2022 in preview: City officials share some of the anticipated highlights of the new year

As 2022 begins, we are nearly two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, and every time we think we have the virus beaten, it seems to bounce back.

COVID-19  — especially with the arrival of the Omicron variant — will likely remain a factor in our lives for the rest of this year, at least.

However, it seems safe to say that most people crave a return to some semblance of normalcy, and life does goes on.

In fact, there are some exciting projects in the works that Mountain Brook city officials are looking forward to this year.

In this annual Year in Preview, we point out some of the possible highlights in Mountain Brook for 2022.

Entertainment districts

Last May, the Mountain Brook City Council passed an ordinance establishing entertainment districts in Mountain Brook Village, Crestline Village and English Village.

The council’s action was made possible in April when the Alabama Legislature passed a bill sponsored by Rep. David Faulkner allowing the city to create the districts.

The ordinance has some restrictions but allows for the open carry of alcoholic beverages within the boundaries of the districts during certain hours.

“I think it can only add to that connectivity and that walkability around the villages,” City Councilor Alice Womack said after the council vote.

“You can get a glass of wine and walk next door to the retail store and look at clothes,” said Mountain Brook Mayor Stewart Welch III.

More and more Mountain Brook residents will likely take advantage of the districts in the coming year, officials say.

‘As more people in Mountain Brook learn about the entertainment district designations the three villages, we expect activity there to grow,” Welch said in December.

As COVID-19 gradually subsides and more community events are held, City Manager Sam Gaston said the districts “will be more utilized and promoted by the Chamber of Commerce, as well as the village merchants.”

Lane Parke

After about 15 years of work and planning — and a delay caused by the pandemic — the Lane Parke development will finally be completed in 2022.

Construction of Phase 2 of the development’s retail and commercial center should be completed by late summer or early fall, and a grand opening will be held by late fall, said Suzanna Wasserman of Crawford Square Real Estate Advisors.

Some tenants may open in early 2023, Wasserman said.

Phase 2 will also include a community greenspace for events, she said.

Developer John Evans told Village Living in May that Phase 2, which measures about 50,000 square feet, is a $24 million project.

The completion of Phase 2 will finish the entire 27-acre Lane Parke project, which also includes The Grand Bohemian luxury hotel, 276 apartments and Phase 1 of the retail center.

Lynn Ritchie, the owner of A’Mano, a gift shop in Lane Parke, told Village Living in May that the completion of Phase 2 will “connect Phase 1 with the entire village and make it much more walkable and connected, including the hotel.”

“The more retailers, the more the area gets traffic,” said Wesley Lassen, owner of The Cook Store in Mountain Brook Village..

Lane Parke Phase 2 “ is a wonderful mixture of shops, restaurants and services that beautifully round out the offerings of Mountain Brook Village,” Welch said. “Set up as an entertainment district, the village will attract both residents and visitors from our neighboring cities.”

“Since the anticipation has been building for several years, the completion of Phase 2 will be a milestone for us all to celebrate,” Gaston said. “We expect Phase 2 to create more vitality and shopping opportunities for Mountain Brook Village.”

Mountain Brook Schools

Mountain Brook Schools is in the midst of the largest series of renovations in its history. The $75 million project includes upgrades in every school in the system.

“This is the first time we’ve taken on this large of a capital improvement,” said Tommy Prewitt, MBS facilities director, told Village Living in July. “It was just time to make some much-needed improvements.”

Cherokee Bend Elementary, Crestline Elementary and Mountain Brook Elementary received upgrades last summer.

Mountain Brook High School, Mountain Brook Junior High and Brookwood Forest Elementary are undergoing even more extensive improvements.

Phase 1 renovations at MBHS should be complete by this fall, Prewitt said in December. This involves a new two-story academic wing with 42 classrooms that will replace the existing 200 and 300 buildings.

Phase 2 at MBHS — a new guidance counseling suite and renovated band room and dance studios — should be well underway by the beginning of next school year, Prewitt said. Officials expect to complete Phase 2 by the first quarter of 2023.

The junior high school is getting a new three-story main entrance building with 18 classrooms, along with a renovated and expanded cafeteria and auditorium, renovated locker rooms and a new pitched roof and turret over the media center.

Officials are hopeful that MBJH will be ready for occupancy by the start of the 2022-23 school year in August, Prewitt said.

Work is also well underway at Brookwood Forest. Phase 1 — a new administrative suite, cafeteria and kitchen addition — should be complete by the end of spring break 2022, Prewitt said.

Phase 2 will involve the demolition and renovation of the old cafeteria and kitchen

area into four classrooms, as well as the demolition and renovation of the larger round building, which includes four new restrooms, a teacher workroom and new special education suites.

