Photo by Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Irondale Mayor James Stewart listens to discussion at a Mountain Brook City Council meeting about potentially blocking off Round Forest Drive's connection to Irondale on Monday, Aug. 24, 2026.
The Mountain Brook City Council received a visit from a neighbor Monday night as Irondale Mayor James Stewart sat in on the council’s work session prior to its action meeting.
Stewart was on hand to gather information about the request by some residents on Mountain Brook’s Round Forest Drive to close their street and turn it into a cul-de-sac. Currently, the street runs directly into Irondale.
“We don't know what the impact of it (the street closing) would be, but we feel like it's premature for what they're going through to close it and why they are closing it,” Stewart said. “They (Mountain Brook residents) said they are (in favor of ) closing it because of increased criminal activity in the city of Irondale, trespassing and speeders coming through the community. They want to be able to get that under control, and they feel like that is the solution to the problem.
“I say that that is not the solution of the problem,” the Irondale mayor said. “If it's a policing problem, then the police chiefs need to sit down and develop a plan to be able to deal with it if that's what the problem is.”
Mountain Brook Mayor Graham Smith said she was glad Stewart came to the meeting. He is always welcome, and the two of them have talked in the past, she said.
The City Council, during its action meeting, authorized Skipper Consulting to conduct a traffic study of Round Forest Drive for $8,950.
Traffic engineer Richard Caudle cited the city’s prior experience with a similar request.
“We faced this for approximately 20 years over on Beech Circle,” he said. “We're well aware of all the ancillary issues that have to be addressed along with closing the road. This scope is based on the experience that we already have in Mountain Brook and what it took for the council and the mayor to consider closing Beech Circle.”
Smith said closing a street can have “unintended consequences.”
“We're thoughtful when residents come to us,” she said. “We take the necessary steps. We do a traffic study. We study the issue to make sure we know the facts before we act.”
In other action, the council:
- Appointed Adam Millhouse to a three-year term on the Board of Landscape Design
- Agreed to apply for a grant to potentially add a roundabout at the convergence of Memory Lane, Memory Court and Country Club Road — a spot that serves as a gateway entrance to Crestline Village
- Agreed for the city to participate in an Alabama League of Municipalities program that helps cities recover unpaid parking tickets from people’s state tax refunds
- Reappointed Trent Wright and Meredith Waldrop to the Mountain Brook Parks and Recreation Board
- Reached an agreement to give $65,000 to the Friends of Jemison Park so the group can make repairs to the park and its trails, which suffered damage by a water main break
- Agreed to hire EMS-MC as the billing company for the Fire Department’s ambulance transports, subject to legal review
- Agreed to donate a 2011 Chevrolet Tahoe to the Blount County Sheriff's Office
- Hired Carr, Riggs & Ingram to conduct the city’s fiscal 2026 audit
- Granted authority to Municipal Judge K.C. Hairston to appoint a special judge when he needs to recuse himself from cases
The next regular meeting of the City Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sept. 14.
