Homewood City Finance Committee approves Oxmoor road diet contracts, past-due invoices and personnel moves

HOMEWOOD CITY — The Homewood City Finance Committee on April 21 approved a set of contracts, invoice payments and personnel moves and carried several items to its next meeting.

The committee voted unanimously to allow the city manager to execute contracts for the Oxmoor Road “road diet” project in front of Dawson to narrow the travel lane and add on-street parking. Committee members heard that the project was budgeted at $295,000 during design and that recent estimates put the construction cost well under that amount. Councilor Smith, who presented the project, said the work will “thin Oxmoor down and add parallel parking spaces along both sides of the curb.” He and staff told the committee the final design calls for parallel (not angled) spaces and that the layout had been adjusted after meetings with property owners and the gas station tenant.

The committee was told the city would use existing paving and concrete contracts for parts of the work; staff said using the paving contract would cost roughly $58,000 and the concrete contract with Gillespie about $28,440. Committee members and staff differed slightly when calling out the exact number of new parking spaces during discussion; staff summarized the net gain as about 29 spaces. The committee approved the contracts and authorized the city manager to sign, 4-0.

Committee members also approved payment of two past-due invoices to Big Sky Environmental for landfill/dumping services after staff said the invoices had been budgeted but had slipped through during a staffing transition. Councilor Smith said one invoice was for about $23,006.87 and the other for roughly $14,000; he told the committee that the vendor’s records had been checked and the amounts remain owed. The committee voted 4-0 to pay the invoices.

The committee approved a temporary appointment to assist the municipal court. Court Administrator Laura Roberts explained the court backlog and told the committee the office had more than 4,000 outstanding warrants from Jan. 1, 2023, through Dec. 31, 2024. Roberts recommended John Amari Jr., an attorney who appears regularly as a public defender and fills in as a special master or substitute judge in other local courts; the committee approved the temporary appointment and the committee discussed taking the appointment through Dec. 31, 2025.

The committee approved a midyear budget-review timeline and instructed staff to prepare a midyear report through Feb. 2025 for presentation at the committee’s May meeting. Staff said closing the prior fiscal year was still in progress and committed to delivering the five-month (through February) review in May.

Other financial actions approved included a line-item transfer of $115,000 from salaries to overtime for the fire department to cover unplanned overtime due to injuries and retirements (4-0), and the city clerk’s request to regrade a revenue examiner position for Julie Hambly from grade 18 to grade 21 (estimated $5,500 salary impact), funded by shifting money from the maintenance contracts account (4-0).

A request to add a streetlight at 1455 Overlook Road was carried to the May 7 committee meeting; a resident will appear then to speak to the need.

Votes at a glance

- Approve minutes (3-0) — Motion carried to dispense with reading and approve minutes as presented. - Tyler payment portal addition — Authorized signing an amendment to the Tyler enterprise permitting and licensing agreement to add the Tyler payment portal; staff reported a quoted price for the portal (as read in the meeting) and said funding would come from contractual services; motion approved 3-0. - Pay Big Sky Environmental invoices — Motion to pay two past-due landfill invoices (one for roughly $23,006.87 and one for about $14,000); motion approved 4-0. - Oxmoor Road diet contracts — Authorized the city manager to execute contracts for paving, concrete and landscaping work to implement the Oxmoor road diet and add parking; motion approved 4-0. - Temporary municipal judge — Approved appointment of a temporary judge (John Amari Jr. recommended); committee discussed extending the appointment through Dec. 31, 2025; motion approved 4-0. - Budget amendment: salaries to overtime — Approved transfer of $115,000 from salaries to overtime for the fire department; motion approved 4-0. - Revenue examiner upgrade — Approved upgrading the revenue examiner position (Julie Hambly) from grade 18 to grade 21 with funding shifted from maintenance contracts (estimated $5,500); motion approved 4-0.

What this means next

Work on the Oxmoor project can proceed to implementation after the contracts are executed; staff said construction will be the last chance for public review before work begins. The midyear budget review and the resident request for a streetlight at Overlook Road are scheduled for the committee’s May meeting for further action.

Source and attribution

Quotes and attributions in this article come from comments recorded at the Homewood City Finance Committee meeting on April 21, 2025, and are attributed to speakers as identified in the meeting record.