Residents mark Vestavia Hills' library grand opening

Published: Sunday, December 12, 2010, 7:11 PM ??? Updated: Sunday, December 12, 2010, 7:34 PM

A festive air and music by the Vestavia Hills High School Jazz Band marked Sunday's
grand opening of the Vestavia Hills Li-brary in the Forest.

A large crowd turned out to celebrate the opening of the $12.7 million library, which is the state's first LEED-certi-fied library that meets green building standards.

A rooftop garden that helps improve building insula-tion, drains in the parking lot to collect water used to irrigate the grounds and low energy lighting are among the new features. The facility off U.S. 31 and Round Hill Road is 12,000 square feet larger than the old library on U.S. 31.

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Druid Hills residents oppose ex-offender ministry program at Carraway

Published: Monday, November 22, 2010, 11:26 PM ??? Updated: Monday, November 22, 2010, 11:29 PM

Druid Hills residents on Monday voted against a proposal by an ex-offender ministry program to place a "ministry mall," including residential programs for former prisoners and recovering drug addicts, at the former Carraway Medical Center campus.

"I think they were overwhelmed by the scope of the project," said Charlie L. Williams Jr., president of the Druid Hills Neighborhood Association, which voted 19-0 against the project.

The Rev. Andrew Jenkins, executive director of the ministry, called The Village, said his group wants to revitalize the property by locating a variety of social services under one roof. There also would be long-term housing that would include, in the first year, as many as 40 non-violent former prisoners, 25 recovering drug addicts and others such as college interns working with the program and missionaries in between assignments.

The plan also calls for building single-family houses on out parcels and attracting new business, such as a grocery store to the northern end of the 30-acre Carraway campus.

About 50 people attended the meeting in the sanctuary at St. John Baptist Church, where Jenkins outlined the proposal. Residents seemed to be most concerned about the prisoner re-entry program, saying it would be detrimental to the community.

"We always want to help people fallen on bad times, said Martha Bozeman, a resident of nearby Central City who grew up in Druid Hills, and whose father still lives there. "But we're worried about the safety of our children and our property values."

Jenkins said residents are non-violent offenders trying to get their lives back in order. He said they would be closely supervised and would be required to hold a job. If a job was not available, then that resident would be required to do 40 hours of community service work in the area.

He noted that in the last three years, The Village has worked with about 300 former prisoners in other locations, and only three have gone back to jail.

Birmingham City Councilman Johnathan Austin, who represents the area, said the idea is worthy, but he will oppose The Village moving to Carraway.

"It's not going to happen as long as I am here and I will do all I can" to prevent it moving to Carraway, Austin said.

Residents noted that the Salvation Army has also proposed moving some of its operations, including a homeless shelter, from downtown to Norwood, a neighborhood adjacent to Druid Hills.

L&B Realty Advisors, a Dallas-based company that owns the Carraway campus, has not been able to attract another buyer in the health care industry, said the company's Jon Foulger. Efforts to interest other potential buyers, such as senior citizen housing, have failed.

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Pelham residents, business owners attend forum on possible smoking ordinance

Published: Tuesday, November 09, 2010, 10:22 PM ??? Updated: Tuesday, November 09, 2010, 10:43 PM

About 20 people, including four business owners, gathered at the Pelham Civic Center tonight for a public discussion on a possible citywide smoking ban.

Mayor Don Murphy, who would have no vote but has asked the City Council to consider an ordinance banning smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars, called the forum to gauge public opinion.

Ann Taylor, owner of Ann Taylor Barber & Styling, said she is against a smoking ban and voiced concern over government enforcing such regulations.

"It is my right to have customers who come in to relax and smoke cigarettes and cigars." Taylor said. "This should be left to the individual business owner, and if the city doesn't want people to smoke then it shouldn't tax it or sell it."

Clint Umphrey, owner of Pelham's Texas Roadhouse, said he'd rather have things stay business as usual, but if there is an ordinance passed it needs to "create a level playing field" for all businesses.

