By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – The Montevallo City Council decided during its Jan. 14 meeting to award a $15,900 bid for the demolition of three homes listed as public nuisance properties.

The decision came after a brief discussion among council members regarding payment of the part of the total—$5,900—that exceeds the $10,000 of the city’s budget already designated for housing demolition matters.

Councilman Willie Goldsmith recommended the council pay the $5,900 balance out of the city’s capital improvement fund.

“I’m comfortable with that,” Mayor Hollie Cost said.

As the only bidder, Cox Landscaping in McCalla received the project bid.

The Housing Abatement Board had previously recommended that four nuisance properties be torn down following the owner notification process; however, by the Jan. 14 City Council meeting, one of the houses had been torn down by the property owner, City Clerk and Treasurer Herman Lehman said.

The council also voted in favor of naming the second bridge at Shoal Creek Park the “Frank Arnold Bridge.”

Cost said Terry Arnold and his wife agreed to donate funding for the bridge’s construction if the council agreed to name it in memory of their deceased son.

The initial bridge and trail project kicked off last summer after the city approved the construction of two miles of trail and a bridge near the Shoal Creek Park footbridge using county funds.

“We’re going to have a nice trail system out there,” Cost said.

The Montevallo Development Cooperative District is supervising the park’s enhancements, which are on track to be completed by March.

In other business, the council:

• Delayed action regarding the Mahler House MOA.
• Appointed Susan Godwin to the Design Review Committee.
• Heard an update on the Victory car dealership property, for which the city is awaiting environmental assessment results.
• Heard upcoming event dates and information, including the city’s 15^th Martin Luther King Jr. Day March on Monday, Jan. 21. Participants will line up on Island Street behind McDonald’s at 10 a.m. to march from there to Montevallo High School, where a program will take place. Montevallo native Korey Cunningham, an offensive tackle with the Arizona Cardinals, will serve as the march’s grand marshal.