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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer 

CHELSEA – The Chelsea City Council approved a grant application for the replacement of the Liberty Road bridge and the mayor declared January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month during a rescheduled council meeting on Thursday, Jan. 18.

During the meeting, the council passed a resolution authorizing the mayor to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for a grant application to replace the Liberty Road bridge in partnership with the Shelby County Commission.

“This resolution will give me the authorization to sign a partnership agreement with Shelby County and also take part in a Rebuild Alabama grant to replace the bridge on Liberty Road which has been there a long time,” Chelsea Mayor Tony Picklesimer said.

The Chelsea Council also approved a resolution to authorize the mayor to sign an EMS agreement for Emergency Medical Transport Services with Shelby County.

“We’ve been fortunate to be one of the few cities in Shelby County that have our own (Emergency) Transport Service,” Picklesimer said. “We’re signing an agreement that we will help our neighbors in the event of a natural disaster—something we would have done without the agreement but we appreciate Shelby County offering us the incentive to do that.”

During the mayor’s report, Picklesimer delivered a proclamation to the council declaring January as Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

“I, Tony Picklesimer, mayor of the city of Chelsea, hereby proclaim January 2024 as Human Trafficking Awareness Month and encourage all residents to join us in raising visibility of this crime and to become more informed about ways to prevent, recognize and respond to potential victims of human trafficking in our community,” Picklesimer said in reading the proclamation. “Together we can become more informed and take a step to create a community that is trafficking free”

Afterward, Picklesimer handed a copy of the proclamation to Ana Ockert, a victim advocate for the Hispanic Interest Coalition of Alabama.

“I’m honored that Chelsea is a participating city municipality, but let it not just be that proclamation,” she said. “Where do we go from here? What can we do—take training, pay attention, reach out to victim advocates, not just HICA because anybody can be a victim.

In other news, the Chelsea City Council approved a rezoning request by Union Community Church for property located at the corner of Highway 51 and Highway 31 to E-1 Single Family District.

The Council also approved an annexation request by Thomas and Elizabeth Bowen for property located at 132 Essex Drive in Sterrett and welcomed them to the city of Chelsea.

The Chelsea council meetings for the month of February will take place at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6 and Tuesday, Feb. 20.