By William C. Singleton III
For Over the Mountain cities, 2017 brings with it new faces in government, new construction projects, new dilemmas to solve and new hopes.
Three new mayors lead Hoover, Mountain Brook and Vestavia Hills into the new year. Those mayors, as well as new council members, will get a heavy dose of life in city government as they try to fulfill the needs of their citizens and learn how to run a city.
HOOVER
Hoover’s new mayor, Frank Brocato, has set his sights on helping the city school system with its funding problems. As the mayor begins to develop the 2017 budget, he has proposed doubling the amount of money the city contributes to the school system to about $5 million annually.
Brocato said he expects an increase in revenue, which, along with some strategic arrangement of priorities, should support the extra money to the schools. He does not foresee a tax increase.
The city held budget hearings last week, and Brocato said he hopes the budget is approved at the end of the month.
The mayor also said the city will move for- ward with developing a master plan, which he said would “go a long way in helping us manage our growth.”
The city of Hoover is also looking to the completion of its 155,000-square-foot indoor multiple-purpose center, to be called The Finley Center after the late Bob Finley, a Berry High School football coach. The center is part of the new, $80 million Hoover Metropolitan Complex. The sports complex, being built next to the Hoover Met, will include NCAA regulation-size fields for soccer, football and lacrosse, NCAA regulation-size baseball fields that also can be used for softball, tennis courts and a walking track and a pro shop.
Brocato said he anticipates the Finley Center being completed in May.
VESTAVIA HILLS
In Vestavia Hills, the city is trying to determine the best use of the old Berry High School property and its athletic fields. The Vestavia Hills school board bought the property from the Hoover school board last year for about $11 million. The city contributed $2 million toward the purchase price.
The Berry property sits on 38.5 acres off Old Columbiana Road. Aside from the school building, the property includes a football field, a base- ball diamond, a track and tennis courts.
City officials are eyeing the athletic portions of the property as recreational areas residents could use until the school system makes more definitive plans.
The city formed the Community Spaces Committee to determine the needs and uses of parks throughout Vestavia Hills, and the committee finished a master plan in November. Parts of the plan will be implemented in 2017. The Community Space Plan can be found on the city’s website, at vhal.org.
Vestavia Hills also is taking steps to finally build a pedestrian bridge over U.S. 31. The previous council approved allocating $190,000 to build the bridge, which is expected to cost about $1.5 million. The federal government will allocate about $700,000 to the project. Pending approval of the remaining money needed, the bridge project should go out to bid by spring, said Vestavia Hills City Manager Jeff Downes.
The long-awaited bridge would provide a safe crossing for pedestrians, including school children and library patrons who park on the west side of U.S. 31 when there are no parking spaces available at the library. The library sits on the east side of the U.S. 31; Vestavia Hills East Elementary, the school board central office and the Vestavia Hills Civic Center sit on the west side.
Vestavia Hills also has road projects it expects to start or complete in 2017. The city has about 30 miles of residential streets on its three-year paving plan to be resurfaced by 2019. City officials also hope to get started on Sicard Hollow Road improvements the first quarter of this year, Downes said.
HOMEWOOD
Homewood Mayor Scott McBrayer said a lot of commercial upgrades are in store for the city in 2017. He cited in particular the Capstone Development, the Oldacre Development and the Wildwood projects.
Capstone Properties bought three retail buildings along 18th Street South with plans to tear them down and build a new retail strip as well as make landscaping improvements to 18th Street, McBrayer said.
The mayor also expects improvements at the Wildwood Shopping Center to attract new businesses, and that starts with enhancing traffic flow in the area. Oldacre McDonald LLC plans to build two roundabouts in the shopping center to better move traffic on the property. The Nashville-based developer also plans to reinvigorate the stagnant shopping center with a $30 million revitalization project that will include upscale restaurants and other national retailers.
The Wildwood Shopping Center straddles Homewood and Birmingham, and both cities have offered financial incentives to support the revitalization project.
McBrayer also said the city hopes to take more concrete steps toward building a new public safety building for the police department and courts. Currently, the police department is spread out in several buildings, and the new facility would consolidate them under one roof and provide more jail space, the mayor said. He hopes to break ground on the facility sometime this year.
Recreational projects in the city include renovations at West Homewood Park. The city and parks officials plan to move the pool at West Homewood Park and rearrange current playing fields to accommodate more fields for baseball, softball and other sports. The project also includes building a maintenance facility at the park, McBrayer said. The project should begin this year.
MOUNTAIN BROOK
Mountain Brook is poised to conduct another citywide survey to determine whether residents are pleased with city services and what their concerns might be, City Manager Sam Gaston said. The survey is taken every three years.
“Three years ago, the one we did we were extremely pleased with the results,” he said. “We were about 41 percent above the national average as far as citizens’ satisfaction with our city services.”
The city has several projects in store for 2017, including building a restroom at the Mountain Brook Elementary playing field and possibly one at Crestline Elementary playing field.
t also intends to construct a $460,000 police and fire training facility at the city’s public works building near the current fire training tower. The training facility will be named after former Mayor Terry Oden.
The city also will begin the engineering phase for replacing replacing the bridge at Caldwell Milk Road.
“Hopefully, we’ll be bidding it out later this spring or summer,” Gaston said. He added the project is likely to cost about $400,000.
The city also has identified 12 bridges in need of repair, but those will be fixed next year and beyond.
Mountain Brook officials have also hired Sain Associates to provide engineering work for two roundabouts in Mountain Brook Village.
“We’re talking at least four years down the road before all the engineering work is done and the approval process runs its course,” he said. “The grant money has been awarded, but it’s going to be a project done in phases.”
The total amount of the project is $3.5 million, with the federal government picking up 80 percent of the cost and Mountain Brook and Birmingham each picking up 10 percent of the tab.
“It’s partly in the city of Birmingham where these roundabouts will be going,” Gaston said.
