Council approves alcohol licenses, additional funds for Morgan Drive project

With Friday’s snow all but completely melted and city business back to normal, the Vestavia Hills City Council met Monday for a few items of regular business, and one requiring unanimous consent for immediate consideration.

After issuing a proclamation declaring Dec. 11 as Arbor Day, which City Manager Jeff Downes said would make the city eligible for future grants, the council considered three requests for alcohol licenses.

The first was for the Shell gas station on Green Valley Road. Owners had come before the council before at the Nov. 27 meeting, but was postponed due to some confusion about an underage sales violation in 1995.

The violation, executive Nagib Faisal Saleh explained, happened during the first week of him and his team opening, and was an instance where an employee thought a young woman looked older than she was.

City Councilor George Pierce asked what Saleh had learned from the violation, and what processes he has in place to prevent a similar instance now.

Saleh said he follows the ABC Board protocol, and trains his employees more extensively.

The council approved the request unanimously.

The council also approved a wine and beer sales request for the Chevron station on Rocky Ridge Road, which was the transfer of a license to a new owner.

The other request was an on-site wine and beer license for Lifetime Fitness at Patchwork Farms. Representative for the fitness center Douglas Pickett explained that the idea would be to have wine and beer sales at three locations on the property: in the cafe, at the pool and in the tennis area. In response to Pierce’s regular question about measures to prevent the sale of alcohol to minors, Pickett said that every customer will be carded for every purchase, and then responsible employees would monitor the areas to ensure that only those of legal age who purchase the drinks were the ones drinking them.

Also at the meeting, the council approved two measures that related to some of the biggest issues of 2017: the Community Spaces Plan and stormwater infrastructure.

The council approved a resolution authorizing Downes to submit an application for a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant for a pedestrian connection from City Hall to Wald Park. Connection between the two municipal properties was a talking point during the public discussions of the Community Spaces Plan earlier this year, and Downes had explained to the council during a previous briefing that the property owner between the two was willing to consider granting an easement.

The measure approved Monday would make way for the $312,000 project, with the city’s portion of the cost likely being around $96,000 after engineering costs.

After getting unanimous approval to consider the matter at the meeting without a first read, the council approved an amendment to a July measure to repair a stormwater pipe on Morgan Drive.

City Engineer Christopher Brady explained that over the course of the project, some items have been more expensive than planned, notably the need to relocate more waterlines than expected and work with Alabama Power to excavate near high-voltage lines.

“Once you start digging in the ground, you obviously find unforeseen issues,” he said.

The council approved the additional $75,000 Brady and Downes said is needed to complete the project.

The next City Council meeting will take place on Monday, Dec. 18, due to the Christmas holiday when the meeting would normally take place.