Before we start the agenda item Bill, sir.

Thanks, sir.

So uh not on the agenda, but wanted to take the opportunity to uh give a brief update on our University Boulevard East Project.

We were here a couple of weeks ago talked about our closure plan for that project that was to uh conduct road closures for University Boulevard only at night.

Uh what we realize is we have an opportunity here for the week of spring break, uh reduced traffic volume because of all the schools that'll be out, university will be on break as well.

Uh and if we take advantage of doing road closures during the day during that week, we think we can knock out all of the utility crossings for University Boulevard.

So uh brief deviation from our previously briefed plan for that week of March uh the 14th through the 22nd, so that's a Saturday to a Sunday.

We're gonna allow the contractor to keep the road closures of University Boulevard in place during the day.

Uh what you'll see from that, we're gonna make every attempt to any traffic that wants to travel all the way through the project site, we're gonna try to detour them around the project site.

But anybody who needs access to the within the project footprint residence, businesses, et cetera, access will be available throughout the entire time.

There'll just be localized detours that we'll have in place to maintain that access.

And so we'll be pushing that information out by the Tuscaloosa Roads.com website, uh push through our text messages, which I think the uh interest in that is growing and and and climbing.

And we're also gonna be doing notifications to the actual residents and businesses right on the University Boulevard corridor, uh giving them written notification of that change.

I think if it there's been a spike in the text because um I've seen it on the Facebook pages of the neighborhoods.

Um it's I I'm just still blown away by how massive that project is and how much they've done so far.

But um, I think that's very I wish people would like a lady posted yesterday on a page, she said she said, I wish y'all would find an alternate, because this is gonna be a year, and it's not gonna be the rest of your life.

So just find an alternate route, you know, because actually most of those neighborhoods you've got you know, Jack Warner, you've got Crescent Ridge Road, you've got Veterans Parkway.

Um, and that's the smartest thing to do is just find an alternate route and stick with it for till it's over.

But I like that.

Uh it's gonna be that whole week, seven days, is that what's planned?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Hopefully we'll sorry.

Thanks, Bill.

Thanks, Bill.

All right.

Well, and it's a new business.

Mike, agenda item number one.

Good afternoon.

Uh so this first item is a request for a right-of-way use permit uh on Bluegrass Parkway, which is the road that leads to Lexington Downs.

Uh so for context location, we're on the east side of Lake Tuscaloosa.

That landmark there that we've got identified as the new traffic signal where McRight's uh reconnected to New Watermelon Road.

As a part of that project, the road bluegrass parkway was realigned to create that four-way intersection.

Uh it used to continue due west and tie into McWright's Ferry Road.

It was a straight street.

Uh so in the McWrights project, we altered that arrangement to create that traffic signal and that at the appropriate location.

So initially the Lexington Downs neighborhood had had a sign there where you would turn off of McWright's Ferry Road onto Bluegrass Parkway.

They had some landscaping, some signage, and then if you if you've been there, um it was lined with trees on both sides of the road, create a pretty nice effect coming into their neighborhood.

All that to say the request here is that they're they're wanting to install a new entrance into their neighborhood.

Um and this will be in the public right away, just like the last one was.

In the upper right, you kind of get an idea of an overhead view.

This will be some columns on either side of the road and some landscaping, it'll have irrigation, and then you know, you got some details of some planting plans here.

Um there's a little better look at what the uh the columns and the signage is gonna look like.

And you know, some some views of some of the landscape features that they plan to use around.

I think that very top left image is probably a very good uh resemblance of what this will ultimately end up looking like.

May I ask a question?

Sure.

Just in my mind.

They're paying for all they're paying for all of this.

Um again, this right-of-way use permit is predominantly to establish ownership and maintenance.

That it is in our public right away, but only by permit, and that makes them responsible for maintenance.

And if for whatever reason we ever needed to remove it, the way our permits are written, we have the right to do so.

Yes, sir.

Mike, any downside of this?

No, sir.

No.

I'll make a motion.

Second.

All in favor.

Motion passed.

Thanks, Mike.

Zebody member two.

All right.

So the second item is uh approval request for approval of a minor public works contract with premier service to improve the traffic signal at the intersection of DCH and on Hillard Drive.

Uh we are basically one traffic signal south of the intersection of Bryant Drive and Hillard.

This is the low, this is the intersection where you would turn left into the DCH facility to go around to the parking deck.

Uh you can also turn right DCH on the property on the uh west side of Hillard as well, and that's more of a uh service area for them.

I know at one time they used to do a lot of laundry stuff there, but anyhow, that that intersection is you know, for the traveling public on Hillard and access to DCH facilities.

Um Public Works has gone out and looked at this signal.

We had a bulb out.

There was a one of the yellow amber bulbs was not operating.

So if you were watching the lights, it went from green to red.

There was no yellow to show.

But there's there's more than one line up there.

So long story short, um, they investigated the you know to try to repair this and discovered that the age of this, the the wiring is all deteriorating.

Um, and we need to just rehabilitate the entire signal.

So the the not to exceed amount of 75,000 dollars is gonna cover new conduit, new wiring, um, new signal heads, new pedestrian controllers, so on and so forth.

Bring this bring this uh traffic signal back up into a good working condition.

Any questions?

Okay, this is an item to check.

Yes, sir.

Yeah, so around 75 is it?

Yeah, not to exceed 75,000 dollars.

And where's that coming from?

It's coming from our general fund reserve.

Okay, I don't have any other questions.

I'll make a motion.

Second.

All in favor.

Thanks, Mark.

Item number three.

Uh Bill.

Sir, good afternoon again.

