The City of Gardendale held a 772 hearing during its council meeting on Monday night. The subject of the hearing was a public-private partnership that will create a shopping center in the area between Odum Road and I-65. The land currently houses 29 separate lots. The owners of those parcels have agreed to sell them for the purpose of development.

According to the agreement between the city development authority and GBT Realty, the developer of the project, the city will issue general obligation warrants with principal amounts not to exceed $11 million. Included in this amount is the $9,010,000 price of the purchase, as well as the associated costs. The city will also give the developer and amount “not less than $2.5 million and, in turn, the developer will “acquire and construct an upscale destination retail center consisting of not less than 125,000 square feet of gross leasable area,” according to the legal notice.

The developer spoke Monday at the meeting and said they anticipate the final project will create approximately 250 new jobs and generate approximately $30 million in revenue for the city. The property includes retail space and out parcels for restaurants or independent stores. No potential tenants were formally announced, but the developers said they were currently in talks with several potential tenants.

In other business, the council also:

•approved an ordinance that allows police officers to ticket train conductors who block roadways by stopping their trains for non-emergency reasons for more than 10 minutes.

•amended the budget to include a $36,076 salary for the newly-created fire captain position. The council also named Joe Thomas to that position, promoted Shawn Watkins to Lieutenant and Brad Cantrell to Apparatus Operator. The council also hired David Uselton as a fire medic to fill a vacancy in the department.

•approved the lease purchase of a new vehicle from the state bid for use by the mayor.

•approved streetlights at Pine Meadow and Fieldstown Crossings.

•hired Luke Green and Andrew Branham as part-time laborers for the Park and Rec and Public Works Departments respectively.

•hired Grace Posey as a crossing guard.

•recognized Police Officer Terry Crumpton for his work for the Torch Run and Special Olympics. Shirts to raise money for the effort are currently available for $15 at the police department.

•named the week of May 15 as Police Officer Week and the week of May 21-27 as Public Works Week.