By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

Former longtime Pelham City Council member Jim Phillips is rerunning for a spot on the council during the city’s upcoming municipal elections.

Phillips previously served on the City Council from 1984-2004, and said he decided to run for Place 4 on the council during this year’s elections after he was contacted by supporters.

“A couple of months before the qualifying date, I got a lot of calls from citizens and city employees,” Phillips said. “I put some thought into it and decided to run again.”

Phillips said Pelham has been facing several issues over the past several years, and said he would like to work with other council members and the mayor to get Pelham “turned around.”

“A lot of our issues are simple fixes, but we can’t fix anything if the mayor doesn’t work together with the council,” Phillips said. “We’re not facing any more issues than any other city around here, but we get a lot of publicity about it because it’s all on the highway.

“I will help the council and mayor work together on those problems,” Phillips said.

Phillips said he would like to tap into Pelham residents’ skills, such as asking a resident with National Hockey League experience to support the Pelham Civic Complex’s ice programs.

Phillips also said he would like to “send someone from the revenue department to go and see what the problem is” for Pelham’s small business owners.

Phillips also said he is in support of a plan to construct a Pelham city center complex on recently purchased property near Pelham City Park off U.S. 31.

“The whole plan (current Mayor Don Murphy) has got is to make that area a city hub,” Phillips said. “Right now, you know when you go through Helena and you know when you go through Alabaster. If you don’t see (Pelham) City Hall, you may not even know you’ve gone through Pelham.”

Phillips also said he would like to install a water pump station on Shelby County 11 to allow more development along the road.

Phillips has qualified to run against other Place 4 candidates Maurice Mercer, Jeff Smith and Robert Sullivan. Pelham’s municipal election will be held on Aug. 28 from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Pelham Civic Complex.