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Record of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary - February 3, 2026

City Council Meetings — Tuesday, February 3, 2026

BodyTuscaloosa, Alabama

SessionCity Council Meetings

DateTuesday, February 3, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 15:21

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

0:01

All in favor say aye.

0:03

Aye.

0:03

Minutes are adopted.

0:05

Item number one.

0:10

Councilman Lanier approval disbursement from District 7 improvement funds for Southview Elementary pre-Kund day total a thousand bucks.

0:20

Anybody know what's going on there?

0:23

No, what a fund day is.

0:24

I can so uh Mr.

0:26

Lanier uh we did chat for a little bit about this request.

0:30

So it um it's just a thousand dollars to South View Elementary.

0:34

It is their um yes, pre-K fund day or pre-K field day um that he is wanting to be able to contribute for their expenses to be able to set up the fund day for the kids.

0:46

Okay, and Mr.

0:47

Holmes, we're all clear that's obviously in the in the ballpark, right?

0:50

Yes, sir.

0:51

Okay, any other questions, comments?

0:53

Not as there are a motion.

0:55

Second, all in favor say aye, aye.

0:58

Items approved.

0:59

Item number two, Ms.

1:01

Stanridge general fund reserve for future improvements, budget revision number six, how time flies.

1:08

Yes, sir.

1:08

So and this one is actually very long and extensive, it has four different working parts to it, and I'm gonna go through them individually and we can we can discuss them individually, but just know that that this is longer and bigger than we normally do.

1:21

Um the first one is that the we are closing out a project and putting it towards contingency.

1:26

So the Alberta Bridge lighting is completely closed out, probably has been for a while, and so we are taking uh the leftover change in that um in that project came in under budget.

1:37

We're moving 59,000 into contingency.

1:40

Okay.

1:41

The part B of that of the budget revision is um the is a request to move a $317,000 into the Stillman Boulevard Bridge.

1:54

Um, I'm gonna do a quick briefing on the um history of the funding for this project.

1:58

You were just kind of briefed on the project side of things in the last meeting.

2:03

Um 2024, we budgeted 1.5 million dollars towards the planning of this um of this project.

2:12

It was out of the 2024 uh capital proposal, so the um general fund surplus from the year we then added 1.5 million to start the preliminary design work and the engineering for this project.

2:25

Also within 2024, we applied for um for a BIP grant uh with the federal government.

2:33

BIP is a bridge improvement program.

2:36

Um so within that within that grant application, we were not awarded the amount, but we were given very high marks um and grading on our application, and we were told that if we could finish design work um and add a little bit of match money to it, then we would be we would be in a very good position moving forward if we were to reapply for something like that.

3:01

So the BIP grant is come was coming up again last fall.

3:05

We were planning on doing exactly what they told us to do.

3:07

We were we had um we were gonna finish out design work.

3:11

Uh the 1.5 million that was already previously applied for design was only going to get us to 85% design though.

3:19

And so the BIP grant uh was coming up in the fall, it then got uh doged, I guess, for lack of a better term, uh back in the fall, the uh close out of the BIP grant.

3:31

We were alerted to that, and so we were looking for any other grant opportunities that we could get that were big dollars with the federal government um to be able to assist us with that.

3:40

So now the build grant is coming up.

3:42

Um we have the build grant opportunity where we are um planning to apply for at this at the end of this month.

3:51

Uh our total amount to apply for is about 23 million dollars.

3:55

Um, and we will be coming pro possibly back to finance committee uh next week to request that specifically, but in the interim time, in order to get to full design, like they really requested us to do, um, we will need another three hundred thousand dollars towards the design contract.

4:14

Um the other seventeen thousand is from what was briefed to you in projects committee on the railroad and applying for their um review, the railroad review that is necessary for all of the permits, and so we are requesting that we are putting $317,000 into the Sherman Boulevard Bridge um project from contingency within the RFFI, which is kind of a history lesson on where we're gonna where we have been and where we're going with this project.

4:48

So 850, is that what we got in it so far?

4:52

No, 85 percent.

4:53

What do we have in it to get to 85 percent?

4:56

1.5 million.

4:57

1.5 for the design.

4:58

Yes, sir.

5:00

And now we're adding another three 317.

5:02

Three so we're just under two right?

5:06

Yes or 1.817.

5:07

We're under two to get to 100% design which then enhances our prospects on a 20 roughly 23 million dollar build grant.

5:25

Correct.

5:26

Yes.

5:26

The match that would typically come with the build grant is what?

5:32

So generally in the past the building university boulevard it was a this 20% million in that.

5:38

Yeah so generally with the build grant in the past it's been a 80 20 match requirement so 80% paid by the by the federal government 20% paid locally.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████75%

Fiscal Sustainability███████████19%

Procedural████6%

Summary of Proceedings

City Council Meeting Summary - February 3, 2026

The finance committee meeting convened to approve routine budget disbursements and comprehensive budget revisions. The session included the approval of funds for Southview Elementary School's pre-K field day and extensive budgetary adjustments regarding the Stillman Boulevard Bridge project, the transfer of funds for the Tuscaloosa Police Department vehicle program, and internal reallocations for drainage projects.

Consent Calendar

Councilman Lanier approved a $1,000 disbursement from District 7 improvement funds for Southview Elementary School to support expenses for their pre-K fund/field day.
Budget Revision Number Six was approved in its entirety, covering four distinct components.
A transfer between general fund and public safety restricted funds under Budget Revision Number Seven was approved.

Public Comments & Testimony

No public comments or testimony were recorded during the meeting transcript.

