
Photo by Ingrid Schnader
Vestavia Hills city manager Jeff Downes speaks at the strategic planning session in Vestavia Hills City Hall on Jan. 29, 2020.
Due to the increased cost of constructing the swimming facility and the cost of the proposed design of the new community building, the Vestavia Hills City Council will have to decide whether to pay all or a portion of a roughly $9 million increase in the Community Spaces program or to redesign some of the projects at a cheaper cost.
During the city’s strategic planning session on Jan. 29 and 30, the Council heard from TCU Consulting, the project manager for the plan, said the total program cost had risen to about $62 million, up $9.1 million from the original $52 million cost. The original program cost was determined after the city paid roughly $6 million of debt off the community building, the old Gold’s Gym.
The cost of the pool facility at Wald Park, which is currently under construction, has risen about $3.1 million. The community building would cost about $4.1 million more than was originally planned if the council chooses to move forward with the project as presented.
City Manager Jeff Downes said the increases came as the city and TCU have tried to implement the vision, which was determined by the priorities as expressed by Vestavia residents. The addition of multiple gyms at the community building and the building of both recreational and competition-style pools at Wald Park has driven the cost up, Downes said.
If the council chooses to pay for the increases, they’ll have to possibly dip into a surplus fund, which includes a portion of tax monies generated by the 1-cent sales tax passed to pay for the program, which Downes estimates will have about $5.5 million in its account at the end of fiscal year 2021, when the entire program should be finished.
The council could also take advantage of good interest rates and refinance and restructure their debt to generate the money needed to pay for the increases.
Downes planned to reach out to TCU and ask if they could be at a public work session on Feb. 10 at 4 p.m. in council chambers to discuss options. The meeting will be held in the chambers to accommodate members of the public who want to attend.
The Community Spaces plan wasn’t the only costly issue raised during the planning session.
Police and Fire Departments
Both the Vestavia Hills Fire Department and the city’s Police Department spoke about the need to add personnel and equipment in Cahaba Heights and Liberty Park.
The Police Department requested six additional patrol officers to cover shifts and off days for all three shifts, with two officers assigned to each shift and one officer floating between Cahaba Heights and Liberty Park. Currently, there are only two officers assigned to cover both areas.
The department is also asking for a policy that would allow officers to take vehicles home. This is an effort to make the cars last longer and to allow officers to respond to incidents across the city more efficiently.
Vestavia Hills Fire Chief Marvin Green said his department is also experiencing some response time issues in Liberty Park and said the area is underserved by the ladder and rescue trucks. A new ladder truck is on the way in October, Green said.
The new Longleaf senior-living facility in Liberty Park is expected to add 160 calls to the fire department’s plate this year, as senior citizens will likely need more emergency services, Green said.
The department is asking for three new personnel to staff a rescue unit in Liberty Park, increased staffing from four to five personnel in the area, a new rescue unit and either a quick-response unit or a mini-pumper, Green said.
When the Council discussed the possibility of purchasing new Christmas lights and a new Christmas tree — an estimated cost between $75,000 and $125,000 — several Council members, including George Pierce and Paul Head, said they believed police and fire needs were more important. They discussed the possibility of making the purchase of new Christmas decorations a community project with private donations.
Lieutenant Sean Richardson also spoke about a potential partnership with Dr. Don Reiff at UAB Hospital to help get medical personnel trained to go with police in emergency situations to help save victims’ lives at the scene.
Cahaba Heights and Patchwork Farms Development
Developer Chris Reebals with Christopher Architecture and Interiors spoke about his plan to redevelop some property in Cahaba Heights and turn it into a café and bike shop, along with a “pocket park.”
The Local Spoke is a bike shop, and it will be joined by the Handlebar café, blending two cultures together, Reebals said. The development is planned for the lot in between Pipe Line Road and Cahaba Heights Road.
“We feel like this is a growing, progressive community,” Reebals said.
The property, which is at 3164 Cahaba Heights Road, is owned by Bluwater Properties out of Mountain Brook. It faces some challenges — a ditch on Pipe Line Road receives a lot of stormwater and has become a blight, Reebals said.
Reebals said he’s talked to neighboring businesses and that they are interested in a public-private partnership, with a shared parking facility to be used by area businesses. The development group also proposed expanding the sidewalk; constricting the ingress and egress on Cahaba Heights Road; and building a pocket park with a bridge, a gazebo, an amphitheater and a retention and detention facility for stormwater. This would allow for live music and food trucks and other events, Reebals said — an added bonus with Meadowlawn Park nearby.
Reebals asked the city to consider participating by possibly offering tax abatements or participating in the park project. He said he hopes to begin construction in the first or second quarter of this year.
In another development, the hotel at Patchwork Farms is expected to break ground sometime this year, Reebals said.
The Patchwork Hotel will be a mixed-used development with a luxury hotel. Rates will be around $175 per night during the week. Two front-facing restaurants, 31 luxury condominiums and 10,000 square feet of retail space are also planned. The $50 million development is aimed at being “better than the Grand Bohemian [in Mountain Brook],” Reebals said.
Reebals asked the city to consider helping fill the feasibility gap in that project as well.
Stormwater and Sanitation
City Engineer Christopher Brady proposed several ways to strengthen the city’s existing ordinances regarding stormwater management and construction runoff.