MBS Superintendent Dicky Barlow is pleased overall with the progress.

“With any construction project there are celebrations and struggles, but overall we are excited about all of our projects and the impact it will make on our schools,” he said.

“We are hopeful that the majority of our new construction will be ready during the fall of 2022,” he said.

However, MBS will have “multiple projects left” after its new construction is completed, Barlow said.

Restroom renovations, along with painting, flooring, and many other projects, will continue over the next three to five years, he said.

Mountain Brook Fire Department

The coming year should be a momentous one for the Mountain Brook Fire Department, with a badly needed new vehicle, plans for a new station and the hiring of new personnel.

The MBFD received $1.5 million in the Fiscal Year 2022 city budget for a new hook and ladder truck — a 2021 Rosenbauer T-Rex 115-foot articulating boom platform.

“The new truck is exciting for our department and a huge step forward for the protection  of our citizens,” said Lieutenant and Deputy Fire Marshal Adam Bomar.

Mountain Brook’s growth has brought new, taller buildings and a need to reach a greater height with an aerial device for rescue purposes, Bomar said.

Currently, the tallest building in the city is seven stories tall and the department’s current aerial truck — a Ferrara 77-foot straight stick ladder — will not reach the highest part of the structure, he said.

The new Rosenbauer, with its 115-foot articulating boom-style aerial platform, will allow MBFD personnel to bend the platform over a parapet wall or other obstacles to rescue victims.

The T-Rex also provides more storage for specialized rescue equipment and has “the newest and greatest technology” to protect firefighters, Bomar said.

The truck takes between 14  and 16 months to build, and the MBFD is hoping for delivery by November 2022, he said.

The MBFD also received $295,000 this year for a study of a new Fire Station No. 2 at Overton Road and Locksley Drive to replace the aging, outmoded facility currently there.

In fact, the feasibility study has been completed and shows that a new station can fit on  the property, Bomar said.

“We are excited about the new station for our firefighters and for the citizens that the station will serve,” he said.

The new station will have three apparatus bays to allow personnel to adequately house and protect their vehicles.

The facility will also help protect the firefighters themselves.

“The station is going to have all the most up-to-date protective features for our firefighters, including workout rooms, diesel exhaust systems and a means to exfoliate carcinogens out of the firefighter’s bodies after a fire,” Bomar said.

With the study complete, the next step is to request qualifications from architects who wish to do the project.

The city and the MBFD will then pick an architect and move forward with drawings of the new station.

“Work on this project could start as soon as winter of 2023,” Welch said.

In Fiscal Year 2022, the department is also seeking to take its training up a notch by completing work on its live-burn building at its drill facility.

Composed of Conex boxes, the live-burn building has several rooms and “will be used to simulate live house fires, so our crews can continuously train on life-like scenarios,” Bomar said.

The majority of the work on the building has been done by MBFD personnel, he said.

The MBFD will also lose five veteran firefighters by the middle of 2022 due to retirement and will be hiring five replacements.

“Although we will miss the leadership  and the experience of the veteran firefighters we are losing, we look forward to the  chances for new firefighters to step up and take on new roles within our department,” Bomar said.

Mountain Brook Police Department

When Police Chief Ted Cook announced he would retire Dec. 31 after a decade heading up the Mountain Brook Police Department, the city found his replacement already at work in the department.

On Oct. 25, Deputy Chief Jaye Loggins was sworn in to replace Cook.

“Chief Cook is certainly leaving it [the department] in a great position, and I hope to even get it even better,” Loggins told the Mountain Brook City Council when he was sworn.

Cook left a legacy, Loggins said. “It will be hard to match, but in time I hope to do that.”

Loggins has been employed with the Mountain Brook Police Department since 1996.

As a captain and, later, as deputy chief, Loggins was responsible for overseeing the daily operations of the department.

His goals for the New Year are to complete some major tasks that the MBPD has begun to implement over the last few months.

For example, by the end of March, the MBPD will complete the transfer of 911 services, including call answering and public safety dispatch, to the Shelby County Emergency Communications District.

The department will also begin implementing its take-home vehicle program in which vehicles are assigned to each officer, Loggins said.

“This program will take three years to fully implement,” he said. “We have ordered the first group of vehicles and equipment and are waiting to get all of those delivered. I’m excited to issue the first vehicle to an officer and see this benefit officially come to reality.”

“Through a year-long study and research into the program, we believe that it will extend the life expectancy of our vehicles and have cost savings over the life of the vehicle,” Loggins said.

Welch said he is looking forward to the MBPD’s implementation of its new patrol car take-home program, an idea brought to city officials by one of the police officers.

