By Nathan Prewett, For the Tribune
PINSON, Ala.–The new superintendent of the Jefferson County Greenways Commission (JCGC) introduced himself to the Pinson City Council at its meeting on Thursday and discussed the group’s role in managing local parks.
The JCGC, which was established in May 2023, oversees operations at Red Mountain Park, Ruffner Mountain Nature Preserve and Turkey Creek Nature Preserve in Pinson.
Turkey Creek was previously operated by Birmingham Southern College until it was passed on to Ruffner Mountain, with the college eventually closing.
JCGC Executive Director Carlee Sanford spoke and introduced La Fran D. Marks, who recently took on the role of superintendent.
She explained that the parks were funded primarily by donations but are now being supported by the state, the county, Birmingham, Homewood, Irondale, and Pinson.
“All coming together to say that these things are important and we want to support them and help with resources and just amplify for our community and the lovely spaces that we have,” Sanford said.
Marks, who is returning to his hometown of Birmingham after serving in the military and living abroad for 25 years, thanked the council for their help with Turkey Creek.
“I love nature, I’ve been in nature,” Marks said. “I used to go run at Ruffner Mountain as a young man and now I view it through a different lens. And it’s just exciting to view it through that different lens and to get to know about some of the things that I did not know while I was running up and down those hills.”
Turkey Creek Site Manager Brandon Grisaffi also delivered a report on some of the numbers for 2024, stating that an estimated 29,000 cars entered the park over the year, amounting to roughly 75,000 visitors so far.
The average daily traffic is up from 129 in 2023 to 139 in 2024, an increase of 10 vehicles per day. In 2023 there were a total of 32 programs and in 2024 there were 51 programs, he said, though some are still planned before the end of the year. There has also been increased staffing under the commission.
“We’re able to engage with the public a lot more,” Grisaffi said. “We’ve had naturalists out there on the weekend engaging with kids and really just getting out there and showing people what’s going on. We’ve got a lot of great plans for next summer to formalize some of that stuff and it be even more robust.”
He added that there were two emergency medical service calls this year compared to seven recorded last year and that Turkey Creek’s office is also undergoing a remodeling project.
“It’s going to allow some of the Greenway staff to come out and be more involved with Turkey Creek,” he said. “We’ve got improvements to picnic areas coming up, some new fencing going up, more landscaping, new trash cans We’re constantly working to improve Turkey Creek.”
Leah Davis, director of development at Red Mountain Park, then spoke and credited Pinson’s contributions as she related that she and others, including Pinson Mayor Joe Cochran, had at one time spoken with county officials about management and funding the Greenways.
“We pointed out that the City of Pinson is contributing money to keep this park open,” she said, thanking the council for their help. “That was a really big selling point.”
In other business the council:
- Agreed to give the property owner of 4310 Main Street and his attorney representative a month to create plans to bring the building up to safe standards,
- Approved the demolition of 4302/4306 Main Street,
- Approved the rezoning classification of 8074/8080 Highway 78 to City of Pinson District Commercial Highway to build a convenience store with a car wash,
- Approved a proposal to seek bids for exterior maintenance of the Pinson Homesteads Community Center or PHCC,
- Agreed to provide deputies and EMS services for Pride of the Valley Band Competition,
- Changed the language of the school-designated funds to clarify that school leaders can spend at their discretion, and
- Delayed further discussion on the 2024-2025 budget to the next meeting.
Pinson City Council meets on the first and third Thursdays of every month at City Hall on 4410 Main Street. Live-streamed meetings can be seen on the city’s Facebook page.
Nathan Prewett can be reached at nthomasp6@gmail.com.
