Photo by Neal Embry.
Soon, crews will be replacing a drainage pipe between the intersection of Green Valley Road and Crosshaven Drive and El Zun Zun restaurant, as it is failing and could cause issues with stormwater drainage.
A 60-inch-diameter pipe on Crosshaven Drive will need to be replaced to avoid issues with stormwater drainage, adding another wrinkle and $50,000 more in city funds to the ongoing improvement projects on the road.
The pipe is failing due to its age, and while it is not in danger of collapsing and is not a safety emergency, it needs to be replaced due to the negative impact on stormwater drainage, said Raynor Boles with TCU Consulting, which is handling the Crosshaven Drive project, along with other Community Spaces projects, for the city.
That portion of the road, which is roughly between El Zun Zun and Green Valley Road, will need to be closed, most likely for five days. Residents and businesses will still have access to their properties, and water service will not be disrupted, Boles said.
The Vestavia Hills City Council passed a resolution authorizing the funding of the replacement, but Boles said it would be late June before supplies would arrive.
In the meantime, crews were to finish widening and doing curb and gutter work, along with the installation of sidewalks, on the east side of the street. Boles said they can’t perform work on the west side due to ongoing utility work in the area.
The council will also decide at a later meeting whether to approve additional work at the intersection of Green Valley Road and Crosshaven on behalf of Jefferson County, with the county paying for the work, Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes said.
Also at the June 14 meeting, the council voted to approve redesign work for the pedestrian bridge project, which came in significantly over budget. The bridge has a unique, single-beam span with no support structure in the middle. The cost of the new analysis and design, which will be done by Gresham Smith, is $42,000. Blair Perry with Gresham Smith said the goal now is to have a more cost-effective design, but the bridge will still be a single-span bridge, and the Alabama Department of Transportation won’t allow a support structure in the median on U.S. 31, where the bridge is designed to connect the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest to Wald Park.
The council also voted to update the city’s massage parlor ordinance, following the January arrest of LeVan Uriah Johnson, the CEO of Oasis Day Spa and Wellness Center in Rocky Ridge. Johnson was charged with sexual abuse that allegedly took place at the spa.
Vestavia Hills police Lt. Mike Keller said the changes include adopting the state board of massage therapists’ guidelines, increasing fines for noncompliance, and mandating that anyone who puts in a business license application for a massage parlor must submit an affidavit listing the names of all employees and display their license where it can be seen.
The council also approved additional funding and a time extension on the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex pedestrian tunnel project, which has been delayed due to a conflict with a water main. Due to that conflict, a bypass road and guardrails will need to be built during construction of the tunnel. The project is being funded in large part by a grant, but the city’s matching part of that grant will be increased by $40,000, Downes said.
The council also agreed to pay the Pennington Group roughly $170,000 for construction of a dog park at the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex. The project is being funded by a $300,000 mine reclamation grant, Downes said. The bid came in about $8,000 under the projected cost.
In other business, the council:
► Approved an ordinance authorizing mutual aid between the Vestavia Hills Fire Department and the Homewood Fire Department. Fire Chief Marvin Green said while the two departments already have been aiding one another, their agreement to do so had not been in writing.
► Approved a resolution authorizing the appropriation of an $8,000 gift from the Vestavia Hills Sunrise Rotary Club to buy equipment for the Vestavia Hills Police Department.
► Introduced several annexations and rezoning cases, which will be heard at an upcoming council meeting.
► The council also heard about the bid for phase three of the Community Spaces Plan, which came in more than $1 million over budget. More details on that issue can be found in a separate story on page A6.
