$110 million bond brings Rosedale concerns to the surface at first work session

The work session planned for Monday night on the city's recent $110 million bond saw very little time for public comment.

The hour-long meeting was mostly filled by discussion from council members and the mayor about the bond, which is slated to fund growth projects for the schools and park system, as well as a new public safety building. The meeting was set to discuss the creation of a task force to spearhead hiring a project manager to answer questions about current facilities, future demographics and other factors of the growth projects, as well as manage the construction itself.

The meeting was also planned to be a chance for residents to ask questions and air concerns about the bond. Only two residents spoke, despite more in attendance, because the meeting extended into the time allotted for the regular city council meeting.

Both residents who spoke were Rosedale residents. One, 84-year-old Mary Edwards, felt that Rosedale has been overlooked in many city projects and has not received the funding or improvements that it deserves. While she likes the construction that is beginning on sidewalks in the area, Edwards said she wanted the city to take action on abandoned homes, consider amenities like a pool at Spring Park and respond to other Rosedale needs.

“I’ve never heard, out of all this money, Rosedale’s name never has been mentioned. What do we get?” Edwards said. “Don’t you know we’d like to be known? Don’t you know we’d like to be seen too?”

The money allocated for parks in the $110 million bond is intended for improving and reconfiguring youth team ballfields at West Homewood Park and replacing the West Homewood pool with a new pool and tennis courts at Patriot Park. Spring Park has a pavilion and playground, but no ballfields or other amenities.

Ward 1 Representative Britt Thames said he and fellow representative Andy Gwaltney are setting a meeting in Rosedale in January to talk about abandoned homes and other issues the community would like to see fixed. Thames said he has been driving through Rosedale to identify potential houses to begin the abatement process. The meeting is tentatively set for Jan. 24 at 5 p.m., at the Lee Center.

Rosedale resident Jeremy Cunningham added that in addition to parks and abandoned homes, he feels that Rosedale needs a business district similar to Edgewood and redevelopment along Central Avenue and B.M. Montgomery Street. Cunningham said he would like to see more historical markers and recognition for Rosedale, which predates the city of Homewood, and perhaps a committee specifically centered on improving that area of the community.

Thames said the Rosedale committee could be discussed at their January meeting, and that the city's master planning process in 2017 will include looking at business development in the Central and B.M. Montgomery areas. Ward 4 Representative Barry Smith said that the city's historical commission is being revived and she would encourage its members to put Rosedale historic sites on their priority list.

On the subject of creating a task force and hiring a project manager for the schools and parks projects, all council members at the meeting were in favor. The structure of the task force has not been decided, but based on discussion from the council it would be around 12 members including the mayor, schools superintendent, parks and recreation superintendent, a few council and school board members and potentially Police Chief Tim Ross.

Council President Bruce Limbaugh reiterated the need for haste when the city chose to take out the bond, saying that closing on the bond a week later would have cost the city around $2 million.

“That’s real and that’s significant,” Limbaugh said.

Since Homewood City Schools has not submitted a definite plan for the way it will increase system capacity, the decision to close on the bond before these specifics were available has been met with criticism from many community members. Some residents have said the bond and one-cent sales tax increase used to pay off this new debt were not given enough public input and transparency before approval.

The use of a sales tax increase has also been criticized as regressive, which Limbaugh said is accurate. However, Homewood is constrained by the state lid bill and cannot raise its property taxes, despite efforts to get an exception like Vestavia Hills or Mountain Brook.

“It’s not as if there’s not an effort to try to get that changed,” Ward 4 Representative Alex Wyatt said.

Council members with and without children in the Homewood school system echoed Limbaugh that the bond is needed to solve an immediate problem for the city's schools and parks.

“These are things we need. And we don’t need them 10 years from now. We need them now,” Smith said.

Ward 2 Representative Mike Higginbotham said that going forward, he would like decisions on how the bond is spent to be “as open and public as it can possibly be” and for residents to be given “meaningful opportunities to participate.”

No movement was made tonight on forming a task force or creating a request for proposals for project management. Limbaugh set a second work session for Jan. 30 at 5 p.m. to hear from more residents in the Rosewood Hall council chambers.