Mountain Brook council hires contractor to repair O'Neal Library water damage

The Mountain Brook City Council this morning awarded a $166,000 contract to restore O’Neal Library following efforts to address water damage from a burst pipe in the fire suppression system in May.

“Thirty thousand gallons spilled into the library on the first floor and the basement,” said Bill Meadows of Meadows Contracting, who signed the contract for repair work during this morning’s council meeting. “They have taken out 2 feet of sheetrock around the whole perimeter area that got wet. Our contract is to put the sheetrock back and paint and do baseboard and polish VCT (vinyl composition tile) and then replace ceiling tiles in the basement and put some cabinets back.”

Meadows Contracting will begin its work next week and plans to be at the library for 60 days, Meadows said.

The Crestline location of the O’Neal Library was shut down during June and July as patrons used a temporary location on Overton Road. The temporary location closed on Thursday, July 27.

“We won't move inside [the Crestline location] until the work is complete,” said Susan Elliott, president of the O’Neal Library Board. “We will begin offering curbside service on August the first. We look forward to offering that for our patrons, and it will be here at our regular location.”

In the only other matter on the agenda Monday, the City Council authorized additional work on the Cherry Street drainage project. The additional work, which costs about $21,000, involves a couple of design changes to the original contract, changing an inlet and providing some concrete work behind a new wall.

The council last week agreed to pay $133,440 for emergency work to rebuild a retaining wall that collapsed onto a house on Cherry Street after a heavy rain in May. Read more here.

The next regular meeting of the Mountain Brook Council is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Aug. 14.