Mayor highlights Mardi Gras cleanup, Via transit improvements and smoke alarm blitz; fire department seeks council funding

Mayor Spiro Cheragadas used opening remarks at the Feb. 24 council meeting to report on city cleanup efforts after Mardi Gras, the performance of the city's new transit provider Via and to introduce a fire department recognition.

"Between January 30 and February 22, we collected more than 36,000 pounds of trash," the mayor said, adding that the city recycled almost 11,000 pounds of material, including roughly 3,500 pounds of beads that were donated to Augusta Evans. He said those efforts helped keep waste out of storm drains and waterways.

On transit, Cheragadas said Via has been working in Mobile for about 90 days and "they've already made the system more dependable and more efficient." He cited a decrease in late or cancelled routes from about 20% to near 0% and said dispatch scheduling time has been reduced by about 75%. The mayor said branding and design options will be presented to the public in March and that a redesigned system with buses, trolleys and on-demand options will launch in July.

The mayor asked Fire Chief Barry Glisson to recognize the Mobile Fire and Rescue Department's Community Risk Reduction Division for installing the most smoke alarms in the state for four consecutive years. Chief Glisson said the program has installed over 15,000 smoke alarms since 2017 and asked each council member to consider discretionary funds to expand outreach to residents with special needs (bed shakers for the hearing impaired, supports for the visually impaired) and to support neighborhood smoke-alarm blitzes.

No formal budget appropriation was adopted at the meeting; the chief asked council members to consider discretionary funding for district-level outreach and staff said they would follow up with requested details.