Mayor's Minute: October 2020
YOUTH ATHLETICS TAKES CENTER STAGE
The Mountain Brook City Council has been working diligently over the last year on one of our major initiatives: upgrading our youth athletics facilities.
As I’m sure you’re aware, Mountain Brook is a landlocked city and finding contiguous land suitable for fields has been an exercise in futility. Working closely with our stakeholders in Mountain Brook Athletics, we’ve developed a master plan that includes strategically upgrading the playing fields with artificial turf and other improvements.
A major problem in years past has been that when it rained, our fields became unplayable for days at a time, causing cancellations and resulting in rescheduling nightmares for both games and practices. The initiative is a $5 million-plus capital improvements project funded by the city of Mountain Brook and our Mountain Brook school system. Some of the major improvements include:
- A phased re-do of the facilities at the Athletic Complex, initially with Fields 2 through 7 (including the girls’ softball field) being converted to artificial surfaces. For next year, the plan includes new concession facilities and restrooms, as well as new paving throughout.
- A rebuild of Field 1, including reorienting the playing field, artificial surface and new lighting.
- Reworking and reorienting Cherokee Bend Elementary Field with all new lighting.
- New lighting for Mountain Brook Elementary Field.
9/11 CEREMONY CANCELED
I’ve received several emails from residents who were disappointed the annual 9/11 ceremony was not held this year. Our fire chief, Chris Mullins, gave a thoughtful explanation (condensed version):
“The decision to ask our city leaders to cancel this ceremony was made with great anguish. However, after careful consideration, we felt like it was in the best interest of public safety.
“We started planning the ceremony very early in the year (pre-COVID-19) and secured a keynote speaker (Col. David Mollahan of Marion Military Institute). We were notified in July that Mollahan requested to cancel his obligation to speak at the ceremony due to the threat of coronavirus. We, of course, understood his concerns.
“As you may or may not know, our 9/11 ceremony is a joint venture with the cities of Homewood and Vestavia Hills. Police Chief Ted Cook and I reached out to the police and fire chiefs of those cities and sought their input and opinions whether they thought we should cancel or continue on with the ceremony. The feedback we received was unanimous to cancel this year.
“We were fully aware that this very hard decision would not be popular with everyone, but I do hope that you and all of our citizens understand our hearts and our motives.”
‘SHOP LOCAL’ REALLY MATTERS
Thank you — all of you — for continuing to support our local restaurants and retailers. They still are struggling to get back to former income and profitability, and they need our support. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to the Mountain Brook Merchant Emergency Relief Fund at onemb.swell.gives.