Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Councilman Gerald Garner speaks during the pre-council meeting at Mountain Brook City Hall on April 11, 2022.
The Mountain Brook City Council, at its regular meeting on Monday, April 11, heard an extensive report from a study on proposed downstream drainage projects along Canterbury, Surrey and Overhill roads.
When Walter Schoel of Schoel Engineering completed his presentation in pre-council, the panel still didn’t know if the projects – done separately or completely – would have the desired effect of fending off flooding.
“I'm no engineer and I don't even try to play one on TV,” Councilman Gerald Garner said. “This has been very confusing and there are lots of moving pieces. It's sort of like creating a stew. I don't know what's going in it. I don't know what it tastes like until we bite into it.
“My major concern, besides the expenditures, and making sure we check all the right boxes is ... is it gonna work?” Garner asked. “Water goes to the lowest point. Are we going to still have these problems and tons of taxpayer money out there and it's not fixed?”
Schoel told council the work should begin downstream and work back upstream. The projects were designated as lower Canterbury, upper Canterbury and the Surrey-Overhill section.
“I don't think you could do Surrey (as a) stand alone because it's going to exacerbate the problems in the lower two segments,” the engineer said. “If you do lower Canterbury on its own, it kind of stands alone. And then you could work upstream but you ‘just’ can't do Surrey. If you did lower Canterbury, and then Surrey and not upper Canterbury, you would have gotten rid of all the benefits that you had from lower Canterbury.
“It really has to go boom, boom, boom,” Schoel said. “If you pick and choose, the only one that could stand alone would be lower Canterbury.”
Council members asked City Manager Sam Gaston to determine if needed easements can be obtained before proceeding.
In official action:
The council passed a resolution to accept a professional services proposal submitted by Sain Associates to prepare a Transportation Alternatives Program (TAP) grant to install sidewalks along Montclair Road between Old Country Club and Memory Lane. Gaston said that project – one of three discussed at a recent meeting – would most likely give the city “the most bang for the buck.”
Ann Holloway told councilmembers of the peril which pedestrians can find themselves as they walk along Montclair Road near Birmingham’s Ramsay Park. She wondered what will happened if the TAP grant is not approved.
“We do have 150 residences in a quarter of a mile area on Montclair Road who take their lives in their hands when they step out there,” she said.
Councilman Billy Pritchard, who chaired the meeting in the absence of council President Virginia Carruthers Smith, acknowledged that the next step if the application is denied is unknown.
“I know this is a priority among the City Council,” he said. “We have 45 miles of sidewalks (and) there would never have been 45 miles of sidewalk if they weren't substantially paid for by entities other than the city of Mountain Brook because they're so expensive.”
If the TAP grant isn’t awarded, Pritchard said the city will “circle the wagons” to find another way to get the project done.
The council amended the city code to allow for a lead judge and a supernumerary judge. The city has had two judges who alternated hearing cases.
The change – which makes K.C. Hairston the lead judge and Turner Williams, the former primary judge, the supernumerary – brings Mountain Brook in line with other cities.
The council gave the go-ahead do the work on the Mountain Brook Village Circle project. That project will likely be done after school is out to lessen congestion in that area.
The next regular meeting of the city council will be Tuesday, April 26, because of the Mountain Brook School Showcase on Monday, April 25.