After so uh here to request authorization for the mayor to sign the repairing easement for the Blackwater Barge Moorings project.

And I wanted to highlight that because I plan to give a lot of background and eventually work my way back to that specific request.

So two questions that would trigger uh for me off this first repair and easement.

Repairing is anything related to land or adjacent to water and the repairing easement in this case.

It's a legal permission granted by Alabama Department of Conservation National Resources to allow structures to be built on state-owned submerged lands.

So the Black Warrior River and the riverbed are uh state-owned and they're overseen by ADCNR.

And then so some background on the Black Warrior Barge Moorings project.

This is a project that the city city committed to back in 2020 with receipt of the build grant for the Tuscaloosa landing area project, and that grant application.

The the purpose of the project, it was a multimodal project to provide safer and more connected access to various modes of transportation, including river pedestrian and automobile.

So those project components, uh, which many of you may recall the Western River Walk, which has since been completed, and the Jack Warner Parkway pedestrian bridge, which has also since been completed, and the last component is this barge moorings project for the Black Warrior River.

And we're at the phase now where we're ready to complete the easement in preparation for going to different.

So you may also ask why is it taking so long?

As you can imagine, building in the river.

It's a very sensitive area.

And so it's been a very lengthy process to come through all the permitting with the Army Corps of Engineers, Coast Guard, and ADCNR to get to the stage we're at here today.

And then on the on the barge mooring project itself, the objective there was to create adequate barge storage for the numerous industries and companies that uh use the Black Warrior River to transport their goods.

We'll get into some graphics here.

There we go.

Sorry.

So location uh northeast of the city, that star is no mistake there, that is sitting in the river.

And uh a little difficult, but I'll try to uh orient you using a layout from the bid drawings.

So the Woolsey Fennel Bridge to the right, uh the southern bank of the Black Warrior River, that's the uh the bank that the project will be aligned towards shows Blackware uh Jack Warner Parkway and Randall Way down to the south.

And so the red rectangles that you see, those uh represent each of the barges that would be moored uh to the piles that are part of this project.

So some project details, there's six barge mooring piles to the top left.

That's a model of what these mooring piles will look like.

There's a single vertical pile to the center, and then two at an angle, what they call batter piles, those provide stability to the vertical pile.

It'll be drilled into the rock bed below the river.

Uh and depending on the elevation of the river, could stick 30 feet or so out of the river to accommodate mooring the barges uh in high water conditions.

And the location for this is about 1200 feet downstream of the Woolsey Fennel Bridge and the spacing between each of those call-outs, the white call-outs are calling out where the piles will be located along the southern bank of the river, and uh each of those is about 200 feet spaced out.

So when it's all said and done, mooring capacity for a 10 bar 10 barges uh once the project's complete.

So back to the specific request today.

This is about authorized authorizing the mayor to sign the repairing easement with ADC and R that will allow us to build the project and uh get us ready to start advertising for its construction.

Yep.

So Bill, I'm a little confused on the six mooring piles and the ten spaces left.

I'm obviously missing.

Uh each of the boxes is where a barge would be moored, and you require to tie off bow and stern.

So between each two piles, you'll have a single bar.

So six piles gives you ten mooring spaces?

Six piles will give you five, but then they moored two abreast, so two side by side uh between each of the piles for two.

Who's gonna administer this?

Is this us for the construction?

Yes, sir.

I mean, no, no, not obstruction.

Once they're built, who's in charge of the rent spaces?

So the intention once we complete is to uh partner with a private entity and lease facility up for operation.

I I can say like parker used only are there other people around here that we use it for second when we when we did the public involvement uh through the Army Corps permitting process, there was at least one other private entity that expressed interest, but Parker's a great example of somebody who would be part of any my last question.

So but the action today is only for the mayor to sign the right-of-way easement, and that commits to 10,000 a year obligation.

Correct.

Motion favorite motion passed.

Thank you, Bill.

Hey, good afternoon.

Uh so this is requests.

We do for the other day without water and silver.

Well, we'd be in trouble if we were really without it.

Yeah.

Uh request authorization for a minor public works contract with civil works construction for the demolition of the Bower Tank Foundation.

Uh the amount of the contract request is 28,750.

So recently we um the the metal part of the tank has been removed.

There's a circular four-foot deep foundation that remains, and this contract is to address to get that out.

How much was it forward?

The the contract is 28,750.

It just seems like a lot for this.

I mean, I I don't know what it costs, but I mean I I'm not doubting you.

We got two quotes.

Yeah, okay.

And there and this was the lower.

I mean, just looking at it didn't affect that much.

Well we can do it cheaper.

I can't.

I don't know what things cost, but I just don't know what those things cost.

Well, I mean that a little bit, that's it's four feet deep, so it's so it's a little bit below what you see at the surface.

I got you.

It's a hundred foot diameter, and there's I trust you, Brian.

Okay.

Stop talking.

Uh so the funding for this is um uh capital account, the Bowers Tank demo account.

I'll make a motion.

All in favor, aye motion pass.

Thank Brian.

Thank you.

Good afternoon.

Good afternoon.

Uh we have a request by Spectrum Business to uh for a commercial right of entry to one of the buildings that we lease out to the FAA.

They have a nationwide effort to upgrade their copper lines to fiber, and for Tuscaloosa, their vendor is Spectrum to make that change over.

No additional uh capabilities, just swapping out older uh communications lines that exist on the airport.

Well, what spectrum is this one?

Charter, yeah, communication.

Okay.

I make a motion.

All in favor, motion passed.

Thanks, Jeff.

Any more questions?

Sorry, comments is that a motion adjourned.

So