Sidewalks, bridges on budget for capital projects

Each year, the city of Mountain Brook tries to make itself better through capital projects. These can include renovations to city infrastructure, the addition of new facilities or the purchase of items that will enhance the quality of life for residents.

“This is where the heavy lifting is,” said City Manager Sam Gaston. Capital projects are the “big ticket items” that cities look at in their budgets to see where they can improve.

“I kind of have a laundry list of what I call proposed projects and capital improvements,” he said. “My job is to present to the council a balanced budget with hopefully a decent surplus in there.”

Under the 2018 fiscal year budget, Mountain Brook is projecting to close with about a $325,000 surplus after completing a number of capital projects, some of which were started in FY2017.

Gaston said new police and fire department training facility was wrapped up in the previous fiscal year and will be dedicated shortly after the start of the new year on Oct. 13. He added too that construction along Shades Creek Parkway, which was delayed due to rain early in the schedule and throughout the summer months, is expected to wrap up in the near future.

The city will be completing part of its Master Sidewalk Plan, including work on Brookwood Road, Crosshill Road, Woodvale Road and Oakdale Drive, all of which are near Mountain Brook High School. Currently, there is $260,000 budgeted toward engineering costs for phases 5-7 of the master plan.

Under the more recently updated Master Sidewalk Plan, Gaston said they will also be looking at applying for funding for the phase 1 sidewalks that are listed on the city’s website.

The city will continue with road and traffic improvements as well. While the roundabouts project may take another four to five years to complete, work is underway to finish feasibility studies with the temporary closure of Canterbury Road and additional feasibility and environmental impact studies. Council members voted on Sept. 25 to improve the temporary closure structure to make the road more aesthetically pleasing and apparent that the entirety of the road is now closed.

Gaston said too that the city will be working with an APPLE grant to study how to improve nearby intersections, although this will not be a capital project. The city also plans to purchase AEDs for city facilities in the upcoming months as well, which is proposed at about $40,000 in the budget.

Work on local bridges, including on Caldwell Mill Road, is listed on the budget for about $400,000 and Gaston estimates it will be completed in early 2018. The bridge on Old Brook Trail, which is also on the city’s list for improvements, is expected to have mostly engineering  work performed in the upcoming year.

Renovations will continue at the Mountain Brook Athletics Fields as well. After redoing the football field at the junior high and the varsity baseball field at the high school, Gaston said Dick Shea is providing about $150,000 worth of work to additional ball fields. Renovations, which include new fencing, relocating playground equipment and resurfacing the walkways, is expected to be finished this fall.

Gaston said too that another school improvement that was originally slated for Mountain Brook Elementary fields, a tudor-style bathroom complex, has been carried to a future fiscal year. “The bids were just astronomically high,” he said. The city also rejected the latest bids for the Jemison Park pedestrian bridge.

Finally, the Emmet O’Neal Library plans to have their window replacements completed in the near future. This project was started earlier in 2017 and has carried to the fall, budgeted at $756,000. EOL has also requested that the city purchase two print kiosks for $7,040 which will allow greater ease of printing for guests at the library.