Discussion Items

Stillman Boulevard Bridge Project (Item 2, Part B of Budget Revision #6):
- Project Status: Committee members discussed the history of the project, noting that $1.5 million from 2024 general fund surplus and capital proposals has already been spent. This funding has achieved approximately 85% of the design work.
- Grant Strategy: The committee deliberated on applying for a federal "BUILD" grant (Bridge to Infrastructure) for approximately $23 million. To strengthen this application, the project needs to reach 100% design completion. Speaker Ms. Sanders noted that reaching 100% design positions the city well for future federal funding, contrasting this with a previous "RAISE" grant saga on University Boulevard where over-designing led to prohibitive right-of-way acquisition costs.
- Funding Request: The committee requested a $317,000 transfer from contingency funds to complete the design and cover railroad review costs. Speaker confirmation indicated that With the $1.5 million existing, plus the $317,000 request, total investment approaches $1.817 million.
- Match Requirements: Discussion clarified that while past BUILD grants required an 80/20 federal-to-local match, the city's designation as a rural/depressed area allows for 100% federal funding. However, the committee decided to aim for an approximately 17% local match (around $4 million) to maintain competitiveness within the grant pool.
- Councilman Gardner's Position: Councilman Gardner questioned if the city was over-designing the project for grant appeal purposes, drawing parallels to the University Boulevard project. He expressed concern about repeating the mistake of designing projects that become unaffordable once right-of-way acquisition is required.
- Speaker Response (Ms. Sanders): Ms. Sanders expressed that unlike the University Boulevard project, this bridge project does not require enhancing connectivity to the same degree, as shared use paths and sidewalks are already incorporated. She stated that right-of-way acquisition will be minimal (affecting four homes and a warehouse property), unlike the massive acquisition required previously. She confirmed the city has avoided the specific pitfalls of the previous grant application.

Key Outcomes

Item 1: Unanimous approval (Aye) of $1,000 for Southview Elementary pre-K field day.
Item 2 (Budget Revision #6): Unanimous approval (Aye) of the budget revision bundle, which included:
- Transfer of $59,000 from the closed-out Alberta Bridge lighting project to contingency.
- Transfer of $317,000 from contingency to the Stillman Boulevard Bridge project.
- Transfer of $228,000 from the TPD vehicle program to the General Fund for RSA (likely reserved for future safety/infrastructure).
- Transfer of $21,000 between Cypress Creek drainage phase two and neighborhood storm drain (NOSARC 2.0) projects.
Item 3 (Budget Revision #7): Unanimous approval (Aye) of a reclassification moving funds from the general fund directly to the public safety RSA restricted amount.
The meeting concluded with a motion to adjourn.

Meeting Transcript

All in favor say aye. Aye. Minutes are adopted. Item number one. Councilman Lanier approval disbursement from District 7 improvement funds for Southview Elementary pre-Kund day total a thousand bucks. Anybody know what's going on there? No, what a fund day is. I can so uh Mr. Lanier uh we did chat for a little bit about this request. So it um it's just a thousand dollars to South View Elementary. It is their um yes, pre-K fund day or pre-K field day um that he is wanting to be able to contribute for their expenses to be able to set up the fund day for the kids. Okay, and Mr. Holmes, we're all clear that's obviously in the in the ballpark, right? Yes, sir. Okay, any other questions, comments? Not as there are a motion. Second, all in favor say aye, aye. Items approved. Item number two, Ms. Stanridge general fund reserve for future improvements, budget revision number six, how time flies. Yes, sir. So and this one is actually very long and extensive, it has four different working parts to it, and I'm gonna go through them individually and we can we can discuss them individually, but just know that that this is longer and bigger than we normally do. Um the first one is that the we are closing out a project and putting it towards contingency. So the Alberta Bridge lighting is completely closed out, probably has been for a while, and so we are taking uh the leftover change in that um in that project came in under budget. We're moving 59,000 into contingency. Okay. The part B of that of the budget revision is um the is a request to move a $317,000 into the Stillman Boulevard Bridge. Um, I'm gonna do a quick briefing on the um history of the funding for this project. You were just kind of briefed on the project side of things in the last meeting. Um 2024, we budgeted 1.5 million dollars towards the planning of this um of this project. It was out of the 2024 uh capital proposal, so the um general fund surplus from the year we then added 1.5 million to start the preliminary design work and the engineering for this project. Also within 2024, we applied for um for a BIP grant uh with the federal government. BIP is a bridge improvement program. Um so within that within that grant application, we were not awarded the amount, but we were given very high marks um and grading on our application, and we were told that if we could finish design work um and add a little bit of match money to it, then we would be we would be in a very good position moving forward if we were to reapply for something like that. So the BIP grant is come was coming up again last fall. We were planning on doing exactly what they told us to do. We were we had um we were gonna finish out design work. Uh the 1.5 million that was already previously applied for design was only going to get us to 85% design though. And so the BIP grant uh was coming up in the fall, it then got uh doged, I guess, for lack of a better term, uh back in the fall, the uh close out of the BIP grant. We were alerted to that, and so we were looking for any other grant opportunities that we could get that were big dollars with the federal government um to be able to assist us with that. So now the build grant is coming up. Um we have the build grant opportunity where we are um planning to apply for at this at the end of this month. Uh our total amount to apply for is about 23 million dollars. Um, and we will be coming pro possibly back to finance committee uh next week to request that specifically, but in the interim time, in order to get to full design, like they really requested us to do, um, we will need another three hundred thousand dollars towards the design contract. Um the other seventeen thousand is from what was briefed to you in projects committee on the railroad and applying for their um review, the railroad review that is necessary for all of the permits, and so we are requesting that we are putting $317,000 into the Sherman Boulevard Bridge um project from contingency within the RFFI, which is kind of a history lesson on where we're gonna where we have been and where we're going with this project. So 850, is that what we got in it so far? No, 85 percent. What do we have in it to get to 85 percent? 1.5 million. 1.5 for the design.

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