Tag Archives: reports

UPDATED: Called City Council Committee Meeting Leads to Short Moratorium on Capital Projects

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m., 9/11/2015: According to a press release received earlier this evening, the Birmingham City Council moved to rescind the moratorium on spending on capital projects during their next regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, September 15. This was after a 3 1/2 hour committee of the whole meeting, described in the release as being “open and often candid.”

The original post follows below:

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city-flag-400x180Late Thursday afternoon the Birmingham City Council officially announced a special called meeting of its Committee of the Whole for Friday at 2 p.m. at City Hall. The meeting takes place just three days after the city’s legislative body voted to put in place a 30-day moratorium on funding for all capital projects underway in the city (as reported by AL.com), with a few notable exceptions — including renovations at Legion Field and the new intermodal transit facility currently under construction. A review of the committee meeting’s preliminary agenda for the meeting shows the only item under New Business as a “capital projects update.”

A press release sent out this afternoon in advance of the presentation to the council by the mayor’s office included the following quote from council president Johnathan Austin:

“As City Councilors we must be continually updated on all projects that utilize public funds to ensure that we are making the best decisions for our constituents. While we are excited about new growth opportunities that certain capital projects may present it is prudent that we are cautious about approving funding for items that we have minimal knowledge about.”

A report filed by WBRC’s Vanessa Araiza on Wednesday pointed to cost overruns related to Regions Field as a major reason for the delay. The council voted on Tuesday to approve paying the remaining expenses to Robins & Morton and A.G. Gaston Construction over a seven-year period. Members of the City Council also alluded to receiving some monthly reports covering progress while not receiving others, despite claims from the mayor’s office to the contrary. The reports are not accessible currently via the city’s official website, though the monthly report for the city’s street and storm sewer improvements program for the period ending December 31, 2014 is available online in part due to a report filed for ABC 33/40 in late January.

The current fiscal year’s capital budget is available on the city’s website via the budget office.

Reports of UAB football’s impending demise lead to impromptu rally, more questions

FYI — it’s included at the end of this piece, but there is a march planned for Monday morning, December 1, at 9 a.m. to the UAB administration building. They are planning to gather on the Campus Green located between University Boulevard and 10th Avenue South and 14 and 16th Streets South) at 8:30 a.m.

Whether you want to #freeUAB, #respectUAB, #saveUABfootball or #saveUAB, the spontaneous rally held on the university’s Campus Green on Sunday evening, November 30, — after several media outlets reported of the program’s pending demise — presents the latest chapter in the attempt to save UAB’s football team.

https://storify.com/bhamterminal/rumors-uab

Birmingham enjoys some good press

There’s been a lot of buzz recently about Birmingham, AL going on in both mainstream media and on blogs that have a slightly wider reach than some of us may realize.

One example of this increase in attention come from The New York Times, which published one of their 36 hour travel stories about The Magic City. Another comes from the mind of one of our friends in the Windy City (and editor of Gapers Block), Andrew Huff, one that will probably not get as much attention locally. He contributes to Starwood Hotel’s preferred guest program’s blog, The Lobby, and recently took a look at The Hip Side of Birmingham, AL with a quick mention of their newest Aloft property adjacent to Homewood’s SoHo Square.

Anyone else know of some other online media mentions?

UPDATE: UA’s Gottfried resigns this afternoon

UPDATE: 3:30 p.m.AL.com is reporting that Gottfried resigned his position effective immediately during his meeting with Mal Moore.

ABC 33/40 and TideSports.com are reporting that the University of Alabama has fired its head basketball coach Mark Gottfried. AL.com had reported earlier in the day that Gottfried was scheduled to meet with UA athletic director Mal Moore about his future with the institution. The ABC report was posted at 2:30 p.m. with the TideSports preceding it at 2:04 p.m. There is currently no word as to whether he will be allowed to finish the season.