Holidays and hay bales

As we enter the holiday season, I know many of you are wondering why there are hay bales up and down Highway 31. These are related to the state’s repaving of Highway 31 from Shades Crest Road down to I-65. The hay bales are required by the contractor to safeguard the inlets and any runoff that may occur as a result of the project. City Engineer Christopher Brady is working closely with the contractor and others involved in this project; we will release additional information regarding paving dates as soon as those details are confirmed as final.

I hope that by now, many of you have had a chance to visit alifeabove.org and watch the video about our city. Produced by Tatum Design, the video was shot exclusively in the city of Vestavia Hills and features Vestavia Hills residents in its cast. 

In the coming months, you will see additional marketing collateral, a new website, new signage, an updated Community News layout, look and feel, and district area signage, all reflecting the city’s new brand identity, including our official tag line, “A Life Above.” We are also evaluating several different events throughout the city and will reveal the details of scheduled events in the early part of 2015. 

I would like to thank the core members of the Rebranding Vestavia Hills Committee, including Jeff Downes, Melissa Hipp, Becky Leavings, Karen Odle, Lisa Christopher,  Linda Parker and Scott Perry. This group will soon be reaching out and involving additional stakeholders in the rollout of the new brand, and I thank them for their leadership.

I want to reiterate to the people who have been here for a good long while that this effort is not about an attempt to eliminate the history of Vestavia Hills. Rather, we are trying to build onto that history by considering comments we’ve heard time and again from developers, many of whom already own businesses in the area. 

This rebranding is being approached as a sprucing up of our image, with a view to making sure we present ourselves in the best possible light to recruit the type of economic development our population expects and deserves.