City Council seeks to promote COVID-19 education, testing

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The Birmingham City Council — at its regular meeting for Tuesday, June 16 — approved a resolution establishing the public purpose of any events that are part of the city’s Coronavirus Pandemic Crisis Response through April 2021, according to a Council news release.

This will allow the expenditure of up to $10,000 in city funds per event.

The money will also be used for billboards, commercials and informational campaigns, the news release states.

This is an important step in continuing to educate the public about COVID-19 and ramping up testing in the city, said Council President William Parker.

“Now is the time that we really start looking at how we expand testing through the end of the year,” Parker said. “We’re going to have to make a concerted effort to educate residents in all 99 neighborhoods about how they can stay safe and where they can find resources and testing sites."

PUBLIC SAFETY

The Council voted to approve funding for several public safety infrastructure items:

  • $1.5 million to the development of the Birmingham Police Department’s Real-Time Crime Center, which will allow the department to have a better view of public safety concerns across the city.
  • $1 million to the code enforcement division of the Public Works Department.
  • $800,000 to the Information Management Services Department for a hardware and software infrastructure overhaul.

CENTURY PLAZA

The Council set a public hearing for July 14 to consider rezoning the long-closed Century Plaza Mall at the intersection of Crestwood Blvd. and Oporto-Madrid Blvd. in the Eastwood area to allow for the development of a 200,000 square-foot logistics center.

Under the proposal, the zoning will change from Contingency General Business District to Qualified Light Manufacturing District.

The logistics center could bring over 300 jobs to District 2, which is represented by Councilor Hunter Williams.

This property has been a major point of concern for area residents over the years, Williams said.

“One thing residents on the eastern side of Birmingham have been asking for is the repurposing of the old Century Plaza Mall,” he said.

Century Plaza, which opened in 1975 with four anchors stores and about 100 tenants overall, has been closed since 2009.