Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes says a $15,000 grant from Innovate Alabama will go toward exercise equipment and trail enhancements at Altadena Park.
The Vestavia Hills City Council approved a grant earmarked for improvements at Altadena Park during its regular meeting Monday night.
The $15,000 grant from Innovate Alabama, a public-private partnership focused on entrepreneurship, technology and innovation throughout the state, will be used for outdoor recreation enhancements to the park, a point of emphasis for the City Council as part of its master plan, said Jeff Downes, Vestavia Hills City Manager.
“Innovate Alabama has multiple pillars that they are supporting. One of those is a pilar focused on outdoor recreation,” Downes said. “We put in a grant based on our master plan and we got $15,000 to go toward exercise equipment and anything remaining can go to trail enhancement out at Altadena Park.”
The grant is just one of many grants either already awarded or applied for by the city as highlighted by Downes earlier in the meeting in the City Manager’s Report.
Among the grants are a $3 million EPA grant from Sen. Katie Britt to support the city's stormwater master plan for areas on the east side Highway 31. Furthermore, Downes said officials from Sen. Britt’s office recently informed city officials that an application for an additional $1 million for further stormwater enhancements.
"We had a communication from Senator Britt's office that they accepted, not awarded, but accepted our application for another million dollars for the next phase of that project," Downes said. "They called us several times and are excited about pushing that forward."
Other grants Downes highlighted include $75,000 awarded to Vestavia Hills by Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant Program for sidewalk improvements in Cahaba Heights. Additionally, Downes said the city is waiting on a response for a $250,000 grant for stormwater improvements in the Rocky Ridge community, as well as a possible grant for additional fire department personnel in Liberty Park.
“All of these are things that we are doing to try to enhance our revenues and not just grabbing money where it can be grabbed but to be supportive of our overall strategic plan,” Downes said.
The City Council also approved a Class II liquor license for Everyday Package Store located at 3015 Columbiana Road. Also, Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry addressed the first reading of an upcoming resolution to rezone property located at 4529 Pine Tree Circle from single-family residential to Vestavia Hills B-2 (general business) with conditions. The City Council is expected to vote on the rezoning at its next meeting on Monday, May 20.
In other items:
Katie Wiswall, Urban & Community Forestry Partnership Coordinator at Alabama Forestry Commission, commemorated the 30th anniversary of Vestavia Hill’s recognition as a Tree City USA community.
Mayor Ashley and the City Council recognized May 19-35 as National Public Works Week. City Councilman George Pierce said that the personnel of the Vestavia Hills Public Works department are as important and perform tasks as crucial as the city’s police force and fire department. “We always recognize our first responders as being police and fire,” Pierce said. “These guys are part of the first responder team. With all the storms we have and trees knocked down, they’re out at night, when we can’t get out of our drive way, making our streets passable. They’re a part of the first responder team, also.”
The City Council also recognized May 15-21, 2024 as National Police Week, and May 15, 2024 as Peace Officers Memorial Day.
