Hoover council approves construction for 1-mile sidewalk in The Preserve

by

People who live in or near The Preserve community in Hoover tonight moved a step closer to having a new sidewalk in their community.

The Hoover  City Council  on Tuesday night approved a construction agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation for a 1-mile sidewalk along Preserve Parkway between Sulphur Springs Road and the Preserve Town Center.

The sidewalk will be on the north side of the parkway next to the 350-acre Moss Rock Preserve nature park.

The Alabama Department of Transportation is expected to seek bids for construction of the sidewalk in December, said Tim Westhoven, assistant executive director for the city of Hoover. Construction likely will start in the spring, he said.

Construction and engineering for the sidewalk is expected to cost about $270,400, with the federal government picking up 80 percent of the tab ($216,320) and the city of Hoover paying the other 20 percent ($54,080), according to the construction agreement.

The Hoover City Council on Tuesday night was expected to award a construction bid for another sidewalk project in Bluff Park but decided to hold off on awarding that bid until the council’s Sept. 21 meeting.

Five companies bid on a job to build 3,200 feet of sidewalks on Lester Lane and Cloudland Drive near Bluff Park Elementary School, but city officials were unfamiliar with the low bidder – Safford Building Co. – and need more time to check references, Westhoven said.

Safford Building Co. offered to do the job for $216,561, while the second lowest bidder – Triple J Construction – said it could do the job for $262,138.

Once the contract is awarded for the Lester Lane and Cloudland Drive sidewalk project, construction likely will begin within a month, Westhoven said. The winner of the bid will have 90 days to complete the job, he said.

The City Council also on Tuesday night approved an agreement with ALDOT for the city to maintain a planned 2.8-mile greenway from Valleydale Road to the Inverness Nature Park. Much of the greenway will be a sidewalk along Inverness Center Parkway that is 7 to 10 feet wide, but once the greenway reaches the nature park, it will become a 10-foot-wide asphalt trail through the middle of the park, Westhoven said.

The Inverness greenway is a joint project between Hoover and Shelby County and is being managed by ALDOT. Easements are now being acquired for right of way, but Westhoven said he was unsure of the timetable for construction.

In other business, the Hoover City Council:

  • Authorized the Fire Department to start a firefighter recruit school.
  • Gave approval for the city’s Medical Clinic Board to issue up to $18 million worth of tax-exempt bonds to help a company buy and renovate the Riverchase Village Senior Living Community  off Data Drive in Hoover. The company, Omega Communities, is supposed to make payments on the bonds, at no expense to the city, but gain the benefit of the tax-exempt status.
  • Agreed to pay $97,800 to Lawler Specialties for a storage shed for the city’s Public Works Department.
  • Agreed to pay to have weeds and/or high grass cut at 6174 Valley Station Circle and the owner of the property charged for the work because the property has been declared a public nuisance.
  • Scheduled a public online auction for Sept. 22 to Oct. 6 to dispose of surplus city equipment.
  • Agreed to spend an extra $58,589 for upgrades at the Hoover Recreation Center pool, bringing the total cost of the project to $465,789.
  • Annexed a house at 2905 Glenstone Circle owned by the Patrick Oliver Group LLC into the city limits. That’s in the Inverness community.
  • Rezoned a house at 2117 Chapel Hill Road from a neighborhood shopping district to an R-1 single-family district. The house is owned by Dr. Donald Hayes and has been used for residential purposes for at least 16 years, Hayes said.
  • Rezoned a piece of land at 1600 Lake Cyrus Club Drive from planned office use to a planned single-family district. The property has been used as a sales office for the Lake Cyrus community, but the property owner wants to divide it into two residential lots.