The Birmingham City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a bid for repairs to the Highland Park Golf Course’s pro shop despite at least one council member saying she was “appalled” by its $1.8 million cost.

“We’re happy that this is going to be fixed; I think everyone is delighted. It’s just the price tag on it seemed so incredibly high for such a relatively small building,” Councilor Valerie Abbott said.

Officials say the HVAC system at the pro shop has been inoperable for nine months.

The winner of the bid, Tuscaloosa-based McAbee Construction Inc., was the only company to submit a proposal for the work. The firm put the price of the project at $1,817,000.

Abbott asked city staff how the council could know it was an appropriate bid with only one company offering a proposal.

Chaz Mitchell, chief of operations for the city, told Abbott that the city does its due diligence to adequately advertise its requests for bids to appropriate vendors. He added that the capital projects staff made sure the company met a list of requirements needed for the work.

He said HVAC repairs needed at the pro shop are so complex that few companies are capable of completing the project, which likely led to the city’s having only one bidder.

“I think this is the only route we have to get this project up and going,” Mitchell said.

Councilor Carol Clarke also said that standard bidding processes generally keep the offers competitive because firms don’t know how many other companies are submitting proposals for the work.

Council Recognizes Four Schools for Major Reading Improvements

Also Tuesday, council members honored four Birmingham City Schools — Oliver Elementary, Richard Arrington Jr. Elementary, Inlgenook Pre K-8 and i3 Academy — for making the state of Alabama’s Top 25 Most Improved list.

In 2022-23, only 33% of Birmingham City Schools third graders were reading at grade level. Following a targeted, year-long campaign by city leaders, school officials and volunteers from across Birmingham, 86% of those students were reading at grade level by the time the state-required reading test was administered.

City leaders attributed much of that improvement to the Page Pals program, a partnership between the city and the school district in which volunteers read aloud to students.