“Our analysis indicated this would be a cost-neutral program as compared to our current car-share program,” Welch said. “It will require the purchase over several years of approximately 20 new patrol cars. The advantages include the perception of greater law enforcement presence in our city, a reduction in vehicle downtime, a way to facilitate shift changes and improve employee morale, recruitment and retention. This is something our officers wanted.”

The MBPD will also fill four new positions the department received Oct. 1, as well as one additional position that will open after Cook’s official retirement date, Loggins said.    

Public Works

There are some major infrastructure projects underway or planned for Mountain Brook, including bridge projects and sidewalks.

The Caldwell Mill Road bridge replacement should go out to bid in late January or early February 2022, and the moving of a Birmingham Water Works Board water main at the bridge is being added to the contract, said Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughan.

At press time, officials were targeting a December ALDOT bid date for the Old Brook Trail and Canterbury Road bridge project. This will allow for all of the right of way to be acquired and utilities to be relocated, Vaughan said.

“This will also allow the Caldwell Mill Road Bridge project to be complete so that we do not have both projects under construction at the same time,” he said.

The city of Mountain Brook teamed up with the city of Birmingham to build a sidewalk along Hagood Street from Euclid Avenue to Montclair Road.

Despite unexpected problems with some utilities, the project is generally going well, Vaughan said. At press time, he said the project was expected to be substantially done by Christmas, with some touch-up and clean-up work in January.

The city also plans to design and construct a sidewalk along Pine Ridge Road from Overbrook Road to Old Leeds Road. At press time, design plans were approximately 70% complete, and officials hoped to move into the right-of-way and easement acquisition after the end of 2021, Vaughan said.

“We expect the acquisition phase will take most of next year,” he said. “Bidding would hopefully be late next year and then construction in early 2023.”

One additional small sidewalk project for Old Leeds Road from Shay Lane to Old Leeds Lane is now in the design phase, Vaughan said.

“We hope to go to bid and finish construction during 2022,” he said.

As far as paving projects, Public Works has a little over $776,000 to spend on street resurfacing and, at press time, was working on the 2022 paving list to be presented to the City Council, Vaughan said.

Another major public works project discussed for several years is the installation of two traffic roundabouts in Mountain Brook Village by the cities of Mountain Brook and Birmingham.

A large roundabout is to be installed at the Cahaba Road/U.S. 280/Lane Park Road intersection and a mini roundabout at the intersection of Cahaba Road and Culver Road.

However, Jefferson County must replace the sewer at this intersection before construction begins on the roundabouts.

The Jefferson County sewer project in Mountain Brook Village is facing delays, which has moved the expected completion of the roundabouts to 2024, Welch said.

However, the county will soon accept bids and select a contractor for the sewer project, Gaston said.

“When this is done, we will be meeting with them, along with the Mountain Brook and Crestline merchants, to discuss schedules, closures and what can and will be done to mitigate the inconvenience to our businesses, motorists and shoppers,” Gaston said.

Parks and Recreation

City officials have been very vocal the last few years about the need to improve the city’s youth athletic facilities, and improvements are underway at the Athletic Complex near MBHS and the field at Cherokee Bend Elementary School.

The upgrades are “much needed and will add great benefit to our community,” Gaston said.

“There is already so much excitement from both coaches and athletes because these ‘almost’ all-weather playing conditions give them so much more practice time,” Welch said. “When it is all finished, Mountain Brook sports will be full steam ahead with first quality facilities.”

Phase 2 of the improvements at the Athletic Complex were in progress in the fall, said Shanda Williams, Parks and Recreation superintendent.

“Last year we put artificial turf on the fields and now we are getting a new concession stand, restrooms, playground and walkways,” Williams told Village Living in October. “We will also cover the bleachers and some of the batting cages. This phase will make it look like a different ballpark.”

Field 1 at the Athletic Complex is being renovated, as well.

“It will be oriented a bit differently and covered with artificial turf,” Williams said. “The outfield corners will be set up for youth games so we can potentially have three games going on at the same time. The whole area is being re-created with new LED lights, batting cages, concession stand and restrooms.”

“The complex is over 30 years old and was due for some improvements,” Williams said.

“Mountain Brook Athletics and our youth had to make many sacrifices by shortening the ball seasons, changing plans as needed and playing at other locations, but I hope it will all be worth it when it's done,” she said.

The field at Cherokee Bend Elementary now has new fencing, netting and LED lights, and a restroom is being added.

The city also plans to make to improvements to its parks in 2022, Williams said.

“Our trails have had some new or increasing erosion issues that we plan to address this year,” she said. “We also plan to work on improving some of the landscaping in different areas of the parks. These projects may not stand out as much as the sports projects, but those that visit regularly should notice a difference.”