
Photo by Jon Anderson
Vestavia HIlls Civic Center
The Vestavia Hills City Council on Monday discussed the possibility of taking action against the company that built the city's new Civic Center due to a chiller in the facility that failed during a hard freeze in December 2022.
City Manager Jeff Downes said representatives of the general contractor, Amason & Associates, have told the city either one of the project's subcontractors or the manufacturer is responsible for the failed chiller and has, thus far, refused to replace the piece of equipment.
“Our general contractor, Amason and Associates, two of their subcontractors and the manufacturer of the chiller have all been pointing fingers, and they've retained lawyers to debate who is responsible,” Downes said.
Since the chiller failed, the city has been paying for the monthly rental of a temporary chiller with more than $200,000 in retainage from the contract with Amason & Associates. However, Downes said that those funds will be depleted by the late spring of 2024 and that the city may need to take more serious action, including pulling Amason & Associates’ bond to resolve the issue.
“We do not feel right now a high level of confidence that we have a timeline or solution in place, and as a result of that, we have provisions in the contract, mainly a bond that can be called, to finish this should the general contractor not stand up, or the general contractor's subs,” Downes said.
If the parties don’t come to an agreement in the next week or two, the council should be prepared to vote on a resolution to call Amason & Associates’ bond in the next council meeting scheduled for Monday, Nov. 27, he said.
“That is a serious thing,” Downes said. “It has serious ramifications, but we have been as patient as possible, as we've been promised by a number of insurance carriers and representatives that it would be resolved in a timely manner, and the clock is running.”
City Attorney Pat Boone added that regardless of whether the failed chiller is the fault of the manufacturer or one of the subcontractors, the city's contract is only with Amason & Associates. Therefore, that makes Amason & Associates the sole responsible party as far as the city is concerned, he said.
He added that the contract specifies a five-stage dispute resolution process beginning with the intent to call Amason & Associates’ bond and moving through arbitration if necessary.
“We've been trying to resolve this without the necessity of even talking about calling the bond because that hurts everybody else,” Boone said.
No representatives from Amason & Associates attended Monday’s meeting.
In other news, Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry and the City Council presented a proclamation to members of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce in recognition of November being Small Business Month.
“I think it's important to note that, particularly in Vestavia Hills, we rely so much on our small businesses,” Curry said. "I don't know if you've ever noticed, but we don't have many big-box retailers except for our grocery stores.”

Photo by Loyd McIntosh
Vestavia Hills Mayor Ashley Curry, left, poses for a photo with representatives from the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce in recognition of November being Small Business Month during a Vestavia Hills City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023.
Additionally, Curry was joined by more than two dozen members of the Vestavia Hills Indian community for a proclamation recognizing Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists every fall.
“Diwali is a time for dana [charitable giving] and seva [selfless service] by bringing light in the form of wisdom, knowledge, nourishment and shelter in order to alleviate the tangible forms of suffering, such as hunger, disease and poverty,” Downes read from the proclamation, "and whereas the shared Indian holiday of Diwali signifies a special time of peace and serenity with the hope of building bridges of understanding and tearing down barriers of intolerance.”

Photo by Loyd McIntosh
Representatives from the Indian community in Vestavia Hills, Alabama, pose for a photo during a Vestavia Hills City Council meeting on Monday, Nov. 13, 2023, during which city officials recognized Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.
In other news, the City Council:
- Approved a sales tax refund of $22,029 to Genuine Parts Co. due to an error in remitting sales taxes to the incorrect municipality.
- Approved an ordinance to continue providing fire and paramedic services to Woodmere Creek Apartments in unincorporated Jefferson County near Columbiana Road for $29,004 per year, paid by the owners of the apartment complex.