AUBURN, Ala.- The Auburn City Council took the following actions at its Feb. 1, 2022 meeting:

Approved the naming of a new road in honor of fallen Officer Will Buechner. The City Council approved the naming of a new connector road in honor of fallen Auburn Police Officer Will Buechner. The future Will Buechner Parkway will connect Richland Road to Martin Luther King Drive and provide access to parks, schools and neighborhoods. Buechner was killed in the line of duty on May 19, 2019. The vote on the naming of Will Buechner Parkway took place on Buechner’s son’s fourth birthday, and was brought before the council by Councilman and former Auburn Police Chief Tommy Dawson.

Approved a purchase of AstroTurf for the Auburn Soccer Complex expansion. The council approved a contract of $1.75 million for AstroTurf to be included in the Auburn Soccer Complex expansion project. The turf will be playable for soccer, lacrosse and football. This is but one part of an expansion of the complex, which will include the construction of a new 20,000 square foot multi-purpose building, a freestanding restroom pavilion building, three multi-purpose fields with sidewalks, a roundabout at the entrance on Wire Road and renovations and additions to the parking lot. The multi-purpose building will consist of a multi-purpose room, a gymnasium with basketball and futsal courts as well as storage and restrooms.

Approved various requests for a large neighborhood development off Mrs. James Road. The council approved a rezoning and Planned Development District application for property that will be included in a planned mixed-use development known as Old Samford. Old Samford will sit on an 885-acre site located immediately west of Camden West subdivision and include more than 1,500 homes (no more than 170 to be built per year), a commercial component and property within the neighborhood that could potentially be used as the site of a future school. A development agreement was also passed by the council that outlines stipulations for the developer as well as how much funding the developer will contribute toward infrastructure improvements to roadways in that area, in an effort to equip Auburn’s northern roadways to handle increased traffic.

The council also:

• Approved an amendment to the Hamilton Place Planned Development District, which includes the Publix shopping center off Moores Mill and Hamilton roads, to add an additional 4.21 acres that sits behind Publix, and approved an office use for that property. The maximum 33,000 square foot office space will be accessed largely from the service entrance by Publix. These requests were previously denied by the council about a year ago.
• Authorized a tax abatement for Innotive Tech, Inc., located in Auburn Technology Park West. The abatement is in connection to a building expansion, and the company anticipates hiring 35 new employees over the next year with a capital investment of about $8.5 million.

Meeting minutes and a video of the meeting will be posted at auburnalabama.org/agenda. Mayor Ron Anders’ recap of the meeting will be posted @CityofAuburnAL on social media. The next regular council meeting will be held on Feb. 15, 2022, in the Council Chamber, located at 141 N. Ross St. in the new Public Safety Building at the corner of Ross Street and Magnolia Avenue.