Sketch courtesy of city of Vestavia Hills
This is the proposed look of a new southern gateway sign along U.S. 31 near Interstate 65 in Vestavia Hills, Alabama.
The Vestavia Hills City Council on Monday night delayed consideration of spending almost $1.2 million for new signs, landscaping and drainage improvements at the southern gateway to the city along U.S. 31.
Councilman Rusty Weaver said he has been presented a lot of questions about the project from residents in recent days and believes a lot of people either misunderstand it or are misinformed about it.
The council has set a work session at 5 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 29, to review the project again for the public and answer people’s questions about it and has put the matter on the agenda for a vote on Oct. 13.
The proposed south gateway would include a 15-foot-tall, 130-foot-long wall with “Vestavia Hills” written on it running parallel with U.S. 31. Also being proposed is another sign bearing the city’s name across the street by the Chevron gasoline station that would be visible to people exiting Interstate 65 North.
The plan also includes additional landscaping by the Chevron station and in a new median strip on U.S. 31 and drainage improvements.
About 100 feet of the chain link fence behind the current temple sign structure at the intersection is proposed to be removed and replaced with a black vinyl fence. The contract being considered by the City Council is with Gillespie Construction.
City Manager Jeff Downes has said this project would be funded completely by money received from the sale of the former Days Inn site.
Numerous people have been commenting on social media that the city is spending too much money on this project and that there are more important things that should be funded, such as stormwater improvements and air conditioning repairs for Vestavia Hills schools.
Weaver said this project has been discussed by the council in open meetings for more than a year. Councilman George Pierce said no one comes to the meetings to ask questions, but one person posts on Facebook about it “and the whole world erupts.”
Instead of asking questions that are well-founded, people have gone bananas and accused the council of all kinds of things, Pierce said. As for whether the money should go toward air conditioning systems in the schools, Pierce said that’s a school issue and noted the council is giving $3.5 million to the school board over three years for a variety of projects.
Mayor Ashley Curry emphasized that the $1.2 million is not just paying for a sign. It also will cover landscaping and drainage improvements and is part of a larger effort by the city to improve the appearance of the area that serves as a major entrance to the city.
In other business Monday night, the City Council:
- Appointed Mitch Bevill to the Vestavia Hills Parks and Recreation Board to fill the final two years on the board for Justin Palmore, who relocated out of the state.
- Authorized Downes to dispose of surplus vehicles and equipment, including a 2013 Pierce Saber fire engine, a 2012 Chevrolet Tahoe and a 2017 Ford Explorer no longer needed by the Fire Department, as well a 2018 Ford F-450 that was used by the Department of Public Services and a 2019 Ford Explorer that was used by the Building Safety Department, and eight rifles that had been used by the Police Department.
- Finished annexing property at 2610 and 2620 Stony Branch Road and rezoned it from Jefferson County E-1 estate zoning to Vestavia Hills E-2 estate zoning
- Rezoned property at 3112 Sunview Drive from an R-5 residential zoning to an R-4 single-family residential zoning with a front setback of 34 feet in lieu of the required 40-foot setback
