Council approves emergency funds for Morgan Drive stormwater issues, Police Foundation recognized

The Vestavia Hills City Council approved a resolution authorizing emergency funding that will in part take care of a stormwater issue on Morgan Drive.

After heavy rains the weekend of July 16, City Manager Jeff Downes explained at the council's last work session that a faulty stormwater pipe along Morgan Drive had caused a sinkhole in the parking lot of the Western Supermarket.

Before explaining the measure up for a vote at Monday's meeting, Downes took time during his City Manager's Report to explain the continuation of the overall push to update the city's methods of dealing with stormwater issues.

“The confidence that we at least have a direction that we’re heading is important,” he said to the council.

Currently, Downes explained there are 27 known stormwater management issues throughout the city, with a preliminary estimated cost of $450,000 total.

“These are issues that have been brought to our attention, we’ve actually studied them," he said, adding that as they are public issues, only resources constrain the council's ability to act on them.

Additionally, there are an unknown number of private issues that could have a public impact, Downes explained, with 10 studies having been done so far and more planned.

With private stormwater systems, the city is not allowed to take action unless the issue is deemed to have a provable public interest.

The issue at the Western Supermarket, however, unlike the 27 issues the city has on a list, is something that must be dealt with immediately, Downes said.

“It is not something we can ignore,” he said.

To rectify the situation, the city will need to repair 600 feet of pipe, Downes explained, backed up by comments from City Engineer Christopher Brady. The cost of the work is estimated at $300,000, but Brady said it is possible issues such as utility relocation could add to the cost.

City Attorney Pat Boone expressed emphatically his opinion that the city is within its rights to not only allot the funds, but to do the project in the first place.

He said that the stormwater system a public issue, even though the symptom of the failure — a sinkhole in a private parking lot — is not.

“I want you to know that your lawyer has said that you’ve got the green light to do it,” Boone said.

Later, when the issue came up for a vote, Boone reiterated that it was his legal opinion that the city was within its rights to approve the emergency funding.

“It is my legal opinion that the city council has the legal authority to spend the money as recommended by the city manager for this public purpose,” he said.

At the meeting the council also welcomed a presentation by former council member Steve Ammons, who is the president of the newly formed Vestavia Hills Police Foundation.

Police Chief Dan Rary introduced the foundation to the council by explaining that there are some aspects of a police department that officers struggle to have time or resources to do, including putting up a memorial for fallen officers in front of the department — which Rary explained the force has been wanting to do — and "passing the hat" to take care of their own during hard times.

To help, the foundation was born, and so far has been a big help, Rary said.

“They’ve really helped us out immensely on all the projects we’ve asked them to do," he said.

Ammons said he and the founding board members have been working hard to fulfill the group's mission to support officers, their families and thereby the city.

“We don’t want them to have to pass the hat; they’ve got more important things to do,” Ammons said.

Ammons explained the foundation will be working to build the memorial, host events such as Community Night Out, provide continuing education and training for officers and support them and their families with a benevolence fund.

Additionally, Ammons and the foundation provided $500 to two of the department's causes, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Other Council Business Included:

• Approving a resolution to declare a 2000 Mercury Grand Marquis as surplus property.
• Approving an amendment to a remediation agreement with Deborah Reinhardt, owner of 1756 Indian Creek Drive. The amendment extends the period to sell the home until Jan. 15, 2018, and extends the prohibition to occupy the home from only Reinhardt to others as well.
• Approving $17,000 in funding for police equipment: A truck vault for securing firearms, and a CELLEBRITE cellphone analyzer that will allow investigators — with a warrant — to obtain information from a cell phone. Rary said that the technology would be heavily utilized, noting that during the council meeting, police apprehended a human trafficking suspect, a situation in which the cellphone analyzer would have been useful. The cost of the CELLEBRITE device would be reimbursed by the FBI, thanks to a grant the agency is providing to police departments it works with.