Community Spaces Committee hosting town halls

Vestavia Hills residents will have the opportunity throughout November and December to express their opinions on the growth and future of the city's recreation facilities through several town hall meetings.

The Community Spaces Committee, formerly known as the Wald Park Planning Committee, is working to finalize the plans for the future of several of the city's recreation facilities. In addition to Wald Park, the committee has been looking at the former Altadena Valley Country Club property, the Cahaba Heights athletic fields, and the facilities at Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex in Liberty Park.

In a video announcement, parks and recreation board member and committee chair Tommy Dazzio said the committee is excited about how far the plan has come, but wants to get as much public feedback as possible to improve it even further.

The first meeting will take place Tuesday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 22 at 7:30 a.m. and Tuesday, Dec. 6 at noon. All of the town hall meetings will take place at City Hall.

The meetings will also make use of the city's new "virtual town hall" system, Vestavia Hills Listens.

The new system came out of Place 2 councilor Kimberly Cook's desire to encourage more community engagement as well as increase access of citizens to the government process.

“We desired to have a central place where people could go to provide opinions," Cook said, and said that the city also wants residents to be able to ask questions even if they are unable to attend meetings or are not comfortable approaching the podium.

Residents can log on to the site and either register a profile, or comment anonymously on the topics the city has open.

For example, the new city council will begin their strategic planning process in early December, and a discussion is currently available for residents to list their top concerns for the next four years.

Those who attend the town halls in November can also use the new online service on their smartphones to respond to surveys in real-time at the meeting, allowing the board and committee to get instant feedback on the proposed strategic plan.

For more information, visit vhal.org/vestavia-hills-listens.