Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Nimrod Long points out revision to a planned trail at Alabama Veterans Memorial Park during a Mountain Brook City Council meeting on Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.
The Mountain Brook City Council on Monday night trimmed two-tenths of a mile from the planned 1-mile trail at Veterans Memorial Park to address resident concerns and development expenses.
The original 1-mile trail that was staked out by the Friends of Jemison Park prompted privacy concerns from neighbors. There were also concerns about the steep grade along part of the trail. Each was addressed by snipping two-tenths of the lower loop to make the trail eight-tenths of a mile.
“Some of the residents were concerned that the lower loop would get too close to their homes,” Mayor Graham Smith said. “Additionally, when (Friends member) Nim Long looked at it, he noticed that some of the slope was so much that it would have gotten more expensive to build the lower loop. It worked out for everyone. It was a win-win.”
Also, the city of Birmingham entered an agreement with Mountain Brook for both cities’ police departments to police the 22-acre park, which is owned and operated by Mountain Brook but lies wholly or partially within Birmingham's city limits.
Both cities have joint and separate authority to patrol the park and enforce state law, as well as their respective municipal ordinances involving police or sanitary regulations.
“They were wonderful to work with,” the mayor said. “Their city council members. Their mayor. They were wonderful to work with and have been so easy, just really, really fabulous. I really want to give them credit where credit is due.”
In a related matter, the council approved $10,506 in change orders for the project. Specifically,
- Reducing the cost of security cameras by $592 to $74,408. This includes cameras, a custom fabricated gate, gate operators/timer, remote access for first responders, installation, one year of cloud service to operate everything, and contractor fees.
- Adding $2,145 to handle a drainage issue by the Hall of Honor
- Adding red rock in the turnaround and service drive for $890
- Bricking the trail entrance for $8,062
The Friends of Jemison will donate $8,062. The total for the change order after the donation will be $2,443.
In other business, the council:
- Approved restricted parking along the inside of the curve on Corinth Drive on weekdays from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m.
- Approved a lease agreement between Brindlee Mountain Fire Apparatus and the city of Mountain Brook to provide a back-up reserve unit. Under this lease, the city will incur no financial obligations because the lease is underwritten by Rosenbauer USA.
- Authorized the sale or disposal of certain surplus property
- Agreed for the Fire Department to provide fire protection and emergency medical services for 813 Shades Creek Parkway
- The next regular meeting of the Mountain Brook City Council is 7 p.m. on Sept. 28.
