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VALLEY — The Valley City Council met in a 6 p.m. work session on Thursday to discuss financials for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024-25, which began on October 1st.

City Clerk/Treasurer Cathy Snowden reviewed the city’s sales tax collections over that period and briefed them on the 2025 municipal election, which will be taking place on

August 26th. Mayor Leonard Riley updated council members on street paving that has been taking place and a very busy pace of construction that’s been going on in the city.

Snowden told them that the city had collected more than $13.7 million in revenue in 2024. That was up approximately $1.8 million from the previous year. The city currently has $69 million in assets and $22 million in long-term debt. Sales tax is up some $60,000 for the first two months of the new fiscal year, and that number should jump substantially when the figures are in for December.

Riley said he’d spent part of the day on Thursday speaking with an auditor about the city’s financial condition. “He told me that we were in the best financial condition he knew of for any city our size,” he said. “We could borrow up to $40 million if we had to. We have great interest rates on all our bond issues.”

Few cities with 10,500 people own 1,600 acres of land right off a busy Interstate highway. With all the homebuilding going on in Valley right now, the city could easily top 12,000 in population by the next census. Almost all the lots have been sold in the first phase of construction at Camellia Crossing off Combs Road. A 54-home subdivision is under construction off King Road near Fob James Drive. A 56-unit senior housing complex will soon be going up near the junction of King Road and 55th Street. A small lake has been filled near the King Road subdivision.

Across that small lake, a row of stores will be going up to face Fob James Drive. Included in the construction will be a Beef O’Brady’s restaurant.

The most ambitious homebuilding project is off 30th Street in Shawmut. All the lots have been sold in phase one of the development, and the second phase could see as many as 67 new homes built.

Street resurfacing that has been completed includes 49th Street off 55th, portions of 30th Street and 34th Street in Jim Clark’s district, Lanier Street in Jim Jones’ district, 16th Avenue and portions of 32nd Street, 15th Avenue and 31st Street in Randall Maddux’s district, Booker Drive, Glass Road, Wimberly Drive, Chambers Drive and Greenberry Circle in Marquetta Madden’s district, Library Street, Middle Street, Boat Ramp Road and GI Street in Kendall Andrews’ district, portions of 26th Avenue in Henry Cooper’s district and Margaurite Street and portions of 21st Street in Jimmy Gilson’s district. The resurfacing of Whitesmill Road has not been completed.

February 26th will be the last day the current council can change the salaries of those who will be elected in August. May 26th will be the last day the council can change district lines. May 28th will be the last day someone can become a resident of a district they will seek office to represent.

June 5th will be the last day the council can adopt an ordinance establishing qualification fees (It’s currently $50).

On June 10th, the mayor will give notice of an upcoming election, candidates can begin qualifying at city hall and each candidate must file a statement of economic interests. The qualifying deadline will be 5 p.m. ET on June 24th. June 27th will be the first day to conduct a training school for officials who will conduct the election with electronic voting machines. June 30th will be the final day the city clerk will notify the Alabama Ethics Commission the names of the candidates who are seeking office.

Riley commended John Soules Foods on having been a good corporate citizen for the area. He told the council that earlier in the day he had attended a ceremony at the plant where company officials made a significant donation of hazardous materials (hazmat) fighting equipment to the East Alabama Fire Department.

“Right now they have over 500 employees,” he said. “When they add a new line in the near future that could go up to 700 to 800 people. They have been good to our community, and we appreciate it.” Council Member Jim Jones expressed some concerns about 30th Street being heavily congested when the new subdivision brings in new residents. He suggested having an alternate route to get back to Highway 29 from there. He said that former Planning and Development Director Allen Hendrix had a map of a new road entering the four-lane from that area
should new housing ever come. Reid Riley told him the city was looking at having a new road coming in directly across from 40th Street in Langdale that could
do that.

“We need to be considering doing something like that,” Jones said.

“I’m in agreement with that,” said the mayor.

“Valley is growing,” Jones said. “I think we need some new signage in place. It needs to be cohesive and look nice. We need to be studying things like this.”

Referencing an example of that new growth, Riley asked Police Chief Mike Reynolds if the traffic flow had settled in with the new Chick-fil-A restaurant. Chief Reynolds said he thought that it had been going well. He said there had been a few fender benders near the new restaurant but no serious accidents thus far.

Before Chick-fil-A opened, city crews cleared the woods from a nearby hill to im- prove visibility looking south along Highway 29. They also did close to $80,000 in improvements on 33rd Street, which enters 29 at the new restaurant. This has improved traffic safety in the area.

The mayor said the city would be paving the road through the medical park once all the property owners had agreed to annexation. Riley added that much work had been done recently at the new football practice field behind Valley Haven School.

Council Member Jones asked Riley what was going on with the new high school. “I want to know what’s been going on,” he said. “We have spent close to $3 million there in improvements.”

“It’s on pause for now,” Riley said, “but it could be coming off soon. If the school is going to be built, it’s going to be built on that site.”

Jones said the city had gone the extra mile in aiding the project. Riley agreed, noting the recent work at the nearby practice field.

“We will do whatever needs to be done to make it work,” Riley said.

The city has also done close to $80,000 in needed work at the Chattahoochee Humane Society’s animal shelter on Fairfax Bypass.

Reid Riley updated the council on that project. Some finishing-up work needs to be done before it’s finalized. The main thing is that there’s more kennel space
there now.

“I just don’t want to get another note from them saying that they won’t take any more dogs from us,” the mayor said.