By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

ALABASTER – Alabaster’s former city manager will now serve as the city’s administrator and planner after he was recently named to the position by the City Council.

Council members voted unanimously during their Oct. 15 meeting to name former city manager Brian Binzer to the newly created city administrator and planner position, which was created when the council agreed to create the position earlier this month.

The move means Alabaster will now have a city administrator for the first time since 2013, when then-city administrator George Henry was named the city manager. Since Binzer vacated the city manager position when he was named the city administrator and planner, the city manager position will remain vacant.

According to the job description, the administrator/planner position will oversee the finance director, IT director, library director, city clerk, court clerk/chief magistrate and planning and zoning coordinator, and will report to the mayor. Binzer will serve as the acting city clerk as the city works to hire a new city clerk.

The city administrator/planner will be appointed every four years by the City Council, and the position’s terms will be the same as the council’s. During the four-year term, the person in the position can only be removed by a two-thirds vote of the City Council.

“The purpose of this position is to direct and oversee operations of assigned departments and to assist the mayor in coordinating the day-to-day administrative operations of the city,” the job description read. “This position serves as the city planner and economic development officer.”

As city manager, Binzer previously performed many duties included in the new city administrator and planner position, but some of his former duties will be handled by the city’s new executive director of engineering and infrastructure position, which also was included in Alabaster’s 2019 fiscal year budget. The city currently is working to fill the executive director of engineering and infrastructure position.