Mayor Bell, Council members clash over Crossplex spending item

Birmingham Mayor William Bell clashed with Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin and other members at their regular meeting today after placing a spending measure on the council agenda that Austin and the others had wanted to be returned to the budget and finance committee for further discussion.

Bell sought a vote from the council to approve an expenditure of about $3.75 million to pay Chilton Construction to begin infrastructure work on the site of the new Crossplex Retail Development Project near Five Points West.

However, Austin accused the Mayor of failing to live up to an agreement he said that Bell made in a meeting on Friday to hold the item off the agenda until questions could be answered about such issues as the mix and quality of businesses planned for the development and the level of minority participation in the project’s construction.

In response, Bell said that he had understood the agreement to have been that if the developer – Bob Nesbitt, who attended the meeting Friday – could ensure that there would be at least 30 percent minority participation, the item could appear on the agenda. That 30 percent target was reached, according to Bell and Nesbitt.

“We agreed to look back at the minority percentage (and) if it was not at 30 percent, we would withdraw the item,” Bell said.

He said that Nesbitt has also answered councilor’s questions about the type and quality of the hotel planned for the Crossplex and other issues.

“We all heard you say that you would withdraw the item,” Austin said, referring to other attendees at Friday’s meeting, which he said included Council President Pro Tem Steven Hoyt, Budget and Finance Committee chair Marcus Lundy and Bell’s chief of staff, Jarvis Patton. 

“If, if, we could not get the (minority participation) percentages in order,” Bell said. “That’s not what we agreed to.”

Nesbitt also told the council today that it is imperative for site work to begin by Nov. 16, so that construction could begin on time in December.

If construction does not begin as scheduled, Nesbitt said that he will be unable to deliver buildings on time to the tenants that have signed on – including Starbucks, which plans to open at the site in May 2017.

“If we cannot keep those commitments, we risk losing those tenants,” Nesbitt said.

Councilor Lashunda Scales said that the project needed to be discussed further in committee. “We don’t want the project to be mediocre, and we don’t want to see it fail,” she said.

Hoyt – as he did in a council discussion of another development in Midtown on Oct. 25 – said that it is important for minority contractors to get better access in Birmingham.

The city is not “maximizing” minority participation, Hoyt said, adding that he and other council members have received complaints that minority contractors are not getting enough work.

Hoyt supported the move to take the measure back to committee. “Out of respect to Mr. Nesbitt, I don’t want to have this discussion out here,” he said.

Earlier, he had praised Nesbitt and the Crossplex project. “I think we have a great developer,” he said.

“No one wants to see the project done any more than me,” said Hoyt, whose district includes Five Points West, adding, “There are a lot of things that I have questions about.”

Hoyt said that the city should strive to have high-quality tenants at the Crossplex development, just as it did at the Uptown Entertainment District at the BJCC.

“Don’t lower your standards just because you’re coming west of I-65,” said Hoyt, who said residents in the area want quality places to eat and shop.

Hoyt also said that he was one of the first people to push the site as a place to be redeveloped, even before he was elected to the council.

The council voted to send the measure back to committee, with six yes votes and an abstention from Councilor Valerie Abbott. Councilors Kim Rafferty and Jay Roberson did not attend.

Nesbitt, a former banker, received approval from the council earlier this year to begin developing about 40 acres on Bessemer Road near the city-owned Crossplex for retail, offices, entertainment, apartments and other uses.

National Senior Games

The council also voted 7-0 to send a resolution back to the budget and finance committee approving up to $750,000 in city money to help support the National Senior Games, to be held in Birmingham in 2017.

Hoy said that he wished to determine if any minority vendors – specifically advertising or public relations firms – would get any work in helping to promote the games.