Tess Patton welcomed as Mayor for a Day, sidewalk plan discussed
Mayor for a Day Tess Patton took Mayor Stewart Welch’s seat at the city council meeting on May 8 after winning the city’s “Why I Love Mountain Brook” essay contest. As Mayor for a Day, she read a resolution proclaiming May 2017 as the official birthday celebration month for the city and was given a key to the city. She was also asked for her opinion regarding presented topics, including Welch’s proposal to move council meetings to 8 a.m. during the summer.
Tess, along with Councilman Lloyd Shelton, didn’t seem too in favor of the idea. Councilman Billy Pritchard also noted that some city employees may not be able to prepare to meet early on Monday morning, and there could be additional conflicts. The council opted to keep meeting times on Monday evenings.
Council members also heard a follow-up presentation regarding the Master Sidewalk Plan. After discussing the plan during the council meeting on April 24, Jennifer Brown with SAIN Associates returned to present findings. Brown stressed that although she was presenting a plan, it was only a draft report.
Her follow-up was similar to that of the previous meeting and detailed that with SAIN, she helped perform a feasibility study on certain areas to determine which sections of sidewalks should go in which phases. The planning was based on the ease of installment and connectivity of proposed sidewalks, potential areas that would be “pedestrian generators,” the speed of a roadway and probably use, among other factors.
If SAIN or the city received more positive comments regarding a particular section of sidewalk, she said those comments were taken into account and that section was moved higher on the list of priorities.
Brown also mentioned the proposed sidewalks were grouped around a central location to ease construction mobility costs.
Some residents present at the meeting expressed concern for the map of the draft, which showed a tentative sidewalk connecting Pine Ridge Lane to the Jemison Nature Trail. If following the location of the proposed sidewalk detailed on the map, the walkway would encroach on residents’ homes and possibly cut through backyards.
“That’s not our intent, and I hate that that’s how it was portrayed. That’s definitely not our intent,” Brown said. Pritchard asked residents to continue to keep providing input to the project so the draft may be updated as needed.
As of the meeting, there was no date set for a public hearing regarding the sidewalk plan, but city manager Sam Gaston said they are looking at around mid-June. A map is also available on the city website.
Also during the city council meeting, members:
- Approved the minutes of the meeting on April 24, 2017.
- Approved a resolution awarding the bid for street paving services and authorizing the execution of a 3-year contract for the same.
- Approved a request by Mountain Brook Sports Park Foundation for the city’s assistance in infrastructure improvements at the lower parking lot at Rathmell Park. Under this agreement, the city would spend approximately $50,000 in resources towards lot improvements, while the foundation would provide additional payments to complete improvements, totaling to around $300,000.
- Approved a resolution authorizing the city’s renewal/participation of the Community Development Block Grant Program Cooperative Agreement with Jefferson County for fiscal years 2018-2020.
The next council meeting will be on May 22 at 7 p.m.