Sketch courtesy of city of Hoover
A sketch of the proposed rebuild of the Hoover Lake House on Municipal Lane in Hoover, Alabama.
The Hoover City Council on Monday night accepted $40,000 in grants from Jefferson County, but one council member had objections to plans for one of the projects for which the money is allocated.
Jefferson County is providing $30,000 to help the city of Hoover with rebuilding the Hoover Lake House on Municipal Lane.
Councilwoman Khristi Driver said she thinks it’s wonderful to get a grant from the county, but she does not agree with spending $811,000 to rebuild the house, which for decades had been a place for people to rent for parties, showers and social events.
Driver said she even regretted voting to authorize spending $500,000 for the rebuild under the previous administration.
“My mistake,” she said. “I don’t believe that it’s a good use of taxpayer dollars to spend that amount of money for a replacement of this facility. I do think we should have something nice there. I do 100% believe we can put something that will be beneficial to the public at that location, but I’m certainly not in favor of spending up to $811,000 when we have other important needs in the city.”
That’s 60% more than was originally authorized, Driver said. She would like to see the city figure out a plan to spend less money and still have something nice there, she said.
The former lake house at Howard Lake had been closed for two years when it was torn down last year. The facility originally was slated to be renovated, but city crews questioned the structural integrity of the building once they began internal demolitions. An outside civil engineer determined that the first-floor basement at lake level could remain intact after being declared structurally sound and serve as a strong foundation for a rebuild.
The plan was to maintain the same design and bring back a facility that people can rent for small and mid-size events and public meetings.
Driver was the only council member to vote against accepting the $30,000 grant from Jefferson County.
The other $10,000 in grant money is going to the Hoover Police Department for use in its community outreach efforts.
In other business Monday night, the Hoover City Council:
- Accepted a $721,979 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will cover 100% of the cost of buying and demolishing a house at 1644 Kestwick Drive and 75% of the cost of buying and demolishing a home at 3501 Ridgecrest Drive due to the properties being in a flood-prone area
- Approved an agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation that will will provide $120,000 of money from the state for a conditions assessment of the pavement on city streets. Read more about that pavement condition assessment plan here.
- Agreed to pay about $230,000 in unexpected costs associated with the expansion of the National Computer Forensics Institute at the Hoover Public Safety Center and $36,680 in unexpected costs associated with a Riverchase sewer project
- Approved a plan to spend $672,910 in state gas tax money on road resurfacing projects on Shades Crest Road and Sulphur Springs Road
- Extended the deadline for to close on the purchase of the 3021 Building owned by the city at 3021 Lorna Road until Aug. 31
- Extended the existing agreement for the city to lease the Police Department’s operations building on the back side of the Hoover Commons shopping center until Sept. 30 to give the city and RMC Investments more time to negotiate a longer-term extension
- Approved a license for Whiskey Foxtrot to sell alcoholic beverages at 2801 John Hawkins Parkway, Suite 157
- Approved an agreement with NextLevel Studio to build a Hoover 911 website for the Hoover Emergency Communications Department
- Agreed to pay $10,000 to Meals on Wheels for that agency to continue providing meals to senior citizens and homebound residents in Hoover
- Agreed for the city to participate in the state’s Severe Weather Emergency Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday on Feb. 26-28
- Agreed to pay Waggoner Engineering $100,000 to oversee renovation of apartment buildings deemed unsafe at the Park at Hoover apartment complex off Lorna Road, with money to be reimbursed by the owner of the apartment complex
- Declared properties at 5038 Melrose way and 2177 Kelly Lane as public nuisances due to high weeds and/or grass and approved for the city to have the vegetation cut with the cost being billed back to the property owner
