Hoover council to vote Monday night on borrowing up to $80 million
The Hoover City Council plans to vote Monday night on whether to borrow up to $80 million, primarily to pay for construction of the 124-acre sports complex and indoor event center next to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium.
Hoover Executive Director Allen Pate has said the cost for the sports complex has increased from the original $70 million estimate to $76 million. The other potential $4 million to be borrowed would be spent on other “miscellaneous improvements” in the city that have yet to be revealed.
Most City Council votes regarding the sports complex have been approved with only one councilman in opposition — John Greene. Greene repeatedly has said he does not favor such a large expenditure while the Hoover school system is in need of additional funding.
Councilmen John Lyda and Gene Smith joined Greene in voting against the proposed financial team to handle the warrant issue for the sports complex. The council voted 4-3 to use Merchant Capital LLC, Raymond James and Piper Jaffray as underwriters for the bond issue and Kipling Jones & Co. as the city’s financial advisor.
Lyda and Smith both said they had concerns about using Kipling Jones & Co. as the city’s financial advisor (read more about that here), but council members favoring the proposed financial team outnumbered them.
City officials broke ground on the sports complex this past Tuesday. Read more about the groundbreaking and details of the sports complex here.
In other business Monday night, the City Council plans to consider:
- A budget amendment that would allocate $126,000 for two new X-ray machines, $75,000 for a new speed radar trailer, an additional $55,000 for heating and air conditioning work, $30,000 to equip new vehicles, $15,000 for office furniture at the Hoover Public Safety Center, $15,000 to replace a drain pipe on South Sanders Road, an additional $13,000 for the radio system in the city’s new explosive ordnance disposal truck, $9,000 for three drone kits and $7,000 for bleed control kits and cabinets.
- A proposal to reject a $100,000 bid from Municipal and Commercial Uniforms and Equipment for new Fire Department uniforms and accessories and to authorize the mayor to negotiate a better price with the company since it was the only bidder.
- A proposal to cut the weeds and/or grass on property at 1858 Burning Tree Circle, 6174 Valley Station Circle and 3256 Mockingbird Lane and bill the property owners for the work.
- A proposal to declare properties at 635 Trace Crossings Trail and 1729 Valpar Drive as public nuisances due to high weeds and/or grass.
- Setting public hearings for July 18 to consider whether to approve a new event center at 2505 International Park Lane and to rezone newly annexed property at 1833 Burning Tree Circle from Jefferson County single-family residential zoning to Hoover single-family residential zoning.
Monday night’s meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the William J. Billingsley Council Chambers at the Hoover Municipal Center at 100 Municipal Lane.