Neal Embry
Vestavia Hills City Council members sit at the May 20 meeting.
A tunnel will soon connect both sides of the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex after the Vestavia Hills City Council passed several resolutions approving the project on May 20.
The $677,000 project, which will be funded by an 80-20 federal match, will be paid for with $144,742 of city money, with the rest coming from federal and state funds, including a recently-awarded $200,000 from the Metropolitan Planning Organization, City Manager Jeff Downes said. The MPO funding helps cover the cost of moving a water main, the cost of which was more than expected.
The project will connect the fields off Sicard Hollow Road, and has been in the works since 2014. Council member George Pierce said he’d heard from residents about why the tunnel connecting the Massey Road area to the old Berry High School, soon to be the new Pizitz Middle School, was not built instead. Downes said that tunnel would have to be relocated to work in conjunction with ongoing construction at the school and the new turn lane to be built on Columbiana Road, and that in 2014, when work on the tunnel project started, there was no knowledge that the school system would take over the Berry campus.
The council voted to approve the funding for the project, the bid from Gillespie Construction and work to be performed by CEI Services, which will supervise the project. Council member Kimberly Cook voted no on the two resolutions related to construction, and later said she didn’t think it was the best use of money, and that the Berry tunnel, though it would be more expensive than the SHAC project, would be a better resource for the city.
Both pedestrians and golf carts can access the tunnel, which should be completed by the end of the fall, Downes said.
The council also approved an agreement between the Rocky Ridge Fire Department, the Vestavia Hills Fire Department and Jefferson County for the two fire departments to use unused county property for a fire training facility. VHFD Chief Marvin Green said the department hasn’t had a facility to train at in city limits since 1997. The fire departments would build behind the property, an old pump station, and could build a burn building.
The council also approved a land swap with the Vestavia Hills Board of Education, which approved the same deal in their meeting earlier on May 20. The board will receive property which includes the current New Merkel House, while the city will receive property to be used for access roads, parking, the future New Merkel House and ballfields near Vestavia Hills Elementary -- Cahaba Heights. Downes said the swap allows the city to build the ballfields as part of Community Spaces. The current New Merkel House will not be torn down yet.
At a work session prior to the meeting, the city discussed agenda protocols and how residents can be placed on the agenda, as well as how events in the city can be publicized. Residents can now apply for their event, so long as it is public and open to everyone in the city, through the city’s Action Center.
Also at the work session, the council heard from the park foundation, which will soon launch a fundraising campaign for the Miracle Field to be built at Wald Park.
