City to bring back some furloughed workers

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The Birmingham City Council — at its regular meeting for Tuesday, Dec. 1 — voted to provide the money to bring back up to 132 full-time city employees who were furloughed due to financial and budget pressures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Members voted unanimously to pass an ordinance to amend the Fiscal Year 2021 general fund budget and appropriate $4.58 million from the city’s fund balance reserves to bring back the employees.

City Council President William Parker told cbs42.com on Nov. 30 that the workers being brought back would include full-time library and park board employees.

The measure was submitted by Mayor Randall Woodfin and the council’s Budget and Finance Committee. It was recommended by the city’s finance director.

OTHER ITEMS

  • The council also passed a resolution accepting a bid from Taylor & Miree Construction of Birmingham to build the West Terminus Station for the BX Birmingham Express, the city’s planned bus rapid transit system. The contractor’s lump sum bid — the lowest and best of the four bids submitted, according to the agenda item — was just over $3,253,000. The council also authorized the mayor to enter into a contract with Taylor & Miree. The item was submitted by the mayor and recommended by the city’s Director of Capital Projects.
  • Members passed resolutions authorizing the mayor to execute a preliminary engineering agreement and a construction agreement with the State of Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) for street resurfacing and ADA upgrades throughout the city. The item was submitted by the mayor and recommended by the city’s Director of Transportation.