Hoover council approves grant, hires firm to support expansion of National Computer Forensic Institute

The Hoover City Council on Feb. 17 approved a Department of Homeland Security grant and a professional-services contract to support expansion of the National Computer Forensic Institute, the federal training facility located at the Hoover Public Safety Center.

Mayor Frank Brocato told the council the project "is a really big project that we've been working on for years," and described the institute as "the premier law enforcement training site in the United States." Brocato said NCFI currently brings about 5,000 students a year to Hoover and that plans call for expanding training capacity toward 10,000 students annually.

The nut graf: Council members voted to accept the federal grant that funds the NCFI expansion and to authorize a professional-services agreement with Lemoyne Company LLC; staff and outside consultants described several years of space planning and relocation steps the city has taken to accommodate NCFI growth while maintaining city operations.

Details and discussion: The resolution accepting the grant (identified in the meeting as resolution number 8,380 one-twenty 5) also included a budget amendment for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2025, and authorization for the mayor and city administrators to execute documents needed to administer the grant. The council then approved a separate resolution authorizing the mayor to execute a professional-services agreement with Lemoyne Company LLC for the NCFA/NCFI expansion project.

City staff and a consultant outlined the space-planning history. Jehan Al Daca described the timeline for the 3021 building: the council approved purchase in December 2022 and closed the purchase on Feb. 15, 2023. The city engaged an architect for space planning in March 2023, and in August 2023 the council approved an initial $2,000,000 allocation for renovation of the 3021 building. The architect later provided a tentative renovation estimate of about $3,800,000.

Al Daca said the NCFI's needs — two 50-seat auditoriums, 10 classrooms and additional administrative offices — prompted the city to explore options beyond renovating the 3021 building and to consider Riverwalk space. He said the Alabama Department of Revenue may relocate into Riverwalk space and that, as of December 2024, the department gave verbal agreement that Riverwalk would meet its needs.

Mayor Brocato outlined the economic impact the city attributes to NCFI training events: about 5,000 students now, roughly $2,000,000 in restaurant spending, $3,000,000 in hotel revenue, $1,200,000 in air travel, $963,000 in bus and ground transportation and roughly 26,000 hotel room nights, yielding an estimated $7.5 million annual economic impact. Brocato said the long-term goal is to double student capacity to 10,000 and that the city has been coordinating interior relocations at the Public Safety Center to make room for expansion.

Formal actions: The council took voice votes on both resolutions; the meeting record shows the motions, seconds and a closing voice vote of "Aye" with "The ayes have it. Motion carries." Individual roll-call tallies were not recorded in the transcript.

Ending: The council approved both measures and the mayor and staff were authorized to execute related documents. City staff indicated additional steps remain, including finalized agreements for Riverwalk occupancy and any renovation contracting for the 3021 building should that route be used.