Hoover council approves deal to help pay for private road in return for land donation
The Hoover City Council on Monday night agreed to pay a private company to build an access road across city-owned property to reach adjacent land owned by that company off John Hawkins Parkway.
A company called C.M.N.L.L. Inc., represented by Pat Lynch, plans to have a car wash and restaurant on land the company owns off John Hawkins Parkway between the Medical West freestanding emergency department and Alacare Home Health and Hospice building.
That company previously gave up some of its land fronting John Hawkins Parkway so the city of Hoover could build a right-turn lane onto Medford Drive, leading to Medical West’s new freestanding emergency department, said Rob Rosenberg, an attorney for the city.
In return, the company asked for permission to put the driveway to its land over city property, plus for the city to pay the company either $150,000 or the appraised amount for the land given up for the turn lane, whichever is less.
The council voted 6-1 to authorize the mayor to approve a contract to that effect, with Councilman John Greene voting against the action.
Greene asked if there was a precedent for the city to essentially help build a private road leading to a private development. Councilman John Lyda said the city did exactly that three years ago by paying $875,000 to buy 2.4 acres of land that contains the road leading to the Medical West emergency department and other adjoining commercial property. The city also paid for construction of that road, called Medford Drive.
City attorney Charlie Waldrep said if Lynch’s company had not agreed to make its property available for a turn lane, the city might still be tied up in the condemnation process and the freestanding emergency department might not be there today.
The city land over which the access road will be built is of no real value to the city, city officials said. It’s about 1,000 feet long and has power lines and gas lines crossing it, they said.
Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate said C.M.N.L.L. will build the road and be responsible for maintaining the road and the landscaping in that area.
Hoover Finance Director Robert Yeager said the money the city will pay C.M.N.L.L. will come out of money left over from sidewalk projects that were overfunded.
In other business Monday night, the City Council agreed to pay Saiia Construction Co. $8 million for a civil construction package related to the $80 million sports complex being built next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The $8 million contract involves a lot of dirt moving and is part of the overall estimated $80 million price tag for the sports complex, city officials said.
Four companies bid on the job, and Saiia Construction was the lowest bidder. Their bid was about $2.8 million under the amount budgeted for the job, Pate said.
The council also tonight declared nine Hoover police vehicles as surplus to be sold to other law enforcement agencies. Eight of those are Chevrolet Tahoes, and all but one of them have more than 100,000 miles on them, police Chief Nick Derzis said.
Four of them were canine vehicles that had a lot more engine usage because the engines were frequently left running to provide air conditioning for the dogs while the officers were out of the vehicles, Derzis said. The ninth vehicle is a 1994 Ford Bronco the city bought right after the blizzard of 1993, he said. It has 96,000 miles on it, he said.