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By TYLER RALEY | Staff Writer

CHELSEA ­­– The Chelsea City Council recently approved the installation of a new traffic signal along one of the county’s main highways for the easement of the traffic flow in the city.

During a regularly scheduled council meeting on Tuesday, May 6, the Chelsea City Council approved a proposed resolution authorizing the Mayor to execute a maintenance agreement for a traffic signal at the intersection of Chesser Plantation Lane and Highway 280.

According to the resolution, the Alabama Department of Transportation requested the city to execute the permit. Upon hearing a motion for approval, the council unanimously favored it, making the resolution become effective.

Tony Picklesimer, mayor of the city of Chelsea, believes that the new signal will be necessary for the operation of the city, knowing traffic flow will be better organized with the installation.

“I think that it will greatly improve the safety of that particular intersection,” Picklesimer said. “That intersection has an interesting traffic flow to it. If you’re coming out of Chesser Crane onto 280, you’ve got to cross two lanes of traffic and then get into an acceleration lane and enter the eastbound traffic.”

Picklesimer also noted that the city will not be paying for the installation of the light. However, once the construction is complete, the city will pay for it from a maintenance aspect.

In other news, the council approved a resolution amending an action in an economic incentive package for AU Hospitality Group, LLC.

Picklesimer stated that during the process of Chelsea trying to attract a hotel, he approached Shelby County about offering a portion the county’s lodging tax to help fund an incentive package, with the goal of encouraging AU Hospitality Group to come to the city to own a hotel.

The county went on to offer an incentive package for the project. However, when the combined incentive agreement package was signed by both the city and AU Hospitality Group, the county incentive package was accidentally omitted from it.

The resolution was unanimously approved by the council, allowing Picklesimer to amend the incentive package to include the county’s incentives in with the city’s incentives, as originally intended. A public hearing was also opened for residents to speak on the matter, but nobody came forward.

In addition, the council also May 2025 as Mental Health Awareness Month, aiming to increase awareness and understanding of mental illnesses in the city, while also promoting appropriate and accessible services to those with mental illnesses that need them.

The Chelsea City Council also approved a resolution to purchase property located at 113 Simmons Drive for $33,000 per acre, while ratifying any actions that the Mayor carried out in the purchasing process prior to the resolution.

To add on, the council also approved ordinances that approved annexation requests submitted by Baron Properties, LLC and Parade Home Builders, Inc. for property located along Hwy 280.