Anniston City Council appoints 5 to development board

Jun. 22—The local body established in 2015 to promote business inside a defined downtown Anniston historic district is now operating with five new members.

Grant Jackson, Faith Wright, Louis Downing, Mike Poe and Tyler McNickle were all appointed to the Downtown Development Authority by a unanimous vote by the City Council during its regular Tuesday night meeting. They are five of seven members on the eight-year-old board.

Set up through state legislation and separate from the ordinary operation of city government, the DDA has its own governing body through its board that manages its own funds and bank account. The DDA offers various grant programs for downtown businesses.

Downing, a local businessman, said he is excited to be on the DDA.

"I'd like to see the continuity of the momentum that we have going downtown for sure, I think that's the biggest thing that we could do is to maintain our momentum right now," Downing said before the City Council meeting.

McNickle, 32, owner of a digital content publishing business based in Austin, Texas, said that Anniston has a "ton of growth potential."

Poe, 54, who works for an investment business, said he is excited to be on the DDA.

"My company just opened an office downtown on West 10th, we're so glad to be there. It's been a great experience and I'd just really like to see a lot more buildings occupied downtown," Poe said.

Wright, 41, who works in real estate, said she hopes to bring some insight on new businesses coming into the area and what people can do with some of these buildings.

"The economy is good so hopefully we can get some people in here to help our downtown," Wright said.

Jackson, 39, said he was pleased to be on the DDA and is looking forward to bringing new businesses to downtown.

Councilman Jay Jenkins said the new DDA members are a great slate of people.

"I know they'll do great things, they have all done great things individually and I know collectively they'll be superstars for the city of Anniston," Jenkins said.

Employee recognition

Once the formal meeting began, Anniston City Manager Steven Folks recognized an employee who helped make life better for a senior citizen who was in medical distress.

Folks said that Tana Bryant, senior code enforcement officer, "made sure she followed through and made sure [the resident] got everything she needed — that's going above and beyond," Folks said.

Bryant wiped tears from her eyes as Folks read a certificate that detailed her efforts to help a resident in need and save her life. He also presented a special coin to Bryant that had been framed.

Councilwoman Millie Harris commended Bryant for her determined spirit.

"I've passed on information to her many times and there's not been one time that Tana has failed to follow through and that's just pure dedication. Tana and I'm so proud to know you and honored to have you as part of our city," Harris said.

After the meeting Bryant detailed how she helped the senior citizen six weeks ago.

"An elderly lady had reached out to me, she had been without power for three weeks, she mailed a letter to me at City Hall, 'Please help me,' and I have dealt with this lady in the past on other things," Bryant said.

Bryant said she lived alone and had no family.

"I went over, after a council meeting, to check on her and found out that there were some medical issues that needed attention and so had her taken to the hospital," Bryant said, "I've been keeping tabs on her while she was in the nursing home for rehab and all that, she's a wonderful, wonderful lady."

It's the heat and the humidity

In other business, the City Council approved a bid in the amount of $168,500 to Vulcan Mechanical Services to replace HVAC equipment at the Anniston Museum and Gardens. Both the Berman and the natural history museum will get new HVAC equipment. The Berman museum will also have its aging humidification equipment replaced.

Alan Robison, executive director of the Anniston Museums and Gardens, said before the council meeting that the museum requires controls on its humidity at least as much as it does on temperature.

"A museum is of concern with their artifacts first, so we make sure we have an ideal temperature and humidity level for our artifacts that's in collections and on display. That's what humidifiers and dehumidifiers will do," Robison said.

Robison said the ideal interior humidity for the museum is 50 percent.

"You have textiles, you have leathers, you have paintings and so forth and everything has a little bit of a different ideal spot but the sweet spot for pretty much everything is you want to maintain 50 percent humidity," Robison said.

Jackson Hodges, Anniston's public information director, mentioned that Cane Creek Grill at McClellan will be closed from June 26 to July 12. The purpose is to renovate the dining room.

Staff writer Bill Wilson: 256-235-3562. On Twitter @bwilson_star.