Hoover council OKs Fire Department statewide mutual aid in emergencies

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The Hoover City Council this week approved a new agreement that will allow the Hoover Fire Department to participate in a consortium of fire departments across the state that aid one another in times of need.

The Hoover Fire Department already is part of an automatic aid agreement through the state that allows Hoover’s hazardous materials team and technical rescue team to provide aid across the state in times of emergency, such as tornadoes, hurricanes or other weather events. Hoover can be reimbursed for expenses through that program, Chief Clay Bentley said.

However, sometimes Hoover and other fire departments are called to provide other types of aid to one another during emergencies, such as helping answer fire calls, Bentley said. There was no formal agreement for such instances, but the Alabama Association of Fire Chiefs has come up with one, and the Hoover Fire Department wants to be part of it, the chief said.

There usually is no cost reimbursement for these types of arrangements, and Hoover likely would be providing help more often than receiving it, Bentley said.

The City Council also this week approved updated mutual aid agreements with the Cahaba Valley, North Shelby, Pelham, Rocky Ridge and Vestavia Hills fire departments. One of the changes is that these new agreements specify that departments can loan or borrow fire vehicles and equipment as needed, Bentley said.

Hoover next will be updating its mutual aid agreements with the Birmingham and Helena fire departments, he said.

Hoover’s accreditation agency recommended that the city’s mutual aid agreements should be updated more frequently, so the new agreements call for updates to occur every three years, he said.

The City Council also authorized the Fire Department to provide two additional instructors (part-time) to the Fire Services Academy at the Riverchase Career Connection Center, doubling the number of instructors assigned to that academy, Bentley said.

The new part-time instructors mainly will serve as mentors and teachers for senior-level students who already have completed the initial firefighter program in the academy, the chief said. The goal is to teach additional classes to those students, but those classes would need to be approved through the Alabama Fire College, he said.

The majority of the pay for the instructors would be reimbursed by the Hoover Board of Education, but the city would be responsible for paying about $6 per hour for the compensation, Bentley said.

LITIGATION PAYMENT QUESTIONS

In other business Monday, the Hoover City Council delayed voting on a budget amendment that would have provided $6 million for repaving and reconfiguring the parking lot at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium and about $146,000 for the Risk Management Department. Councilman Casey Middlebrooks asked that consideration of the budget amendment be continued because the $146,000 for risk management was a new addition to the budget amendment since the council work session last week and no one had communicated what the money would cover.

City Attorney Phillip Corley said the money was needed in relation to litigation in which the city is involved but said he did not want to discuss details of the litigation in public. He offered to talk with the council in a private executive session, but the council continued the matter instead.

The City Council also:

  • Agreed to designate $558,000 in Rebuild Alabama gasoline tax money to repave Arnold Road, Data Drive, Diamond Circle, Woodmeadow Circle, Woodmeadow Lane and Woodmeadow Place in fiscal 2024. The repaving projects together cover about 1.9 miles of roads and are expected to cost $583,000, City Engineer Chris Reeves said. Additional revenue to cover the overage will come from other gasoline tax money, Reeves said. The city likely will have other repaving projects in fiscal 2024, but the Rebuild Alabama money must be designated for specific projects.
  • Agreed to pay $15,000 to Economic Research Services for a study examining what the impact would be if the city lowered its sales tax rate from 3.5%.
  • Agreed to seek $35 million in grant money to help pay for the planned Exit 9 on Interstate 459 just southwest of South Shades Crest Road. The total projected cost of the interchange project, which includes a connector road to both Brock’s Gap Parkway and Ross Bridge Parkway, is $120 million. The state has committed $59 million of federal money, and Hoover is responsible for $61 million.
  • Amended the city’s zoning ordinance to change the number of people who must be notified of proposed zoning changes in a planned unit development if the PUD has been around for at least 10 years and the property in question affects only one property or less than 20% of the land area in the PUD. Instead of everyone in the PUD and everyone within 500 feet of the PUD boundaries being notified, only property owners within 500 feet of the property in question will be notified.
  • Reappointed Bobby Humphrey and Lynn Cummings to the Hoover Parks and Recreation Board.
  • Agreed to pay Placer.AI $36,750 to analyze visitors to key locations in the city.
  • Gave approval for a new alcohol license for the Riverchase Country Club, which recently came under new ownership.
  • Selected Special Occasion Rentals as the company that will supply tents for city events. Special Occasion Rentals was the low bidder among three bidders and has done work for the city before, Parks and Recreation Manager Michael Pepper said.
  • Agreed to cut high weeds and/or grass at 2152 Larchmont Circle and bill the property owners for the work and declared properties at 3416 Cedar Crest Circle, 317 Linda Ave. and 2970 John Hawkins Parkway as public nuisances due to high weeds and/or grass as well.