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Record of Proceedings

City of Tuscaloosa Public Projects Committee Meeting - September 9, 2025

City Council Meetings — Tuesday, September 9, 2025
BodyTuscaloosa, Alabama
SessionCity Council Meetings
DateTuesday, September 9, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 25:53

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Motion to adopt a motion second.

0:03

All in favor say aye.

0:04

Aye.

0:04

Minutes are approved.

0:06

Item number one.

0:08

New business is approval professional services agreement with Duncan Coker associates for the Jack Warner Parkway, Alabama 297 intersection improvements.

0:17

The project total is 272,443.

0:20

Bill, welcome.

0:21

Thank you.

0:22

Good afternoon.

0:22

Good afternoon.

0:26

So yes, sir.

0:27

So for a professional service agreement with Dr.

0:30

Coker, this is for the intersection we're describing here, Jack Warner Parkway and Alabama 297.

0:35

This is what leads on to the Bryant Bridge.

0:38

By way of orientation.

0:42

So from City Hall to the project location up to the right there, it's about five miles to the due east situation that we're dealing with here.

0:49

Volumes flowing through the intersection during peak morning and afternoon hours just overwhelming some of the available uh dedicated turn lanes and it creates congestion and unnecessary delays.

0:59

The objective here is to improve the traffic flow through the intersection by providing some dedicated turn lanes and expanding an acceleration lane, as well as just introducing some separation and organization that'll make the intersection flow more efficiently.

1:14

So a bit of an eye chart here.

1:15

I apologize for some of the font, but the intention here, and what we're showing to the bottom center and to the left of the graphic.

1:25

It's a dedicated turn lane.

1:27

There's one that exists there currently, but we'll essentially double the length of that that adds more stacking capacity.

1:32

Get the people that are looking to turn left out of the way that are looking to not turn left and carry through and allow the traffic to flow through eastbound more efficiently.

1:42

And then uh just above that on the westbound side, adding a dedicated acceleration lane coming off the Bryant Bridge, so that right now uh coming off the bridge, you almost come to a dead stop as you look back to the traffic coming to uh heading from behind you to make sure you're not gonna be running anybody, so we're adding a dedicated acceleration lane there, and then on the right side of the graphic extending some of the separation on the on ramp that goes on to the Bryant Bridge right now.

2:16

You have an unnecessary merge, and then it opens back up to two lanes, so no reason to force that congestion.

2:21

We can open that back up as well as a couple of dedicated turn lanes coming off of Bryant Bridge and uh heading eastbound.

2:31

So, as I said, all this intended to improve efficiency through the intersection and the budget for this is available at the general fund RF5, which was approved in last year's budget cycle.

2:43

What's the anticipated timeline, Bill?

2:46

Be about a year of design, sir.

2:50

Design permitting design and permitting, yes, sir, and then the improvements six months.

2:58

Yes, sir.

2:59

I think so.

3:02

And do we know where the uh the actual road money is coming from as opposed to the design money?

3:09

There is some uh additional funding still available in the budget, but we'll have to come through the design to see the final estimated cost, see if that'll be enough to cover.

3:18

Yes, other questions, committee member motion motion second, all in favor say aye.

3:28

Aye, motion carried in the cycle problem.

3:38

Item number two is approval of a professional services agreement with John Galloway for annual bridge inspections, total of 72, 400.

3:46

Zach, welcome.

3:47

Good afternoon, council.

3:48

Good afternoon.

3:49

So this is the uh typical uh bridge inspection contract that usually comes from public works, it's now under OCE.

3:56

He's not so we'll be taking it over now.

3:59

Uh this project will inspect 17 bridges that are due for this year.

4:04

Uh he'll inspect them, submit all the paperwork that goes to the out.

4:08

So how many bridges do we have?

4:14

So it's 46 and a couple, and I know at least one of those is a pedestrian bridge.

4:21

So I think that's later on this agenda.

4:25

Is that the John Fail?

4:26

Uh is that the John Fail pedestrian bridge?

4:29

Trying to remember.

4:32

Uh Zach Why these 17?

4:35

Why are these batched together for this contract?

4:38

So it's they get inspected every two years, and some of them, depending on condition, have to do every year.

