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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council approved the next step in the Highway 119 Widening Project, moved the regularly scheduled City Council meeting time and approved an agreement for renovations and cosmetic upgrades for the Michaels located within the North Promenade Shopping Center during a meeting on Monday, Sept. 11.

During the council meeting, Mayor Scott Brakefield delivered a proclamation declaring Sunday, Sept. 17 through Saturday, Sept. 23 as Constitution Week.

“Sept. 17 (2023) marks the 236th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Conventional,” Brakefield said in reading his proclamation. “It’s fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and it’s memorial anniversary and to the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate this occasion.”

Brakefield presented the proclamation to members of the Daughters of the American Revolution who were in attendance at the City Council meeting.

Brakefield also took time to recognize the 22nd anniversary of 9/11.

“Today is our 22nd anniversary of an incredible week and important day in the history of the United States,” he said. “Everybody has a personal story, and I hope you will take time to reflect on yours.”

During the meeting, the council approved two resolutions that will bring improvements to Hwy 119 as part of Phase Two of the Highway 119 Widening Project.

The Council approved resolutions for additional lanes on SR-119 from Silver Creek Parkway to County Road 12, including a multi-use path from Veterans Park to County Road 26.

“Right now, this is just the beginning stages of an agreement with ALDOT to try and tee up the project,” City Administrator Brian Binzer said. “There’s a lot of things that have to happen before they actually do the pavement but this is exciting news that we’re moving forward with Phase Two and (It is) something that we’ve been wanting for a long time.”

The goal for Phase Two of the Highway 119 Widening Project is for the widening to continue from where it currently stopped at Smokey Road and to continue south past Veterans Park and up to the entrance of the Silver Creek Subdivision.

During the meeting, the Alabaster City Council approved an amendment to the regularly scheduled meeting time and changed the start of each City Council meeting from 7 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Pre-council meetings remain schedule at 6 p.m.

The Council approved a resolution awarding a bid to Hydra Service in the amount of $141,000 for 13 waste water pumps for the Environmental Services Department.

“This will help that we create redundancy,” Councilmember Greg Farrell said. “There will always be a spare at each station so that now we will have a spare pump for each pump that’s in service.”

The Council approved the purchase of software and camera equipment for the Public Works Department, from Soft-Pak through Ingram Equipment Company, for garbage route management in the amount of $19,485 up front and $1,230 monthly.

“We did several measures tonight to enhance and help them be more efficient in the garbage collections,” Farrell said. “We approved cameras for their vehicles, and also we approved software that will help in routing and consolidate things to be more efficient.”

During the meeting, the City Council entered into an incentive agreement with PC Sweet Home Alabama for improvements to the North Promenade Shopping Center and Michaels.

“This is going to help them resurface their parking lots, do some cosmetic upgrades to their buildings,” Farrell said. “And the biggest thing is, we’re going to partner and redo the entrance, clean up the area of the entrance along I-65 and (Hwy) 31 that is along the north promenade.”

In other news, the Alabaster City Council approved the following items on the agenda:

• The assessment of weed abatement cost for 1046 Independence Ct
• The assessment of weed abatement cost for 98 Hickory Street
• The adoption of the Mayor’s 2024 fiscal year budget
• An agreement for 3rd Eye Connected Collections hardware and monitoring through Ingram Equipment Company
• The Rescinding of Resolution 071323-A and the  authorization of a  change order for Resolution 071323 to include allowance for purchase and installation of turf