By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Alabaster’s rapid population growth over the past 10 years could bring many changes to the city’s municipal election voting districts.

By law, the city must redraw its seven City Council wards after each census count. According to census figures, Alabaster grew from about 22,000 residents to just over 30,000 residents from 2000-2010, which caused some of the city’s wards to be altered for the upcoming mayoral and City Council election in August.

Alabaster is split into seven voting wards for its municipal elections, and each ward elects a City Council representative.

Everyone in the city will be able to cast a vote in the mayoral election. Both the City Council and mayoral elections will be held Aug. 28.

During a Jan. 24 community meeting at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Ward 4 Councilman Rick Walters said the city’s major growth areas over the past 10 years were along the western and southern parts of Alabaster.

Alabaster Mayor David Frings said major growth areas were along Shelby County 17 and Alabama 119 in the south-central part of the city, as many new neighborhoods were constructed in those areas during the past decade.

“We had to redraw the districts because of the population shifts,” Frings said. “They all changed a lot, because we had to get them all balanced.”

Walters said federal law required the city to split the wards evenly, and said each ward contains about 4,300 or 4,400 residents.

“They are divided up by residents, not by voters,” Walters said. “We are not going to dilute any voting blocs.”

After the City Council voted during its Jan. 17 meeting to approve the new voting wards, the redistricting plan was sent to the U.S. Department of Justice for review. If the Department of Justice approves the plan, the new wards will go into effect for the Aug. 28 elections.

Frings said if the redistricting plan is approved, the city will post copies of the map online, and will place hard copies at several city buildings, including City Hall and the Alabaster Senior Center.