4:45

So it's it's 15 of them are on the every two-year cycle, and two of them are on the every year cycle right now.

4:51

So they're set, they're sent by Albot, as these are the ones that have to be inspected this year.

4:56

They maintain it in a system that we submit all our paperwork to John.

5:00

And is Johnny?

5:04

Is that a company or their person?

5:06

He's a person, he's a consultant bridge inspector.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Works█████████████████████████████29%
Engineering And Infrastructure████████████████████████24%
Technology and Innovation█████████████13%
Public Safety██████████10%
Parks and Recreation█████████9%
Fire Safety██████6%
Procedural█████5%
Transportation Safety████4%
Summary of Proceedings

City of Tuscaloosa Public Projects Committee Meeting - September 9, 2025

The Public Projects Committee met on September 9, 2025, at 7:31 PM CT to consider twelve agenda items, all of which were approved unanimously. The meeting covered a range of infrastructure, public works, and technology contracts, including intersection improvements, bridge inspections, water meter conversions, and police recruitment advertising.

Discussion Items

  • Item 1 – Jack Warner Parkway / Alabama 297 Intersection Improvements: Professional services agreement with Duncan Coker Associates for $272,443. Bill (staff) presented the project, which aims to improve traffic flow by adding dedicated turn lanes, extending an acceleration lane, and reorganizing the intersection. The design is expected to take about one year, with construction lasting six months. Funding is from the general fund RF5 approved in the previous budget cycle. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 2 – Annual Bridge Inspections: Professional services agreement with John Galloway (consultant bridge inspector) for $72,400. Zach (staff) explained that the contract covers 17 bridges due for inspection this year (15 on a two-year cycle, 2 on a one-year cycle). The city has 46 bridges total. The cost increased due to new inspection criteria effective this year. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 3 – Tank Washing and Painting: Minor public works contract with Dixie Painting and Sandblasting for $81,301. Mr. Gurney (staff) noted the work includes washing and touch-up painting at the 29th Street West End tanks. The contractor previously rehabbed the Mercedes tank. Discussion covered methods: taller tanks in residential areas require manual labor with ropes and canopies, while shorter tanks can be painted using drones. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 4 – AMI Meter System Maintenance: Professional services agreement with Itron for $102,000 (annual). Mr. Gurney explained this covers hardware maintenance for the communication network (radio towers, collectors, repeaters), a hosting agreement, and software subscription for the Temetro software. Funded from the meters outside services operations budget. A council member noted receiving a leak alert from the system, praising the benefit. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 5 – AMI Water Meter Conversion Phase 2B: Professional services agreement with United Systems Software for $2,643,820.80. This is the remainder of the small meter conversions (26,000 meters of 1-inch or smaller). Phase 2A is expected to wrap up by Thanksgiving 2025; Phase 2B will run until early 2027. Funded by the 2025B bond. The city will be about halfway completed after Phase 2A. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 6 – Downtown Y Pickleball Course Change Order: Deductive change order #1 with Amison and Associates for $27,516, bringing the total construction cost to $500,342. Tim (staff) presented the closeout. A council member remarked on the cost reduction. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 7 – Shelby Park Monument Sign Refurbishment: Minor public works contract with War Construction for $21,867. The work includes replacing a precast panel, installing new dimensional lettering, and pressure washing. The sign was damaged by a car crash. Completion expected by end of October 2025. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 8 – Fire Suppression/Backflow Prevention Amendment: Amendment #1 to the contract with Olympia Sprinkler Installation, increasing compensation by $28,000 to a total of $61,260. This covers maintenance costs for the fiscal year beyond the initial inspection contract. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 9 – Fire Alarm Maintenance Amendment: Amendment #1 to the contract with PCI Technologies, increasing compensation by $16,500 to a total of $25,971. The increase includes $7,300 for fire alarm monitoring (previously not in contract) and $9,200 for repairs. Staff noted the monitoring was already funded but not captured. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 10 – Elevator Security Access Control: Minor public works contract with Bag V Elevator for $7,670 to furnish and install security access control on five elevators. This is for upgrading circuit boards and connecting to the controller. Access control will restrict access to certain floors in various city buildings. Funded from facility maintenance security enhancement budget. Approved unanimously. Additionally, Tim (staff) provided an update on the Iron Defense issue (referenced earlier), forecasting a fix in 4-6 weeks.
  • Item 11 – Emergency Lighting Inverter Maintenance: Minor public works contract with George Campbell (DBA Radco Electronics) for $5,500. This covers preventative maintenance of emergency lighting inverters at eight city locations. Funded from outside services general fund. Approved unanimously.
  • Item 12 – Streaming Ads for Police Recruitment: Professional services agreement with Hearst Media for $9,995 to administer streaming service ads (Hulu, Netflix, etc.) for the Tuscaloosa Police Department recruitment campaign. The ad features a $5,000 sign-on bonus. Staff described measuring effectiveness through view counts, completion rates, and correlation with applicant numbers. The campaign will be coordinated with Strategic Communications and TPD. Approved unanimously.

