Vestavia Hills city leaders are weighing millions of dollars in quality of life spending as part of the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget, including about $9 million for improvements to the Liberty Park athletic fields.
City leaders say the investment would address flooding issues that have kept the natural fields from being available for games and practices. The proposal also includes funding to enhance the fields’ capacity and usefulness and maintain Liberty Park.
The proposed spending is also raising questions about the future of an east-side library project, with some residents and Councilwoman Kimberly Cook calling for more community input.
“I believe we consider this as a library community space and I believe it needs to continue for our east side community individuals,” one Vestavia Hills resident said during a recent City Council meeting.
The investment became a point of discussion as residents and council members considered other quality-of-life priorities for the growing community.
Councilwoman Kimberly Cook said she was surprised by the proposed investment and believes residents should have more opportunity to weigh in before the city moves forward with its quality-of-life spending.
“We’re talking about putting nine million dollars into fields in Liberty Park and originally there were two options. There was an option for an Eastside Library branch and also for the fields and I don’t feel that we’ve had the kind of community engagement that I would like to see,” Cook said.
Residents who spoke during the meeting said they support improvements to the athletic fields but do not want the library project to be forgotten.
“We can have the ball fields put money into them but don’t forget the library,” one resident said.
Mayor Ashley Curry said the proposed spending reflects several needs as Liberty Park continues to grow, including police and fire services.
“Police and fire needed training facility we need a maintenance facility that had been moved when we expanded Wald Park and so those were some of the necessary things that we got to address Liberty Park,” Curry said.
In a statement, the City of Vestavia Hills said the City Council will make a final determination on the priorities as part of its review of the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget.
Curry said the east-side library project is not being abandoned, but could be delayed by about a year.
“Now the library is still a priority, unfortunately we had repairs that’s probably going to postpone it for the year,” Curry said.
The City Council is expected to discuss the proposed Fiscal Year 2027 budget during a work session September 9 at 3 p.m. The public can attend the meeting.
