Neal Embry
Council member Rusty Weaver and Mayor Ashley Curry listen during the July 22 council meeting.
Construction could begin at Wald Park later this month or in early August after the Vestavia Hills City Council approved the bid for construction work at the July 22 meeting.
Five bids were received, with the low bid coming from Taylor Miree Construction at $16,297,429. The base bid includes construction of a new pool facility, a baseball complex and roadway access, with parking for both the pool facility and baseball complex also included. The Miracle League field is also part of the base bid.
The notice to proceed is dated for July 25, so work could begin as early as Thursday.
There is still a plan to build the alternates that were included in the bid tabulation, including a maintenance building, a dog park and trails, a tennis facility, two batting cage pavilions and annual turf and landscape maintenance. However, in order to meet deadlines for the other projects, those projects will come later.
City Manager Jeff Downes said the hope is that the baseball complex will be finished by Feb. 15, which would be in time for the spring baseball season. The pool should be finished by late May, while roadway access, including a new turn-in lane to the park, should be finished by Oct. 1, in order to accommodate the new Baumhower’s and Dunkin’ restaurants.
While the total bid price was about $300,000 more than expected, TCU Consulting, the project manager, will perform value engineering, looking for ways to save money while not lowering the quality of the project, to lower the cost, possibly by as much as $800,000.
In his report to the council, Downes gave an update on city projects that will affect schools. On July 27, work crews will begin improvement work at the intersection of Dolly Ridge Road and Rocky Ridge Road, including adding a left-turn signal. Work is ongoing to improve Dolly Ridge Road as it approaches Gresham Drive, including striping and extending the left-turn lane onto Gresham Drive. A police officer will also be at the intersection to help with traffic when school starts on Aug. 8, by which time each of the projects should be finished.
Downes also said work to repair and replace drainage pipes is also ongoing.
In other business, the council:
- Approved an ordinance for a conditional use permit for a home occupation [business] at 621 Liberty Lake Drive.
- Approved the 90-day annexation and subsequent rezoning for property at 2400 to 2424 Magnolia Cove Road.
- Approved the 90-day and overnight annexation of property at 3516 Squire Lane.
- Approved a liquor license for Taco Tech, 2409 Acton Road, Suite 127. The restaurant previously served alcohol, but has recently come under new ownership, necessitating a new license.
Several annexations were placed into first readings, which means they’ll come up at a future meeting, along with a resolution approving a $32,560 change order for the construction of sidewalks on Green Valley Road.
