Recreational trails grant application approved at council meeting

As fiscal year 2019 has kicked off, so have the projects, and Parks and Recreation Superintendent Shanda Williams spoke to some at the council meeting on Nov. 13.

The first was about the purchase of new lights for four athletic fields at Mountain Brook High School. The lights are from Musco Sports Lighting LLC, and are “factory aimed and assembled luminaries, including BallTracker luminaries,” according to the meeting agenda packet.

The new lights would take the place of existing lights, so new poles would not be needed, Williams said. The light should not affect any surrounding properties differently from the existing lights, either, Williams said, as they will be pointed directly at the fields. 

Williams said the department had budgeted around $400,000 for the new lights this fiscal year, but the quote, including installation, came in at $264,070. She said the remaining money would be reprioritized for projects.

Because Mountain Brook Schools owns the lights, the project must be approved by the Board of Education, and Williams said the Parks and Recreation Department will need to review its remaining finances from the initial light installation budget.

Williams, along with Joel Eliason of Nimrod Long and Associates, also requested to apply for a recreational trails grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) to renovate Jemison Park — particularly, the trails.

Because the park is used so frequently by community members, the trails have worn down or have been worn down along the edges of the sidewalks from runners and walkers passing one another. Some are also occasionally underwater because they sit in a flood plain.

Under the proposed plan, parts of the trail would be shifted to higher ground, and park Eagle Scout trails will also be renovated, Eliason said. The undertaking was estimated at around $850,000, Eliason said, and the maximum the grant would award is $400,000 for a multi-use plan. 

Gaston said the city had planned to set aside $450,000 over the course of this year and next to fund more than half of the estimated project, which Eliason said could help the city’s chances of being awarded the grant.

Council members approved the application for the grant. If the grant is awarded, the money would be available in FY2020. 

Also during the regular meeting on Nov. 13, council members:

• Read a resolution expressing gratitude to Susan Swagler for her service on the Planning Commission. Council president Virginia Smith, who read the proclamation, said Swagler “will be sorely missed.” Swagler said she was honored to have served on the commission over the years.
• Proclaimed Nov. 24 as Small Business Saturday and the month of November 2018 as National American Indian Heritage Month in the city of Mountain Brook.
• Approved the minutes of the Oct. 22 regular meeting and Nov. 5 organizational meeting of the Mountain Brook City Council.
• Ratified and approved the transfer of funds for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2018.
• Authorized the execution of an agreement with Advance Plumbing Company Inc. with respect to the Mountain Brook Elementary School athletic field restroom project.
• Authorized the execution of an agreement with Alabama Sawyer LLC for log recycling services.
• Authorized the execution of a preliminary engineering agreement with the state of Alabama, acting by and through Alabama Department of Transportation, with respect to bridge reconstruction and habilitation for Old Brook Trail over Little Shades Creek and Canterbury Road Bridge over Watkins Creek.
• Authorized the execution of a professional service agreement with Gresham Smith with respect to the Old Brook Trail and Canterbury Road bridge projects.

The next council meeting will be Nov. 26.