By Keith McCoy
City City Hall 3
The Mountain Brook City Council — at its regular meeting for Monday, Nov. 23 — made several appointments to boards and agencies, formalized an on-call contract with Skipper Consulting for small traffic studies, took action to solve a problem involving dogs on Crestline Field and took some actions related to employee benefits.
The Council made the following appointments to boards:
- Russ Doyle will become a supernumerary member of the Board of Zoning Adjustment (B.Z.A.), said Dana Hazen, the city’s director of planning, building and sustainability. Scott Boomhover, an architect, will become a full voting member of the B.Z.A. Boomhover has lived in Mountain Brook for 15 years but once served on the B.Z.A. in Vestavia Hills, Hazen said.
- David Blackmon, an architect, was appointed to serve on the Village Design Review Committee, replacing long-time member and former committee chair Ellen Elsas. The council also passed a resolution, which was read by Mayor Stewart Welch III, that praised Elsas for her 19 years of service.
- Trent Wright was reappointed to a second 5-year term on the Park and Recreation Board after a recommendation by the other board members
- The council appointed Sam Chandler to the Editorial Board, replacing Rachel Weingarten. Chandler is a communications and public relations specialist with Mountain Brook Schools. He told Village Living Nov. 24 that his primary responsibility with the board will be to edit the city’s quarterly newsletter.
Traffic items
After a presentation by City Manager Sam Gaston, members approved an on-call contract with Skipper Consulting Inc. for small traffic engineering studies and reviews. This will allow the city to contact Richard Caudle at Skipper for “quick advice” on small jobs under $1,000, Gaston said. “Anything over $1,000, we would do a formal contract with the city,” he said.
According to Gaston and Police Chief Ted Cook, the city has seen a sharp rise in recent months in the number of citizen complaints about speeding and requests for stop signs and speed bumps.
The council also agreed to pay Skipper about $2,000 to study the safety of a pedestrian crossing at Overton Road and Knollwood Drive. Caudle said that he could likely have a report on the issue by the Dec. 14 council meeting.
Dogs at Crestline Field
After a request by Shanda Williams, superintendent of the city’s department of Parks and Recreation, the city agreed to take action to prevent pet owners from using Crestline Field as a de facto dog park. The field will be closed from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. while school is in session, and Williams’ staff will also post new signage.
“We’ve had a big problem with people using Crestline Field as a dog park,” Williams told members. “We have posted signs. We've put out doggie bags so they will clean up after their pets.”
However, not enough people have complied, she said.
“If this doesn’t work, then we may have to come back and do more restrictions, and possibly ban dogs altogether, but as of right now we want to block it during school hours and post signs and give people a warning and a chance to do right,” Williams said.
On Nov. 24, Williams told Village Living that, according to staff at Crestline Elementary, there have been some dogs on the field during school hours that acted aggressively.
After the approval by the council, Williams planned to get the signage up this week.
Councilor Alice Womack suggested that the signage direct people to the city’s dog park.
Personnel matters
The council passed three resolutions regarding personnel matters.
- Members voted to grant Tier 1 retirement benefits to Tier 2 employees effective October 1, 2021.
- They voted to modify the city’s longevity bonus program, making permanent the current $440,000 limitation and eliminating the longevity bonus for employees hired on or after January 1, 2021.
- Members also voted to modify the city’s retiree medical benefit program for employees hired on or after January 1, 2021.
- The next regular meeting of the City Council will be Dec. 14 7 p.m.
