Gardendale officials are planning a major upgrade to one of the city’s ball parks.

On Monday, the city council approved an agreement with Barge Waggoner Sumner & Cannon Inc. for preliminary design services for proposed improvements to the Kenneth A. Clemons Athletic Complex.

The city will pay $47,000 for the engineering report.

Mayor Othell Phillips said the main purpose of the project is to add baseball and softball fields so the complex can host ball tournaments, which would bring revenue to the city in the form of gas and food sales and hotel room rentals.

The bulk of the price tag is to be spent on boundary and topographic surveys. The remainder is for preliminary design services, a kick-off meeting and data collection.

In addition, the city will spend $3,850 on geotechnical exploration.

In other business, the council is in talks with a company that would help bring restaurant and retail business to Gardendale.

Representatives with Retail Strategies talked with the council during a work session prior to the council meeting Monday.

“We are in desperate need of a national sit-down restaurant,” council president Stan Hogeland told the representatives.

Retail Strategies would require a three-year commitment, charging $32,000 for the first year and $16,000 each year for the following two years.

Finally, the city council voted to cut the grass and assess the charges back to the owners at 18 properties in the city.

Gardendale Inspections Department supervisor Robert Ryant said that in July, he will present a much more strict weed ordinance for the city council’s approval.