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City council passes multimillion dollar energy efficiency project

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After months of debate, Birmingham City Council signed off on a multimillion dollar project with Trane U.S. Inc. to improve the energy efficiency of city-owned buildings over the next two decades. Trane will hire out contractors to make $61 million worth of improvements in city buildings from roofing to HVAC systems to plumbing and transformers.

As part of the citywide project, more than 120 buildings will undergo renovations including many Birmingham libraries and recreation centers, the Birmingham Museum of Art and Botanical Gardens, and dozens of fire stations.

“I’ve been crying about the sad state of our city buildings - the ones we own and don’t maintain - for 15 years now, and that’s a long time to be crying in the wilderness and see nothing happening,” Councilor Valerie Abbott said. “So I’m excited that this is happening, and I think it will put Birmingham on the map as a green city.”

For the project more than one half of its contractors will be minority-owned businesses. Fifteen minority-owned businesses will profit from 33 percent of the $61 million budget. When the project was first proposed, minority-owned businesses accounted for only $150,000. Trane project lead Monte Edwards praised the council and city staff for being steadfast in their pursuit to include minority businesses.

“It’s a leadership position we see that the city is taking and we appreciate the opportunity to be a part of it,” he said. “We think a lot of cities are going to look to the city of Birmingham and say ‘We can do that too.’”

Councilor Lashunda Scales emphasized that the day was historic for all minorities, including women, who she said have been historically underutilized as vendors in city projects. Council President Johnathan Austin echoed the importance of taking care of all Birmingham communities, especially its black community.

“Birmingham being 73 percent black, somebody has to be concerned about black Birmingham as well,” he said. “We cannot leave the majority of our population out and away from the table. If we’re going to continue to improve our economy and grow our city, it has to be balanced.”

Trane will spend the next two years carrying out the renovations, and the following 18 tracking the energy savings for each of the buildings involved in the project. Over the 20-year period, Trane estimates energy savings of $78 million and total energy and operational savings of $100 million. If the actual savings do not equal this amount, they have agreed to pay the city the difference.

The council meeting ended with a return to the discussion from the July 19 council meeting about legal representation in the Birmingham Water Works lawsuit. After going into executive session, the council reconvened to discuss a new proposal for Bainbridge, Mims, Rogers & Smith LLC to enter into the same contract previously offered to Sirote & Permutt.

The law firm would be used in a lawsuit brought forward by the Birmingham Water Works Board challenging the legality of Act 164/276 that increases representation on the board from five to nine members, effectively lessening the city’s control over the board.

Though the contract with Sirote & Permutt was approved at the July 19 council meeting, Sirote & Permutt later dropped out of the agreement. The new contract would hire Bainbridge, Mims, Rogers & Smith to represent Birmingham City Council at a rate of $250 per hour, not to exceed $25,000 over a two year period.

During discussion of the item, councilor attendance dropped down to just four members, making it legally impossible to vote on further action. The meeting was adjourned with the item left unresolved.

Another matter carried over from previous council meetings that was again left unresolved was the proposed $3 million to be spent on a new fire station in the Kingston community. Councilors agreed to revisit the item after meeting with Mayor William Bell on Monday, Aug. 8 to discuss the overall capital fund budget for the fiscal year.

During the meeting, the council also approved the following:

The council also approved a Lounge Retail Liquor Class II License for AL Discount Enterprise LLC to be used at AL Discount Package Store at 2616 31st Avenue North and a Special Events License for Birmingham Artwalk, Inc to be used at Birmingham Artwalk on Sept. 9-10 from Morris Avenue to 2nd Avenue North and 21st Street North to 25th Street North.

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