Mayor 'Considering Options' As Push To Save Northport Park Persists

NORTHPORT, AL — Little, if any, middle ground has been reached between those on the Northport City Council hoping to sell the Northport Community Center property and those wishing to preserve it.

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Indeed, the Council on Monday voted 3-2 to repeal a resolution requiring a unanimous vote of the Council to sell any property being used for parks and recreation — I.E., the Northport Community Center.

District 1 Councilwoman Christy Bobo and District 4's Jamie Dykes both voted against the measure, with Bobo insisting that she was acting on the will of her constituents in doing so.

While his power is limited in most respects, Northport Mayor John Hinton has the authority to veto the repeal of the resolution, which would result in the measure being sent back to the Council.

What's more, if vetoed, it would also require four votes of the Council in order to repeal the resolution upon a second vote.

"I'm considering my options and a response will come later," Hinton told Patch when asked about the possibility of a veto. The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Monday, July 24.

Ultimately, repealing the resolution allows the city to then enter into a 180-day period of due diligence for Beeker Property Group to market the property in the hopes of turning it into the city's newest retail development.

As Patch previously reported, those opposed to selling the property have been vocal and visible in their fight, filling up the council chambers Monday night to lobby for the Council to reconsider repealing the resolution.

Part of the latest showing of support for the Community Center and park included the Council being presented a petition with 636 signatures in favor of not selling the property.

"In just a couple of weeks, over 600 people have hand-signed the petition to save the Northport park and community center," organizer Amy LeePard told Patch. "That’s over 600 hands, hearts, and minds putting pen to paper to petition the Northport city government for a redress of grievances."

LeePard explained that the hand-signed petition was prompted after bad-faith actors and internet trolls signed false names to an online petition that gathered more than 2,000 signatures.

"It was disheartening at first," she said. "But now, I’m so grateful to whoever was attempting to obstruct the people of Northport’s efforts to petition our local government because each of those 600+ signatures created as many opportunities for a community to come together, face-to-face, to declare what is important to us, what we value in Northport."

The number of signatures was met with public skepticism on the part of Council President Jeff Hogg, who said during the meeting that the majority of signatures on the petition were from individuals who live outside of the city limits.

Hogg was correct to assert such a notion and later provided those in opposition with a breakdown of the addresses for those who signed the petition.

In an email sent to LeePard and obtained by Patch, Hogg said only 48% of the signatures on the petition came from city residents. He also went on to argue that those 306 signatures represent less than 1% of the city's total population.

Hogg told LeePard that while he respects and commends the grassroots effort to save the park, the hard data and "social media complainers" show that those opposed represent nothing more than a vocal minority.

"I am not being combative as I want you to understand where we are coming from just as you want us to understand where you are coming from," Hogg said. "We all have memories, however, we have all adapted to bigger and better things in our life. Nothing stays constant forever. That's how we change and grow as humans. This elected group is lead with growing our City and sometimes change has to happen for that to occur."

What's more, those who showed up Monday night in support of the Community Center and park broke out into loud laughs when LeePard questioned if Hogg or other city officials had examined the names on the petition.

"While I’m not impressed by the council president’s lack of professionalism toward LeePard, I am impressed at how quickly he claims to have read and mapped the more than 600 names and addresses she sent to the council Monday evening," organizer Sandy Barnidge told Patch. "That’s a lot of work to have completed in one day, especially considering the council members balance their city duties with their full-time day jobs and families."

So, the question at this point becomes: Do the opinions of those who live outside of the city limits matter when it comes to such an issue?

Looking at the situation objectively, it depends on who you ask.

For example, residents of Northport regularly use the Tuscaloosa Public Library — in the city of Tuscaloosa — and Northport contributes funding to it each year. When examining this dynamic, residents and elected officials in Northport City Hall expect to have fair input on how the library is funded and managed, despite it not being in the Northport city limits.

The same also goes for facilities managed by Tuscaloosa County Park & Recreation Authority (PARA). But for a separate example, the majority of visitors to the Faucett Brothers Activity Center are from Northport, despite the facility technically being outside of the city limits.

PARA also, at least for the time being, manages the Community Center and park and will do so until the end of the fiscal year when the city's agreement with PARA sunsets. This will also be slightly ahead of the end of the due diligence period in December.

The lack of granular visitor data for the Community Center also raises questions as it relates to the City of Northport listening to input from those who use the center but live outside the city limits.

Indeed, even this reporter — who grew up in the county — had his high school graduation party at the Northport Community Center, underscoring the notion that non-Northport residents make use of the Community Center.

When asked about the relevancy of input from petitioners, Hogg stopped well short of saying the opinions of those from outside of the city don't matter. However, he did seem to telegraph that the petition was not likely to make much of a difference with respect to the future of the property.

"Input is always relevant," Hogg told Patch. "[It] may not move the needle but everyone needs to be heard."

LeePard told Patch the majority of the signatures for the petition were gathered at the Northport Community Center, its adjoining park, the Northport Farmer's Market and Northport neighborhoods.

Barnidge also questioned what she viewed as Hogg mocking and dismissing the petition rather than accepting the signatures as part of the due diligence process with Beeker Property Group.

"The council president’s response to Amy LeePard — both via email and his outbursts during her remarks to the council Monday night — is yet another example of the council’s increasing hostility toward even the most genuine, good-faith efforts by the public to engage with them about the potential sale of the Northport park."

Despite the vocal criticism both in the public forum and on social media, Hogg told LeePard that the city will not sell this property if the plan isn't a good one once the 180-day due diligence period ends.

Hogg then "suggested" that LeePard and others harness the energy and passion they've shown thus far to start considering the possibility of a favorable plan being returned by Beeker Property Group and the city selling the property.

"Come up with things you would like to see at the location," Hogg said. "Maybe it's a plaque. Maybe it's brick pavers with peoples names carved into them. Maybe it's art sculptures depicting some memories. We truly want to know what our citizens would like to see and so does the developer."

Hogg went on to say that apart from hearing demands to "Save the Park," the City Council also needs to hear what citizens would want to see in a new space in terms of a Community Center or park/playground features.

"This does not have to be a divisive setting for a minority group of vocal citizens," he said. "This could be the start of being a part of making new memories while holding on to the ones of the past."

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