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Staff photo.
Mountain Brook School System is partnering with the nonprofit group All In Mountain Brook to host the third annual All In Parenting Conference at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 at Cherokee Bend Elementary School.
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Site plan for the ball fields at Cherokee Bend Elementary.
The multi-purpose field at Cherokee Bend Elementary School will get new LED lighting, restrooms and fencing after the Mountain Brook Planning Commission approved the changes Monday via remote conferencing.
City Council approval is not needed because Monday’s vote was an amendment to an existing council-approved master development plan.
Improvements include new backstops for the ball fields and perimeter fencing.The LED lamps will reduce light pollution during evening games, Cole Williams of the contracting firm Goodwin Mills Cawood told planning commissioners.
The project is part of an overall improvement program for public recreation at parks citywide.
The planning commission on Monday also approved solar panels for two buildings in Office Park.
Monday’s meeting marked a milestone of sorts as city officials respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Public buildings and schools have been closed to the public, and gatherings limited to 10 or fewer people since mid-March as part of a broader effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
But the need to conduct the public’s business in the open had officials scrambling to find the means for residents and other participants to dial in to meetings. A platform used for the March 23 city council meeting performed poorly.
But Monday’s planning commission meeting, using the audio- and video-conferencing platform Zoom, may have provided a breakthrough. Few glitches occurred, although officials realized the need to set ground rules for future meetings such as asking participants to mute their phones and computers to reduce background noise, and for speakers to identify themselves.
City council meetings set for April 13 and 27 are expected to use Zoom. No decision has been made on the remote conferencing platform the city school board will use for its April 13 meeting, said Sam Chandler, the school system’s spokesman.
Planning Commissioners said the board’s next meeting, May 4, likely will rely on Zoom. “It’s kinda weird,” one said.” “But it’s working.”