The grand opening of the city of Cullman’s annual Christkindlmarkt Friday, Nov. 24, drew record crowds, with a large number attending from neighboring counties, according to city councilmember Clint Hollingsworth.
Hollingsworth said he was thrilled with the crowds visiting the market during Friday’s grand opening celebration, which was culminated in the lighting of the city’s “Christmas pyramid.”
“It was amazing to see how many people showed up. A lot of the faces we didn’t recognize, folks visiting from out of town,” Hollingsworth said on Monday during the city’s council meeting.
Cullman Parks, Recreation and Sports Tourism Executive Director Nathan Anderson told The Times on Tuesday how last year’s Christkindlmarkt saw about 10,000 visitors across its four days of operation. This year he said rough estimates show more than 12,000 guests for the opening day celebration and more than 25,000 for the entire weekend.
The opening of the newly expanded German-inspired Christmas market, kicks off a month’s worth of holiday festivities and will be followed by the annual Cullman Christmas Parade, scheduled to take place Friday, Dec. 1.
The parade is set to begin at 6 p.m. and will be followed by a Christmas tree lighting ceremony and a free-of-charge concert by Taylor Hicks at 7:30 p.m.
Cullman Chamber of Commerce President Joey Orr addressed the council to say the chamber’s Visit Cullman program will be leveraging the Christmkindlmarkt’s appeal to non-Cullman residents in order to promote tourism throughout the year.
“One thing we’re doing with the market is pairing it with Visit Cullman. We have a booth there because we want people, once they come and see how exciting this is, to say ‘Hey, let’s go back to Cullman.’ So we’ve got a booth that’s specifically geared towards passing out brochures about things that they can do during other times of the year,” Orr said.
The Christkindlmarkt will remain open each Thursday – Sunday until Dec. 23.
The council also heard from residents both in favor of and against the rezoning of property located at the intersection of US 31 and AL 157 to R-4 single-family and multifamily residential district.
There has not been any official site plan submitted with the Cullman City Planning Commission by the owners of the property, listed as N31, LLC., but a rough sketch submitted to the council with the rezoning request seemed to indicate single-family dwellings according to the Cullman City Building Department.
Cullman resident Patty Phillips told the council how she already has difficulty exiting her home onto US 31 from her neighborhood on Peachtree Lane and feared that if the development was allowed to move forward, it would likely become a safety issue.
“To the leaders that keep supporting these growth plans and not correcting infrastructure prior to it is irresponsible to me. Particularly this development, with its juxtaposition between 157 and 31, I feel it’s going to be a nightmare,” Phillips said.
Taylor Eidson, speaking as a member of the development team for the property, said a traffic study has been requested and developers are currently awaiting the results from ALDOT. While site plans aren’t yet finalized, Eidson said the designers have already been exploring possible solutions to ease traffic concerns.
“I can’t say that it won’t increase traffic on those streets, but there is currently plans for two exits out of there. There will also be one on the 157 side of the subdivision which will help split that zone,” Eidson said.
Eidson said he expects to be able to present the results of the traffic study to the council by the time a site plan is ready to be submitted for approval.
The council approved to hold a first reading of the rezoning ordinance, which will be followed by a second reading and vote for approval Monday, Dec. 5.
In other business the council:
Approved
a request from 1 Stop Food and Fuel of 1617 4th Street SW for a retail table wine and beer off-premises alcohol license.
Extended
the annual pipe bid with Bear Concrete Products until Nov. 30, 2024.
Accepted
a ALDOT TAP grant of $800,000 for streetscape improvements along portions of 4th Ave. SW and 4th St. SW. The city will provided $200,000 in matched funds for the project.
Approved
approximately $6,000 in change orders for Jim Cooper Construction Company for the OmniPlex Civic Center.
Entered into a lease agreement for a building located at
3040 County Road 703.
Authorized
Mayor Woody Jacobs to enter into a Recovered Resource Revenue Agreement with the Solid Waste Disposal Authority.