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By NOAH WORTHAM | Staff Writer

ALABASTER – The Alabaster City Council entered into an agreement for improvements to Veterans Park and annexed a piece of property into the city during a regularly scheduled council meeting on Monday, April 10.

During the meeting, the council held a public hearing for the rezoning of shoppes at District 31 to a Mixed-Use District.

“This public hearing here is really to discuss an amended rezoning that includes the phase four (of) the shoppes at district 31,” said Bill Segrest of Williams Blackstock Architects who spoke in favor of the resolution. “When this plan was previously approved there wasn’t continuity with a piece of property that the developer has since acquired—making the total property there as part of the overall MXD district including the shops along 31.”

After approving the rezoning, the council held public hearings for the prezoning of property at 920 and 956 Old Highway 31 into an R-3 Single Family District and its annexation at the request of Jennifer and Jason Williams.

Alabaster City Council also approved a resolution to enter into an agreement with Barge Design Engineering Services for Veterans Park Expansion Design. The resolution authorizes an agreement with the business for improvements design, construction plans and bid documents not to exceed $398,397.

In other news, the Alabaster City Council approved the authorization of Fiscal Year 2023 mid-year budget adjustments and approved the formation of the Alabaster Downtown Redevelopment Authority within the city.

Once the members of this board are seated, it will allow existing businesses and commercial property owners in Alabaster to apply for grants to help offset the cost of certain renovations and beautification projects.

This will likely cover things like parking lot repaving, façade updates and lighting upgrades, said Public Relations Manager Neal Wagner.

“The idea with this board is to support existing businesses in Alabaster with updating their properties to ensure they remain economically viable,” Wagner said. “The criteria, funding amount, etc. for these grants will have to be decided by the board members once they are appointed.”

The next city council meeting will be held in the Council Chamber at city hall on Monday, April 24 at 7 p.m.