Right now, the city’s ordinance doesn’t have much “teeth,” Brady said, and violators are able to pay a small fine and go back to abusing the environment. The city plans to double permit fees for those working without a permit; improve enforcement, including the forfeiture of securities, for those failing to comply with city requirements; introduce inspection fees and escalate fees for re-inspection; and provide contractors with education about what is expected of them.
Any changes to the city’s ordinances must be approved at a formal meeting of the Council.
Public Services Director Brian Davis talked about the city’s sanitation contract with Republic Services, set to expire in October. With the cost of recycling through Birmingham Recycling and Recovery recently increasing, the city has asked that in the next bid, each separate part of a typical sanitation contract — including trash hauling, recycling and other services — be broken out to examine the cost to the city.
The council also talked about adding a specified supervision requirement to the contract, meaning someone from the provider will be focused on Vestavia instead of a region. The council also talked about reaching out to the community to get their thoughts on what they want and need from a sanitation services provider.
With the contract expiring in October, the city will need to move quickly to prevent a lapse in service.
Traffic and Road Projects
The city is examining possible changes to several intersections, including Sicard Hollow Road and Blue Lake Drive, Rocky Ridge Road at Dolly Ridge Road, U.S. 31 at Columbiana Road and Interstate 65, and U.S. 31 at Shades Crest Road.
The city talked about possibly pursuing ALDOT funding to pay for the projects and prioritized Sicard Hollow at Blue Lake, which presents some safety concerns. The proposal at that intersection is to build a roundabout that will slow drivers down, Brady said.
The city continues to make progress with ALDOT projects, including the Massey Road and pedestrian bridge projects.
The state has given the city the green light to pursue right of way agreements on Massey Road, and utility coordination is ongoing. The project — which will include the installation of sidewalks, road shoulder stabilization, drainage improvements and resurfacing — is expected to go to bid in late summer of this year.
Construction plans for the pedestrian bridge are on ALDOT’s desk awaiting approval, Brady said, and it is possible the project goes to bid this summer.
The tunnel at the Sicard Hollow Athletic Complex is another ongoing project, and the city is working with Birmingham Water Works to move the water main on the site, Brady said.
The city is also continuing work on various sidewalk installation projects. The sidewalks on East Street go to bid on Feb. 13 and will connect Rathmell Sports Park to White Oak Drive. Preliminary designs are completed on Mountain View Drive, as well on Dolly Ridge and Rocky Ridge roads. While preliminary designs are complete on the Cahaba Heights Road project, the city is meeting with stakeholders, three of which are not necessarily on board with the project.
Seven drainage projects were completed in 2019, and nine more are scheduled to be completed this year, including Massey Road, which has at least three drainage pipes that need to be replaced, Brady said.
Public Services and the Library
Davis introduced two new city employees, Sandi Wilson and Jeff Corley. Wilson is the parks and recreation superintendent and will focus on senior adult activities, while Corley is the athletic program coordinator.
Wilson said she hopes to host a special event on the 20th of every month and to unite different groups that meet throughout the city.
Corley said he doesn’t want to settle for the status quo and wants to continue to increase participation in city athletics. The new pool at Wald Park will be more than a pool, he said, and will be more akin to an aquatics center for residents to enjoy.
Davis said Corley may take over the city’s youth flag football program, which continues to grow in numbers.
Taneisha Tucker, director of the Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest, said her staff is focused on improving employee culture. She also said new employee-led teams helped employees have more fun, grow and build relationships last year.
The library saw an 11 percent increase in program attendance last year and will soon open the remote library lockers at Liberty Pharmacy in Liberty Park.
Other City Issues
Municipal Court Director Umang Patel briefed the Council on the ongoing effort to digitize records, especially ahead of a bill sponsored by Republican Cam Ward in the state Senate that would call on cities to release records more quickly, among other efforts.
Patel said the city needs to do that regardless, while City Planner Conrad Garrison said the city is “out of room” when it comes to paper storage.
Patel also said he is working to add more technology to the court system, possibly allowing residents to make payments online and to allow people to sign up for different city groups and activities online, as well.
Cinnamon McCulley, the city’s communications director, shared the results of a city-wide survey. The survey found people are increasingly satisfied with city services, public safety, the library and sanitation. The survey found that satisfaction needs to increase with city communication and parks and recreation and that parks and sidewalks are a priority.
Social and Legislative Issues
A forum on medical marijuana might be coming to Vestavia before too long. The Council talked about letting a lobbyist come and talk about the benefits of it, while others, including Rusty Weaver and Kimberly Cook, siding with an opinion issued by Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall advocating against medical marijuana. Weaver said he had heard from a medical doctor that the compounds included in medical marijuana are already available in other drugs, thus making medical marijuana unnecessary.
Council members talked about potentially hosting a forum along with the Help the Hills coalition.
The city continues to attack the vaping problem among young people, and the Council talked about drawing up an ordinance banning flavored pods, following the efforts of the Trump administration.
City leaders said they wanted to be united with neighboring cities on the issue, so as to not push the problem to other municipalities.
Marshall has talked about possibly enforcing civil forfeiture of businesses that enable or neglectfully allow human trafficking to take place at their business. If the state can show the business failed to meet federal and state standards, they could be punished.
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry said the city is “back to square one” on small-cell technology, as AT&T and other telecommunications companies are becoming more “aggressive” when it comes to obtaining right of way, the central debate on the topic, with cities and companies fighting over control of easements.
Staff Writer Ingrid Schnader contributed to this story.