Government
Birmingham City Council Agrees to Transfer Surplus Land, Provide Funding for Sporting Events
February 21, 2017 – The Birmingham City Council unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday for an intergovernmental agreement to list and transfer surplus city property to the Birmingham Land Bank Authority.
The resolution allows the authority to “dispose of the property in a manner consistent with its Mission Statement and Administrative Policies and Procedures.”
The city initially will present seven potential properties to the authority to be listed on its website “as being available for purchase by the general public,” the resolution reads. It does not indicate which properties will be considered.
The council also approved two measures to host collegiate championship events. The first item allocated $275,153, allowing the Birmingham CrossPlex to host the NCAA Division II national championship in indoor track and field, swimming and diving, and wrestling, on March 7-11. The NCAA is supposed to reimburse that amount to the city.
Another item approved by the council allocated $100,000 to help the University of Alabama at Birmingham host the Conference USA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championship. This is the second consecutive year UAB will have hosted the event.
The city allocation will “offset the $500,000 financial guarantee UAB has made to the Conference USA league office in return for securing the rights to host the event,” according to the agenda.
In honor of Ramsay High School’s first state football championship, the council approved an agreement with the Birmingham Board of Education to spend up to $35,000 on a bike rodeo and to buy rings for the team.
According to Mayor William Bell, the championship rings will cost $5,000 and the remaining $30,000 will go toward the bike rodeo, which will take place at schools throughout the district.
Most of the council’s agenda Tuesday was placed on the consent docket to streamline action, and most of the city business discussed consisted of weed abatements and abandoned car removals.