Council discusses community center, Cahaba Heights fields during work session

Proposed designs for the new community center as part of the Community Spaces Plan were discussed at an Oct. 15 work session, along with discussions about improvements to ball fields in Cahaba Heights.

Stephen Allen with Blackstock Architects told the council that the community center, which will be located in the former Gold’s Gym space next to City Hall, can be used for civic activities, meetings and recreational purposes, joined together by a lobby space.

The two-story building would include three basketball courts, a banquet space on the second floor with a catering kitchen, staff offices and potentially a sports “hall of fame” in the lobby area, among other amenities.

The community center is expected to connect to both Wald Park and City Hall, and Allen said he hopes to be able to include an elevated walking track in the space.

The athletic fields at Cahaba Heights were also discussed, with Allen telling the council the idea is to create a new identity at the ball fields, utilizing open space, improving accessibility and upgrading amenities for residents.

An elevator is proposed to deal with gradation changes from lower to upper-level fields, and a dumbwaiter could be used to send food between two full-service kitchens that would service upper and lower fields.

Allen also said it’s possible the future home of the New Merkel House could be located on the site, as well as a dog park.

Following Allen’s presentation, City Manager Jeff Downes led a discussion of how the city would operate the facilities and the programs held there.

Right now, Downes said, current facilities and sports programs are run by a small staff and volunteers, but the size and scope of the work has outgrown current staffing and volunteer levels.

“We cannot continue the way we are now, totally, and be able to have the robust programming that I know you all want and that is possible with these facilities,” Downes said.

The city may explore finding a management company to oversee the facilities and sports programming, or find multiple individual companies to run different aspects in what would be a public-private partnership, Downes said. The parks and recreation board is expected to be a part of that process, as well, Downes said.

However, Downes said that’s complicated by the fact that the Personnel Board of Jefferson County may not allow the city to enter into a contract with an organization that will potentially handle their own personnel without their permission.

“The Personnel Board of Jefferson County … will say, ‘You cannot, without getting permission from the Personnel Board of Jefferson County, contract with an entity that is providing personnel services that you could go out and go through the civil service system and hire people,” Downes said.

While volunteers will be incorporated in, council member Paul Head, the council’s parks and recreation liaison, said the work has risen “above volunteer pay grade.”

A steering committee was formed by Mayor Ashley Curry to determine the city’s next steps.

Small-Cell Technology

Small-cell technology, the term used by telecommunications companies in reference to what will become “the fifth generation,” or “5G” technology, is on its way, and may have an adverse effect on city revenue and rights-of-way.

Curry said companies like AT&T are lobbying legislators and the government to make it easier for them to set up their technology in cities, with legislation already existing in the U.S. Senate. If the legislation passes, it would limit the city’s ability to collect franchise fees, regulate rights-of-way and otherwise oversee any new towers established in support of the 5G network, Curry said. The bill would also establish what he said amounts to a “shot clock” window of time in which the city can object to any work being done.

Some cities are currently collecting $1,300 for each tower established after passing municipal ordinances, Curry said, but AT&T asked the Alabama League of Municipalities to only pay $20 per pole, and the Federal Communications Commission has recommended $270. While some cities are seeing revenue, Curry said any federal or state law would preempt city ordinances.

While Mountain Brook and Homewood have ordinances calling for certain amounts of money per tower established, Vestavia Hills does not. Downes said the city could hire a consultant knowledgeable about protecting cities in this arena to help draft an ordinance to at least garner fees in the short-term, while lobbying for help from federal and state representatives and senators.

The council, before dismissing, went into executive session to discuss a criminal investigation. Executive sessions are closed to the public, including the press. No action is taken during executive sessions, only discussion. Downes said he could not comment on the matter when asked the morning of Oct. 16, but did say no one has been terminated as a result of the investigation.

The council also gave Downes verbal permission to increase the invoice from the schools for three additional security resource officers, two of which will be covered by the schools with the other covered by the city, for the 2019-20 school year.