Infrastructure, Jemison Park discussed at Dec. 10 council meeting

For the last meeting of 2018, the Mountain Brook City Council met on Dec. 10 to discuss infrastructure items and landscaping at Jemison Park during the pre-meeting after an executive session.

CROSSWALK LIGHTS

The first item concerned crosswalk signage for Cherokee Bend Elementary. Richard Caudle with Skipper Consulting said the proposal was initiated by the school’s school resource officer and called for two signs with flashing lights along Wilderness Road, with one at Fair Oaks Drive and one at Kennesaw Drive.

Caudle said the car pickup lines for the school have shifted to wait on Wilderness Road instead of Kennesaw Drive, and it is difficult to see the crosswalks when cars get stacked along the edge of the road.

Because Wilderness Road does not have a school zone speed limit or school zone sign, Caudle suggested using flashing lights in association with pedestrian crossing signs. For those that have large lights, like the sign on Montevallo Road, he said it would be $16,000 for two signs, or $19,000 for two signs with solar power.

A more affordable option is to use signs with LED lights along the border. Those would be closer to $3,000 if using power, and a little more if solar powered. Caudle said though he isn’t sure solar power would be reliable due to the canopy of the trees in that area.

Caudle also suggested the city take some time to look at the area a little further to determine if they should establish a school zone speed limit.

“I don’t know that it needs a study … I think it may need a working group to sit around a table to hammer out details before going forward,” he said. The council agreed and opted to table the matter.

APPLE GRANT

Mike Kaczorowski with the Regional Planning Commission also reviewed a proposed joint APPLE grant with the city of Vestavia Hills for a traffic study of Overton Road from U.S. 280 to Liberty Park.

Because Vestavia is building a 700-acre development at Liberty Park, the council is expecting future traffic to greatly impact Overton Road and the surrounding area, much of which is in or adjacent to Mountain Brook.

Kaczorowski said the study will “try to focus on future traffic demand knowing the development is coming in Liberty Park” and look at “low-hanging fruit” and other improvements along the corridor.

Because APPLE grants are paid for through 80 percent federal funding and 20 percent local match, both Mountain Brook and Vestavia would pay a portion of the fee. Kaczorowski estimated it would be close to $12,000, and City Manager Sam Gaston said around $8,000 of that would be paid by Mountain Brook because most of the road is within the city.

Kaczorowski said the council would also get the opportunity to further define the scope of the study, and council members authorized the grant.

JEMISON PARK LANDSCAPING

Now that the pedestrian bridge in Jemison Park has been fully installed, the Friends of Jemison Park would like to do landscaping where construction took place to ensure stabilization. They worked with John Wilson of Golightly Landscaping to create a master plan, but due to costs narrowed down the scope of work to the “necessities” where the bridge was installed.

President of FJP Sim Johnson said necessities include stabilizing the streambank with naturalistic boulders, significant “dirt work” to create swells and better drainage, plant new trees and install irrigation.

The original master plan, before Johnson said they eliminated the “bells and whistles,” was estimated to cost six figures, but has since been brought down to $85,000. Johnson said the Friends raised $36,000 to put towards the work and requested the city pay $49,000 to complete the work necessary to maintain the integrity of the area around the bridge.

Council president Virginia Smith said she supported paying the $49,000 “to try to get this bridge not only stable, but looking like it’s got a good start.” Other council members were in agreement and the council agreed to authorize participation in a contract with the FJP for the landscaping.

Also on Dec. 10, council members:

• Read a human trafficking awareness proclamation.
• Approved the minutes of the Nov. 26 regular meeting and Dec. 10 regular meeting due irregular meeting times around the holidays.
• Approved a hardship request for 401 Michael Lane regarding the moratorium for new building permits on residence A lots. The owner of the lot had been marketing it for sale as three individual lots prior to the moratorium, and the middle lot went under contract before the moratorium was enacted. “Based on what I’ve just heard, that there’s a definite contract, that this is a hardship if the contract was signed before the moratorium,” councilman Billy Pritchard said. The council saw this as a financial hardship and it was granted as such.
• Approved a nonexclusive right-of-way encroachment for a driveway at 142 Spring Street. Councilman Lloyd Shelton said, after he and Smith visited the site and met with neighbors, that this is “by no means a solution to all that is going on at the top of the hill,” but it will provide some turnaround area for residents and help get additional cars off the street. He said the city will look at that area further to see what additional work can be done to improve traffic flow in the area.
• Appointed Thomas Amason to the Board of Landscape Design to serve without compensation through Dec. 12, 2020.
• Appointed Vince Schilleci to the Editorial Board to serve without compensation through Aug. 8, 2020.
• Authorized the expenditure of up to $1,000 for island improvements on Lewis Circle.
• Authorized the purchase of LED fixtures and lights from the Sourcewell (formerly NJPA) governmental purchasing cooperative contract with respect to athletic complex improvements.
• Authorized the execution of an agreement with Stone & Sons Electrical Contractors Inc. with respect to the athletic complex LED lighting improvement project.
• Authorized the renewal of a franchise agreement between the city and Marcus Cable of Alabama L.L.C. with respect to their operation of a cable system in the city.
• Authorized the execution of the second amendment to the franchise agreement with AT&T with respect to their provision of television programming in the city.
• Authorized the execution of an amendment to the field use/maintenance agreement between the city and LJCC with respect to the use of gym space.
• Authorized the execution of an agreement between the city and G&A Electrical Services for electrical work with respect to the Mountain Brook Elementary athletic field restroom project.
• Approved the renewal of the parking lease with the Chabad of Alabama for overflow parking from Overton Park.
• Entered a U.S. 280 pedestrian bridge cooperative with the cities of Homewood and Birmingham.

During a specially-called meeting on Dec. 5, the council also approved an extension of the moratorium on new construction on residence A lots for 60 days, or to Feb. 3, 2019. This is shorter than the 90 days the Planning Commission recommended on Dec. 3.

The next regular meeting of Mountain Brook City Council will be Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. The pre-meeting will occur beforehand.