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By NOAH WORTHAM |Staff Writer

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council approved a bid for the repaving of Alabaster Boulevard during a regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, April 24.

The Alabaster City Council awarded a bid for the Alabaster Boulevard Paving Project to Massey Asphalt Paving LLC in the amount of $7,051,382.50.

“This is basically a total rebuild of the entire road,” City Administrator Brian Binzer said. “Basically, taking the humps out of the areas, pulling out some materials in the dirt that are not holding up as well (and) replacing that with new dirt and totally repaving the road. It’s going to be pretty much a brand-new road when it’s all said and done.”

The project is roughly 1 mile long and stretches from Weatherly Club Drive down to the Jim ‘N Nick’s in the promenade. Binzer said the project will begin in about a month and finish up before the end of the year.

“Alabaster Boulevard has been in rough shape for several years, and this project will provide a much-needed comprehensive rehab and repave of the entire road,” Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner said. “This will hopefully spur future development in the area while also serving residents in the Weatherly and Ballantrae neighborhoods.”

Councilmember Sophie Martin expressed her gratitude for those that put the project together and to the council for approving it.

“This project’s been a long time coming, and unfortunately, with the rises in the prices of everything, this ended up being  just something that we really had to bear down and do,” Martin said. “I want to thank the council, the mayor, Brian (Binzer), Mark (Frey) and Fred (Hawkins) for all of your support for this because I know it was a big decision, but I know it’s going to make a huge difference for so many people who travel that road now and who are going to travel in the future as we continue to grow.”

During the meeting, the city council approved  Mayor Scott Brakefield’s proclamation declaring the week of April 30 through May 6 as Professional Municipal Clerks Week 2023.

The council approved a resolution authorizing funding for the 2023 Gone Fishin’ Not Just Wishin’ Event at Oak Mountain State Park in the amount of $3,000.

“This is to help teach basic fishing skills to special needs children,” Councilmember Greg Farrell said. “This will reach out and affect kids within the Alabaster school system, the Pelham school system and also Shelby County students as well as Jefferson county.”

The council approved a resolution authorizing an agreement for engineer services for a new belt press and renovations to the Solids Handling Building located at the Waste Water Treatment Plant at a cost not to exceed $253,500.

The council also approved a professional services contract with Poole and Co Architects in the amount of $32,000 for the design work for remolding of the Power Trip Building and the Current Waste Water Treatment Plant Admin Office.

“We did two different resolutions, one is to upgrade the solid handling facility and (another is) for an engineering agreement to look at the existing building that the staff occupies—to upgrade it,” Farrell said. “Then a building we had purchased with some land several months ago—to upgrade that building and make it functional as well.”

In other news, the Alabaster City Council approved an agreement with Alabama Power for eight streetlights within the Mallard Landing Subdivision Phase 3 at a cost estimate of $110.80 per month and approved a resolution declaring items within various departments as surplus.

The city of Alabaster will hold a work session on Thursday, May 4 at 6 p.m. at city hall. The next Alabaster City Council meeting will be held on Monday, May 8 at 7 p.m.