Mayor's Minute

How many of you have ever remodeled a house? Do you remember seeing the old fixtures, walls or flooring being torn out and wondering what the new remodeled house will look like? At the end of the process, you were relieved to have it completed so that you could start living in the space again. 

Well “remodeling” is exactly what the city is doing. We are in the middle of remodeling our parks, making improvements to some of our infrastructure and remodeling the newly acquired community building adjacent to city hall. Our Infrastructure and Community Spaces Plan is well underway, as evidenced by the large amount of construction that you have observed on U.S. 31 at Wald Park.  

Just as you may have done with any of your remodeling projects, you can start to see the new park taking shape. There are renderings of the design plans available through the city’s website, vhal.org. You can connect to the Community Spaces Plan by the following sequence:

► On the city website (vhal.org), click on tab labeled “Community” 

► Click on “City Projects”

► Click on “Infrastructure and Community Spaces Plan”

You can actually view the March 12 presentation made by Jeff Downes, our city manager, to the Chamber of Commerce.

Our remodeling continues and we will keep you up to date as it progresses.

Our “I Love America” event will be held on the evening of June 27 at Vestavia Hills High School. Please note the location change due to the construction at Wald Park. Come join us as we celebrate the founding of our country, but also the 200th anniversary of our state.

“I wasn’t going to be in there but just a minute.” This is the response that most people give when asked about why they parked in a handicap parking spot. It has come to my attention that the frequency of these incidents has increased. We have always enforced these parking violations, but it appears that we will have to increase the enforcement in order to curb this trend. 

In a previous Mayor’s Minute, I addressed civility and how being “good citizens” improves the quality of life that we enjoy in Vestavia Hills. Let’s all be good citizens by being mindful of our disabled citizens and the accommodation we can offer them by having disabled parking spots.

I attended the VHHS Awards Day on April 29 and participated in the athletic awards that were presented by Coach Buddy Anderson. As you may recall, three VHHS football coaches were killed in an automobile accident in August 1971. In September 1971, the city passed Resolution 332, which honors coaches Thomas Harold Ward, Robert Cooper Ray and Phillip M. Puccio. These awards are given to deserving male and female athletes as selected by the VHHS Athletic Department.  

It is fitting that Coach Buddy Anderson presents these awards, as he represents the character and leadership attributes that these three coaches instilled in our student athletes. Congratulations to this year’s recipients and thank you, Coach Anderson.

Also, congratulations to our graduating seniors! Our teachers have done a great job in preparing these students for the next phase of their lives.