UPDATE: Kyle Whitmire with Second Front reports the City Council has voted to go with Mayor Bell’s proposal for debris cleanup and not to use the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
So after you get past the thirteen pages of properties scheduled to undergo nuisance abatement in today’s Birmingham City Council agenda, you arrive at Item 7 – the first of 14 that involve “inoperable vehicles” on property. They’re all public hearings too…
The most interesting item on today’s agenda involves clean up efforts underway after the April 27 tornadoes. The simple part of the agenda is Item 21, making $10 million available to do the debris removal in the budget. Then it gets interesting. The mayor has submitted Item 22, asking for permission to enter into contracts with DRC Emergency Services, Southeast Renewables and Malcolm Pirnie. The City Council counters with Item 26, granting permission to the Army Corp of Engineers Mobile District, which is using Phillips & Jordan to coordinate efforts throughout the state.
They’ve already spent several days talking about the issue, including the majority of what was supposed to be the first meeting about the 2011-2012 budget.
There also appear to be several road construction projects on today’s agenda, including one (Item 23) moving the extension of Finley Boulevard from 26th Street to East Lake Boulevard forward.
It’ll be an interesting one to watch this morning – or whenever you get around to it.
