Mayor's Minute: Howard Gives Updates On Liberty Recycling, Benjamin Barnes YMCA

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox, on his weekly podcast/web show, interviewed District 2 Councilor Raevan Howard, with the two elected officials discussing topics such as Howard's political background, her fight against a controversial recycling plant and her efforts with the Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA in the city's West End.

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Maddox mentioned improvements to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Jack Warner Parkway as points of pride for District 2, saying the effort represents the largest city infrastructure investment in Tuscaloosa's history.

But, in terms of individual initiatives, Howard has been the tip of the spear in the push to force Liberty Recycling to move out of her district, following numerous explosions and fires adjacent to a neighborhood and several businesses.

"We both inherited it, but we've never accepted it and you've done some extraordinary work," Maddox said of Howard's quest to address the longstanding nuisance.

Howard explained that Liberty Recycling has been at the front of her mind since she was first elected to office nearly six years ago and was one of the very first issues she heard on the campaign trail.

"Where we are right now today, Liberty has finally agreed to relocate outside of District 2 and this has been a request the community has had for years," Howard said. "But this has been something I have tried my best working with the city, city staff, our legal department, other legal entities and we have all talked about and offered solutions and did everything we could to make this happen sooner than it has."

She then said she hopes the company will be fully moved by the beginning of the summer and, since Liberty's business license had previously been grandfathered in, it won't be able to return once it's gone.

BENJAMIN BARNES BRANCH YMCA

Another topic briefly discussed during the podcast focused on a new location for the Benjamin Barnes Branch YMCA in Tuscaloosa's West End.

Howard chairs the site selection committee for the initiative and said even though it is in another council district, she is committed to seeing this project to its fruition.

"We have been able to talk about not just a facility, but programming," she said, stopping just short of providing any specifics.

Click here to subscribe to "The Mayor's Minute," which is available on a range of platforms and click the links above to watch the full interview with Maddox and Howard.

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