
Neal Embry
Council members Paul Head, Rusty Weaver and Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry prepare for the Sept. 9 meeting.
Anticipating a 4% growth in overall revenue, the Vestavia Hills City Council on Sept. 9 passed the fiscal year 2020 budget.
The budget anticipates the revenue growth as a result of the 2018 one-cent city sales tax, the revenues from the newly-passed state gas tax and conservative budgeting on the part of city leaders.
The council also passed an ordinance approving a 1% cost-of-living increase for city employees. City Manager Jeff Downes said while the city wanted to give a higher raise, it absorbed 100% of rising healthcare costs, which were projected to increase by 2%, but instead rose by about 5%.
The council also approved an ordinance authorizing the spending of the last 10% of the fiscal year 2019 budget. It is standard practice, Downes said, for the council to approve 90% of the budgeted expenditures at the beginning of a fiscal year, and then, if possible, authorize the final 10% to be spent toward the end of the year, making purchases that would otherwise be made in the next fiscal year, offsetting the next year’s costs.
The budget can be viewed in its entirety online.
In addition to enjoying wings and football at the soon-to-open Baumhower’s Victory Grille next to Wald Park, visitors will be able to enjoy alcohol, after the restaurant’s alcohol license was approved by the council.
Craig Parker, area director for the restaurant, said Baumhower’s is part of the state’s responsible vendor program, which trains and certifies employees to ensure alcohol is not sold to minors.
The restaurant, which has about 70 television screens, is set to open in early October, Parker said.
In his report to the council, Downes said ALDOT has approved part of the Massey Road widening and improvement project. The state agency has also given preliminary approval to the design of the pedestrian bridge over U.S. 31 near the library and Wald Park. Although the council has approved the design, they will now have to sign off on ALDOT’s approval. Both projects are expected to go to bid in early 2020, Downes said.
Downes also said work is ongoing on both repaving and sidewalk projects. A developer off of Dolly Ridge, Jim Thornton, who is building some homes, is installing sidewalks there, and plans for sidewalks on East Street have been submitted, Downes said.
The council approved an agreement between the city and NCIC Inmate Communications for a new inmate telephone system at the city jail. Captain Johnny Evans with the Vestavia Hills Police Department said inmates have torn physical phones off of the walls, and the new system will rely on video communication, allowing for video visitation, as well as the use of video for court appearances and meetings with attorneys. The installation comes at no cost to the city, Evans said.
The council also approved the rezoning of 601 Vestavia Parkway from Jefferson County C-P to Vestavia Hills O-2 with a maximum height of three stories. The property was never properly rezoned when it was annexed into the city. Nearby residents raised concerns that the letter they received informing them of the proposed rezoning stated the building could be allowed to increase to 10 stories, but the council informed them the ordinance, as written, does not allow for more than three stories. If the owner wishes to increase the height past three stories in the future, they must go back through city leadership and gain approval.
In other business, the council:
- Approved a resolution vacating drainage easements on lots 23 and 31 of the Southbend subdivision.
- Approved a sanitary sewer easement to Jefferson County for improvements at Wald Park.
- Approved the financial commitment of the city for a ladder and pump truck for the Vestavia Hills Fire Department, with the slightly larger than $1 million expense set to come out of the fiscal year 2021 budget.
At an upcoming meeting, the council will discuss whether to approve the annexation of acreage adjacent to Vestavia Hills Elementary Dolly Ridge, with the property belonging to the Vestavia Hills Board of Education.