Umphrey said he thinks if Pelham adopts an ordinance it needs to be a significant one.

"But just posting signs that say smoke-free or smoke-friendly doesn't accomplish anything," Umphrey said.

City Council President Mike Dickens, Councilwoman Teresa Nichols and Councilman Steve Powell were present for the forum.

The three fielded some questions from the audience, including whether they thought they had the right to go into a business they have no financial stake in and tell the person who's invested money in the business what to do.

All three answered no.

Barry Riddle, Alabama Department of Public Health policy coordinator, presented some state statistics. He said 850 Alabamians die each year from second-hand smoke.

Murphy, who has voiced his concern over children being subject to second-hand smoke in public places, re-emphasized that Pelham does not have a prepared ordinance.

"We just want to find out if the public likes it or doesn't, Murphy said."

The city of Alabaster passed a smoking ordinance last month.

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McCalla residents get final chance to vent about Norfolk Southern's plans to build railroad hub (with video)

Published: Tuesday, November 09, 2010, 11:28 PM ??? Updated: Wednesday, November 10, 2010, 12:05 AM

McCalla residents and business owners still steamed at Northfolk Southern's plans to build a railroad hub in their community took advantage of their last public opportunity to vent at the company tonight.

"Why has Norfolk Southern lied to us?" asked Fred Swope, a resident of McCalla. "Why do you keep lying to these people?"

At a meeting, Swope accused the company of misinforming residents early on about the transporting of hazardous materials through the facility, which transfers shipping containers between rail cars and trucks.

He said Norfolk Southern has not told the truth about the noise that would come from the hub or the impact the 400 trucks per day going in and out of the facility would have on McAshan Drive.

Norfolk Southern officials said the company has never intentionally misled the public on any of the issues regarding the facility.

Tonight's meeting?was the third and final public hearing and was intended to present the findings of a year-long environmental assessment of the property and the potential impact of the hub.

The company's plans to build its $97.5 million Birmingham Regional Intermodal Facility on 316 acres in the southwest Jefferson County community has been a hot-button issue since the public first heard about it more than 17 months ago.

But that time, two other public meetings, the creation of a Community Outreach Group and numerous changes Norfolk Southern has made to its plans have not eased the tempers nor erased the concerns, as tonight's meeting at Watermark Place's Discovery Alabama Event Center proved.

Promised protection

Norfolk Southern has pledged to build 35-foot, grass-covered berms topped by trees and shrubs between its facility and the adjacent McAdory Elementary School and other areas where the facility might be visible from Eastern Valley Road.

Walls and other screening are planned to buffer the noise from trucks traveling on a proposed entrance road to the facility that will run behind the Saddler Ridge subdivision to the west of the hub site. Holding tracks for the facility were shortened to not come near small streams and retaining ponds were put on site to collect water that will be used to irrigate the berms.

Though the shipping containers that will travel through the facility are not the tanker cars that carry hazardous gases, liquids and chemicals, some of the containers will contain household cleaners, automotive supplies, paints, solvents, alcohol, tobacco and other commercially sold items that meet the definition of "hazardous materials."

"Can you guarantee that there is nothing that will happen at this facility that will affect the health and welfare of my children?" asked Wade Cox, whose children attend McAdory Elementary.

After his question was met with silence by the panel of mostly technical experts, moderator Art Hanes, a retired circuit judge who declared himself to be "neutral" on the hub issue, said the answer would have to be "no" because no one could make such a guarantee.

"Then why would you risk it?" Cox asked, prompting applause from most of the 85 people in attendance.

Much of the ire from those who spoke was aimed at the city of Bessemer for the poor way it has maintained, or failed to maintain, its section of McAshan Drive.

Unlike the portion maintained by Jefferson County, which has been widened, improved and resurfaced to handle truck traffic from the Jefferson Metropolitan Park McCalla industrial park, the portion maintained by Bessemer in front of the Flying J truck stop off Exit 104 is two lanes and chock full of potholes, cracks and decaying pavement.

The third public meeting for Norfolk Southern's proposed intermodal facility in McCalla

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