Opelika Council Discusses Possibily of Revoking Springwood Hotel License

The Opelika City Council has tabled a vote until Oct 1 that could potentially revoke the business license of the Springwood Hotel, located at 1002 Columbus Parkway in Opelika, for multiple alleged health and safety violations. The tabled vote decision came after an hours-long public hearing at the city’s Sept 3, 2024 council meeting. 

During the meeting, Opelika City Building Official, Jeff Kappelman said Springwood Hotel had “horrific conditions” in all four of its buildings. Kappelman alleged the hotel had electrical code violations, fire code violations, structural violations, sewage under its floors, plumbing violations, standing water, holes in the flooring, mold, and bed bugs, among other issues. Kappelman showed photos of the damage to the city council he took during his Aug 22, 2024 inspection. 

Additionally, the Opelika Police Department (OPD) said they had had 769 responses to the Springwood Hotel between January 1, 2021, and July 14, 2024. Captain John Hester with the OPD investigations division broke down its calls to the hotel. He said during that three-and-a-half-year period OPD had received six weapons calls, 19 drug calls, four burglary or car break-in calls, 14 disturbance calls, 1 prostitution call, nine assault calls, 18 theft calls, 21 harassment calls, 22 domestic violence calls, and 20 criminal trespass calls.

“The rest would be labeled as miscellaneous calls,” Hester said. “That could be traffic stops, police contacts, things of that nature.”

Hester said there had been 43 arrests at the hotel during the same period. 

Al Agricola, the defense attorney for Springwood Hotel’s owners, BRP Hospitality LLC, found several issues with the City’s claims. Agricola said plumbing work performed by Rotorooter around the time of Kappelman’s inspection accounted for holes in the floors. He also said Kappelman did not go into any of the hotel rooms but rather did his inspection in an access hall that ran between the rooms of each building. Kappelman confirmed he did not go into any of the rooms. Agricola further noted that OPD’s number of miscellaneous calls to the hotel was higher than all the other calls combined. 

The Opelika City Council itself said Kappelman should have notified the fire department when health and safety issues with the hotel had first come up. 

“The fact that he had the ability to shut it down and he did not,” said councilmember Erica Baker-Norris regarding Kappelman,“That gives me some struggle with whether or not the issues and the claims put forward are as severe as what he’s listed.”

The city council told the Springwood Hotel owners and management they had 30 days to hire an architect and structural engineer to look into the alleged issues and file a report back to the city council. The council will then decide if the hotel’s business license should be revoked. The city council must render a decision within 30 days of Tuesday’s hearing.

In other news:

The city council awarded a bid at its Tuesday meeting for drainage updates along North 7th Street in downtown Opelika. The updates are expected to help alleviate flooding problems along 1st Avenue. Flooding in the area has negatively affected several local businesses in recent years. The bid was awarded to South Dade Air Conditioning (SDAC) for $874,962.83

Niagara Bottling is planning a $20 million addition to its plant at 2710 Andrews Road in the Northeast Industrial Park in Opelika. While not much is known at this point, Niagara is expected to acquire new property and machinery for the project and create 18 new jobs. The addition is expected to be completed by June 1, 2026. Total capital investment in the project comes to $20,100,000.00. On Tuesday, the Opelika City Council approved several tax abatements and tax exceptions for Niagra to bring this addition to its plant. 

The city is moving forward with plans to improve Pepperell Parkway between Commerce Drive and Lowndes Street. Changes will include resurfacing, adding sidewalks, and implementing traffic signal improvements. The city council also approved an agreement with CDG Engineering and Associates for the construction, engineering, and inspection needed on the project.

Additionally, the council approved a contract with Sain Associates, Inc. to improve the timing of several traffic lights along Gateway Drive, as well as at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and North 3rd Street. The city will pay Sain $36,000 for the project. 

The Opelika City Council approved a downtown street closure for the National Night Out to be held Oct. 1, 2024.

A downtown street closure was also approved for the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind to hold a 5k in downtown Opelika on Oct. 19, 2024.