Parks and Rec's Shanda Williams with Friends of Jemison Park board members Lindsay Pucket and Sally Worthen. Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
The Friends of Jemison Park, a group that has committed itself to supporting the Mountain Brook nature space along Watkins Brook at Cahaba Road and Shades Creek at Mountain Brook Parkway, presented a $1 million check to the Mountain Brook City Council on June 12.
Shanda Williams, the city’s superintendent of parks and recreation, cradled the check in her hand as though it were a fragile piece of crystal. Friends treasurer Lindsay Puckett said she had never before written a check that large.
“We are glad to have you because this is a great moment for what y'all are bringing forth to the city council tonight,” said council member Billy Pritchard.
Friends President Sally Worthen said C.S. Beatty Construction will begin work on the project in late June. “We hope to have it finished in six to eight months,” she said. “And we are anxious to keep on raising money for it.”
Jemison Park is named Robert Jemison Jr., who developed the city.
Also during the council meeting, Welch read a Pollinator Week proclamation. He thanked Dana Hazen, director of Planning, Building and Sustainability, for her efforts in earning Mountain Brook the designation from Bee City USA as the first Bee City affiliate in Alabama.
“Dana and Shanda, together, have done a remarkable job of creating Bee City,” Welch said. “If you haven't seen the pollinator garden out here, you need to be sure and visit it. We also have a bee hotel, which has a see-through window and we have our pollinator garden. We've seen some bees come.”
The Bee City designation comes with responsibilities, Hazen said, including reducing the city’s use of pesticides and planting more native plants in public parks and around City Hall.
During the pre-council meeting, the panel discussed placing a “Small Car Only” sign at the two parking spaces on Hollywood Boulevard west of Mountain Brook Village. Council members will consider changing the verbiage to “Compact Car” to remove any ambiguity.
The council moved a change order for the junior high drainage project to the consent agenda of the council meeting. The cost of the change, paid to Schoel Engineering, will be borne entirely by the Mountain Brook Board of Education.
The council awarded the Brookwood Road sidewalk project to Gillespie Construction, with a bid coming in $55,000 under the estimate, City Manager Sam Gaston said. Construction on the project will begin in two weeks.
The council gave a first reading of the amendments to the stormwater detention ordinance which relate to some modifications to the city’s existing ordinance. The amendments deal with challenged areas in the city with some further restrictions on additional or further building going forward.
Pritchard invited those with comments on the matter to send them to Gaston, the city manager. The amendments will likely be considered at the next council meeting.
The council also amended Chapter 109 of the city code in connection permitting and requirements for certain additional permits, particularly a reclamation bond on residential construction with anticipated construction cost of $3 million or more.
A special meeting of the city council will be at 5:30 p.m. on June 20 to discuss rezoning of the Shades Valley Presbyterian Church property. The next regular meeting of the city council is 7 p.m. on June 26.
