equipment located at 3460 US Hwy 280 E.
- The council approved a special appropriation of $2,500 to Greater Peace Community Development Corporation to help offset the costs of its summer camp program for low-income children.
- The council approved an ordinance to amend the Zoning Ordinance & Map: to rezone 33,810-square-feet of property located at 401 and 409 Simmons St., 33,810 from M-1 to C-2.
- The council introduced an ordinance to approve an Annexation Petition by Perryman Hill LLC to annex 7.6 acres located in the 3800 Block of Birmingham Hwy (Hwy 280 W) for its first reading.
- The council introduced an ordinance to readopt the exemption of city sales and use tax on the sale of hearing instruments for its first reading and then voted to suspend the rules and voted to approve the ordiance during the meeting.
