Alabaster forms entertainment committee, discusses entertainment district – Shelby County Reporter

By NOAH WORTHAM | Editor-in-chief

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council agreed to the formation of an entertainment committee that will oversee the use of the city’s new amphitheater at a meeting on Monday, Dec. 16.

During the work session held before the meeting, Council President Sophie Martin opened the discussion regarding the formation of an entertainment committee, at the request of Mayor Scott Brakefield.

“Requests are already coming in to use the amphitheater for events, so I think we need to move forward and establish an entertainment committee that can make decisions,” Martin said.

After further discussion about forming a committee, council member Kerri Pate asked if the city would create an entertainment district, to which Brakefield confirmed discussions were underway.

“Russell (Bedsole) met with Brian (Binzer) and Jeff (Brumlow) to describe what it looks like,” Brakefield said. “(The police department) has already given some preliminary thoughts on how they would like to proceed. So, again, this will all go through the entertainment committee.

Martin suggested that the Council set up an entertainment committee and then let those selected meet, answer questions and decide how the area would be managed.

“The requests (to use the amphitheater) are starting to come in,” Brakefield said. “I think this is the easiest way for the Council to have a committee to work with Morgan (Lawley) and Parks and Recreation and all the people that will need to be involved in supporting the events that we do.”

During discussions, Council also determined that a committee would be needed to determine whether the amphitheater would be open to events other than those hosted by the city, in addition to considerations such as the price of rent and cleaning of the area.

During the work session, board members Jamie Cole, Zach Zahariadis and Pate volunteered to serve on the committee and were later appointed by Martin.

“I would like to thank Councilman Cole, Councilman Zahariadis and Councilor Pate for agreeing to serve on the entertainment committee,” Martin said during the council meeting. “This is a committee now in place that will partner with Parks and Recreation and other city staff to develop the guidelines for use of the amphitheater.”

In other matters, the Alabaster Town Hall:

• Approved a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a street lighting agreement with Alabama Power for lighting at 200 Sycamore Lane in the amount of $7.47 per month.
• Approved a resolution reclassifying the positions of Fire Inspector and Assistant Fire Marshal within the Alabaster Fire Department.
• A resolution authorizing the Mayor to sign all necessary documents in relation to the Alabaster Fire Department client specifications and billing for the new AFD ambulance service.

The next regular meeting of the Alabaster City Council will be held on Monday, January 13, 2025 at 6:30 p.m. with a prior work session on Thursday, January 9, 2025 at 6 p.m.