Council reviews sidewalk priority list

The City Council held a special work session tonight to review 12 sidewalks they have chosen as high priority to complete.

Building, Engineering and Zoning official Greg Cobb said the total to complete the projects was estimated at just under $400,000 about five years ago. However, increases in costs for manpower, concrete and other materials would up the price by roughly a third, he said, bringing new estimates of the total to around $530,000.

The priority list was determined partly by council members' reports of their wards' needs, and partly by ease of completion. The 2018 budget included $249,000 for new sidewalk construction, $100,000 for sidewalk repair and $1.2 million for Phases II and III of the Shades Creek Greenway.

At tonight's full City Council meeting, the council members asked the finance committee to consider putting $1 million in additional funding toward sidewalks, paid for out of the city's $110 million bond for public safety, parks and school projects. This will be discussed on Tuesday, Feb. 20.

The following projects are considered high priority:

• Patriot Park connector route from Oak Grove Road to Hillmoor Lane: The city does not have right-of-way access to build this, and a culvert along the proposed pathway makes it more challenging and expensive. However, West Homewood residents present tonight want to work with Cobb to find an ideal route and cheaper solutions, perhaps with some homeowners allowing easements to use part of their property. “That would be a really, really good connector. That’s really important,” Cobb said.
• Clermont Drive, from Valley Avenue to Royce Road: This project will require either a retaining wall or clearing of vegetation and other obstacles to construct the sidewalk, as well as a crosswalk at Royce. The sidewalk is part of walking paths for Homewood Middle School students.
• Valley Avenue, from Valley View Drive to Clermont Drive: Connecting to Clermont's planned sidewalk, this path on Valley is a council priority since it is a school route. Traffic speeds on Valley are an impediment, as is the steep geography on the south side of the road, but it's possible that the sidewalk could be built using part of the existing road.  “For our ward, this is the most important sidewalk we have,” Ward 1 Representative Britt Thames said.
• Rumson Road, from Yorkshire Drive to Shades Creek Parkway: This is two separate projects, with Shades Creek Parkway being the dividing point. Council members said the sidewalks would help make a route to the nearby YMCA and a potential crosswalk on Shades Creek Parkway, as well as narrowing Rumson to help slow traffic.
• Shades Creek Parkway from Rumson Road to Durham Drive: Adjacent to the project above, this sidewalk on the north side of Shades Creek Parkway would help connect more Hollywood residents with the YMCA and the potential crosswalk to Brookwood Village.
• Saulter Road, from Sylvia Drive to South Wellington Road (two projects): These are two of the easiest segments of a multi-phase sidewalk on Saulter. The projects, which meet at Lakewood Drive, are on the easiest geographic portion of the road, and Cobb said he is also talking with Samford University about use of right-of-way on property they own. The path would likely be on the south side of the road from Sylvia to Rockaway Road, then cross to the north side to continue to South Wellington.
• Greenway Phase II, from Columbiana Road to Wildwood South: This project continues to be stalled by right-of-way acquisition on five remaining properties, but the city is working with the Freshwater Land Trust to secure that access with the intent to begin construction this year.
• 17th Place South, from 25th Court South to 27th Avenue South: The city is working on a Community Development Block Grant to pay for this sidewalk, and Cobb said bidding is currently underway.
• BM Montgomery Street, from 26th Avenue South to 28th Avenue South: As with 17th Place, this project has also been submitted for funding through a Community Development Block Grant.
• Covenant Way connector to Columbiana Road: This sidewalk near Publix is one Cobb expects to be a "piece of cake," as it is a short distance and Covenant Classical School has previously expressed willingness to give the city an easement.

Cobb said most of these projects, except for Saulter Road, will require bids from outside engineers. His next step will be to get bids for the projects to estimate their respective costs, which will help determine the order in which they're completed.

At the full meeting following the work session, the City Council also:

• Dropped the speed limit on Irving Road, Mayfair Drive and Highland Road to 20 miles per hour, after monitoring by police due to speeding concerns. The city wants to tie speed limits to road width on some of Homewood's narrower streets.
• Approved a $428,000 demolition package, submitted by Tri-Star of America, for work on the site of the future public safety headquarters on Bagby Drive.
• Approved up to $9,500 to pay for a consultant's help in crafting a new tree ordinance. Ward 2 Representative Mike Higginbotham abstained from the finance committee's vote last week but decided to vote in favor tonight.
• Approved $3,200 for Homewood's portion of maintaining the emergency warning signs system in the city.
• Carried over discussion of condemning the home at 2516 17th Street South. Inspections official Wyatt Pugh said he had seen no visible work, but the owner said they had removed safety hazards, demolished the old porch and installed a new roof. The City Council told him that the inspector must approve of property conditions, regardless of the owner's assertions of its safety, before condemnation can be dropped from the agenda. The discussion was carried over to allow time for Pugh to inspect the property.
• Approved an oversized sign variance for Ashley Mac's, which is opening in the next few weeks at 1831 28th Street South.
• Approved Walmart, 209 Lakeshore Parkway, to replace all of its existing signs and add two new ones to the building, which will advertise the eyecare center and order pickup locations. Higginbotham was out of the room for the vote and Ward 4 Representative Alex Wyatt abstained.
• Approved a second attached sign at 35 West Lakeshore, with Thames opposing.
• Approved closure of part of Oak Grove Road on June 2 and Aug. 25 for the Patriot Park StreetFest and Back to School Bash, respectively.
• Set a March 12 public hearing to consider rezoning 1700 and 1708 29th Court South from Office Building and Central Business districts to Institutional District, in order to have consistent zoning for future development
• Set March 12 public hearings for sign variance requests at 1045 Broadway Park and 234 Green Springs Highway, as well as a fence variance request at 1810 25th Court South.
• Appointed Nick Klienhenz to the Homewood Downtown Redevelopment Authority (HDRA) board and Todd Minor to the Park Board.
• Announced an open at-large seat on the Homewood Environmental Commission and a similar open seat on the HDRA and Industrial Development boards. Applications for these are due to the city clerk by March 12.

The City Council's next meeting will be on Tuesday, Feb. 20 due to the President's Day holiday.