
Neal Embry Starnes Media
Council members George Pierce and Rusty Weaver talk with City Manager Jeff Downes at the Dec. 16 work session.
After the Alabama Department of Environmental Management found the city of Vestavia Hills was deficient when it comes to managing construction site stormwater runoff, the city is taking steps to be able to punish repeat offenders and increase the number of monthly inspections at ADEM-regulated sites.
The city council discussed the issue at a Dec. 16 work session. City Engineer Christopher Brady said ADEM found out of 10 objectives that come with a MS-4 permit, which allows the city to operate its own storm sewer system, the city was deficient as it pertains to controlling runoff from construction sites.
In late October, the city was notified by ADEM of issues at Wald Park, where a large amount of dirt is being moved and improvements are being made to make it a key asset for the city. A silt fence had a tear, and there were concerns raised about the whether a stockpile of soil was properly protected. Brady said the topsoil was seeded and mulched and the tear in the fence was fixed.
The city is required to inspect each ADEM-permitted site, which total 15 right now, once a month. ADEM-permitted sites are those that are more than 1 acre in size. The city has 125 construction sites that are smaller than 1 acre. Up until October, Brady said the city was hitting ADEM-permitted sites at about a 78% rate, with that number increasing to 87% by the end of 2019, meaning 87% of those sites were being inspected monthly.
Beginning in November, the city began inspecting each site monthly, and is evaluating how to ensure that continues in the future. City Manager Jeff Downes said the council may have to consider adding more employees or possibly using some contractors to help with the 140 inspections required each month.
Part of the issue, Brady said, is the city’s existing ordinance laying out punishments for construction companies who violate best management practices or work without a permit is not strong enough. While any discovered issue is usually resolved before the city re-inspects the site, Downes said the city’s ordinance doesn’t always correct the behavior, and it is sometimes easier for contractors to simply pay the fine instead of actually managing their site better.
The city is also planning to provide more education on best management practices and city/ADEM requirements and expectations to contractors.
At the council meeting that followed the work session, Downes announced the city’s annual strategic planning session will take place January 29 and 30, and the city is currently seeking resident’s feedback on what is important to them. A survey with questions created by city staff to gauge what is important to residents can be found at https://vhal.org/vestavia-hills-listens/.
The council also approved the revision of a site plan at 3127 Blue Lake Drive for the building of a medical office. The current zoning allows the building to be 10,000 square feet, but the approval of the site plan revision and a conditional use permit allows the building to be enlarged to 12,500 feet.
In other business, the council:
- Approved the rezoning of Elevation Apartments from Jefferson County R-4 (multifamily residential) to Vestavia Hills R-5 (multifamily residential). The apartments were annexed in 1983 but were never properly rezoned.
- Approved the vacation of an ingress/egress easement at Patchwork Farms for the lot where a new hotel is being built.
- Approved a contract with the insurance provider Chubb to provide cancer insurance coverage for firefighters as mandated by a recently-passed state law.