Key Outcomes

  • All twelve agenda items were approved unanimously by voice vote (aye).
  • The next Public Projects Committee meeting was scheduled for Tuesday, September 16, 2025.
  • No other business was brought before the committee, and the meeting adjourned.

Meeting Transcript

Motion to adopt a motion second. All in favor say aye. Aye. Minutes are approved. Item number one. New business is approval professional services agreement with Duncan Coker associates for the Jack Warner Parkway, Alabama 297 intersection improvements. The project total is 272,443. Bill, welcome. Thank you. Good afternoon. Good afternoon. So yes, sir. So for a professional service agreement with Dr. Coker, this is for the intersection we're describing here, Jack Warner Parkway and Alabama 297. This is what leads on to the Bryant Bridge. By way of orientation. So from City Hall to the project location up to the right there, it's about five miles to the due east situation that we're dealing with here. Volumes flowing through the intersection during peak morning and afternoon hours just overwhelming some of the available uh dedicated turn lanes and it creates congestion and unnecessary delays. The objective here is to improve the traffic flow through the intersection by providing some dedicated turn lanes and expanding an acceleration lane, as well as just introducing some separation and organization that'll make the intersection flow more efficiently. So a bit of an eye chart here. I apologize for some of the font, but the intention here, and what we're showing to the bottom center and to the left of the graphic. It's a dedicated turn lane. There's one that exists there currently, but we'll essentially double the length of that that adds more stacking capacity. Get the people that are looking to turn left out of the way that are looking to not turn left and carry through and allow the traffic to flow through eastbound more efficiently. And then uh just above that on the westbound side, adding a dedicated acceleration lane coming off the Bryant Bridge, so that right now uh coming off the bridge, you almost come to a dead stop as you look back to the traffic coming to uh heading from behind you to make sure you're not gonna be running anybody, so we're adding a dedicated acceleration lane there, and then on the right side of the graphic extending some of the separation on the on ramp that goes on to the Bryant Bridge right now. You have an unnecessary merge, and then it opens back up to two lanes, so no reason to force that congestion. We can open that back up as well as a couple of dedicated turn lanes coming off of Bryant Bridge and uh heading eastbound. So, as I said, all this intended to improve efficiency through the intersection and the budget for this is available at the general fund RF5, which was approved in last year's budget cycle. What's the anticipated timeline, Bill? Be about a year of design, sir. Design permitting design and permitting, yes, sir, and then the improvements six months. Yes, sir. I think so. And do we know where the uh the actual road money is coming from as opposed to the design money? There is some uh additional funding still available in the budget, but we'll have to come through the design to see the final estimated cost, see if that'll be enough to cover. Yes, other questions, committee member motion motion second, all in favor say aye. Aye, motion carried in the cycle problem. Item number two is approval of a professional services agreement with John Galloway for annual bridge inspections, total of 72, 400. Zach, welcome. Good afternoon, council. Good afternoon. So this is the uh typical uh bridge inspection contract that usually comes from public works, it's now under OCE. He's not so we'll be taking it over now. Uh this project will inspect 17 bridges that are due for this year. Uh he'll inspect them, submit all the paperwork that goes to the out. So how many bridges do we have? So it's 46 and a couple, and I know at least one of those is a pedestrian bridge. So I think that's later on this agenda. Is that the John Fail? Uh is that the John Fail pedestrian bridge?

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