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Vestavia council approves mass grading of former coal mines at Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex

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Map courtesy of city of Vestavia Hills

The Vestavia Hills City Council on Monday night approved a plan to allow the mine reclamation office from the Alabama Department of Labor to begin mass grading efforts on former coal mines on city property within the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex and adjacent land currently owned by the Liberty Park Joint Venture.

The plan is the first step in a master plan to develop the land for an array of possible uses, including additional sports fields, a police training facility and a new branch for the Vestavia Hills Library. 

To complete the project, the city will swap some land with the Liberty Park Joint Venture. Additionally, the project is 100 percent funded through the state’s mine reclamation program, which has been a valuable resource for the city in the past.

“The Coal Mine Reclamation Program has been very, very good to our city,” Councilman George Pierce said.

The City Council also on Monday night welcomed Shane Ware as the city’s new police chief.

City Manager Jeff Downes earlier in the day announced he was appointing Ware, a Vestavia Hills police captain, to the chief’s position, which became vacant after the death of longtime Chief Dan Rary on Aug. 1.

"We were all saddened in August with the loss of our long-standing police chief, Dan Rary,” Downes said. “One of the commitments that I had made to the Police Department and to you all is in the selection process we wanted to honor that long-standing traditions and family atmosphere Chief Rary brought to the Vestavia Hills Police Department."

Surrounded by a large contingent of family, including his wife Laura, mother Stella, son Christopher, in-laws and three grandchildren, as well as more than a dozen Vestavia Hills police officers, Ware told the City Council he intends to carry on Rary’s legacy while ensuring Vestavia Hills remains one of the safest communities in Alabama. 

“I'm truly honored to have been selected as the next chief of police for the Vestavia Hills Police Department,” Ware said. “I'm humbled to be chosen to lead our department into the future, and my pledge to you all is that I will serve the city of Vestavia Hills, the men and women of the Vestavia Hills Police Department, and our profession of law enforcement with honor and integrity.

“I only stand here today in front of you because countless police professionals have invested their time, their efforts and their energy into me over the many years, and it is my sincere desire to invest in the men and women of this department just as others have invested in me,” Ware said.

Photo by Loyd McIntosh

Ware began his law enforcement career with Bessemer Police Department in 1996 and has been with the Vestavia Hills Police Department for 23 years. He is to be formally sworn in as police chief during the next council meeting on Dec. 11.

In other news, the City Council:

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