City Council approves tax incentive agreement with Cahaba Heights business
A new Cahaba Heights business will receive up to $47,000 in city sales tax revenues as part of an economic development incentive agreement approved by the Vestavia Hills City Council on Oct. 26.
Miss Astrid’s Tavern is a restaurant concept to be located behind The Fig Tree and is part of a larger plan to improve the Cahaba Heights Entertainment District. The business will receive 50% of sales tax revenues generated from their business for up to six years, or until that amount reaches $47,000.
The tavern will serve alcoholic beverages while using The Fig Tree’s kitchen. In exchange for the rebate, the property owner, Richard Edge, will improve the on-site stormwater structures and improve parking, which will serve not only that property but the entire area. Another restaurant and outdoor venue concept is being planned next door, and is being developed by Jared Lewis at Bluwater Properties, while another two other adjacent property owners will grant easements to the city to allow for landscaping and the extension of sidewalks.
The total construction and site budget for the tavern is anticipated to be about $200,000, with an annual gross income expected to be about $368,500. The value of the incentive is intended to cover the project feasibility gap, along with the value associated with the parking and stormwater enhancements, according to a packet provided by the city.
In other news, the council also agreed to pay $37,500 to Catherine Brooks in a settlement of a lawsuit Brooks filed against the city and the Birmingham Water Works Board. In July 2018, Brooks was riding her bicycle on a public sidewalk adjacent to Shades Mountain Baptist Church on Columbiana Road when her bike hit a utility meter cover which was not flush with the sidewalk, causing her to fall of the bike and suffer injuries, including a broken jaw, hand, finger and several broken teeth.
Riding bikes on sidewalks is against state law, and it is the responsibility of the BWWB to maintain utility meters, said the city’s communications director, Cinnamon McCulley. Still, settling for $37,500, with the BWWB paying the same amount, was a “business decision” that saves the money from spending more in litigation.
About $500,000 will be spent to renovate Fire Station #1 following council approval of a bid to Jared Building Company. The renovations will include the replacement of existing interior partitions, finishes, ceilings, doors and other components.
Baseball fields at Wald Park will be replaced with turf by Specialty Turf Supply at a cost of about $1.1 million, with the money coming from the city’s capital expense fund. The project was included in the fiscal 2022 budget.
The switch from grass to turf is due to an inability to maintain the grass fields as well as needed, McCulley said. The fields drain much better than the previous fields at Wald Park but doing so means more time and work has to be done to keep the fields in playing condition, and that is not possible with current staffing levels.
The council also granted an easement to Verizon Wireless at Fire Station #1 and declared an old truck as surplus.