HANCEVILLE – The City of Hanceville held a regular council meeting on Thursday night where many notable new business items were key topics of the evening. A quorum was met with council members Charles Wilson, Greg Baker, Kim Brown, Doug Batemon and Mayor Kenneth Nail present along with City Clerk Tania Wilcox and City Attorney Dan Willingham. Absent from the meeting was Councilman Jimmy Sawyer.
The evening’s agenda included contentious topics such as the Alabama Municipal Insurance Corporation invoice (AMIC), the Forest Drive repaving project and the Romine building. However, rays of hope were provided by Joey Hester from the North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments (NARCOG) and Brenda Carter, one of the owners of a new business in downtown Hanceville.
Hester, NARCOG’s Regional Planning and Development Commission director, will be helping the City apply for a grant which would provide a total of $30,000 for studies, workshops, documentation and plans for improvement in the downtown Hanceville area. The City would be responsible for a $3,000 contribution and NARCOG would match that amount. A public hearing will be scheduled before the July 1 grant application deadline and the $3,000 payment would not be due for approximately a year, which is when Hester estimated the work would begin. Hester cited Falkville as an example; the town was given the grant last year and workshops are now underway.
The AMIC invoice for a $25,000 deductible that is the result of a settled lawsuit is due and the council voted to pay that invoice. The City has already paid approximately $13,000 in insurance deductibles this fiscal year, therefore the total will be brought up to $38,000 in actual payouts opposed to the budgeted amount of $10,000 which was projected to cover the entire year. It was not decided which budget the extra money would be taken from.
Four additional contractors were contacted to submit bids on the Forest Drive project and none responded. Reed, Wiregrass, Stanley and Good Hope Contracting did not submit bids by the deadline, and since the council previously rejected the only offer from the original bid letting, the project died but can be added back to a later agenda if needed. Concern was voiced over the lack of funding for Forest Drive due to the unforeseen cost of the Hopewell Road project.
The council agreed to continue their support of the Hanceville Quarterback Club by advertising in the high school football program and renewing their field sign. Councilman Charles Wilson abstained from the vote due to his membership in the club.
Nolan Bradford, current owner of half of the Romine building, asked for the council to consider selling the back half of the building as well. Bradford has repaired, remodeled and rented out his owned portion and wants the opportunity to do the same for the other portion. The council agreed to advertise and accept sealed bids on the remaining part of the building which it owns. Nail abstained from the vote due to his business relationship with Bradford.
The new businesses housed in the front of the Romine building will be holding their grand openings on Thursday, June 2 with the ribbon cutting at the C Street Café, located at 106 Commercial St. SE, scheduled for 10 a.m. The café is open on Mondays-Saturdays from 7 a.m.-2 p.m.
The Hanceville City Council meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of each month. The work session begins at 6:30 p.m. and the regular meeting follows at 7 p.m. The public is welcome and invited to both. The next meeting will be held on June 9 and the downtown (Main Street/ Historic Downtown Hanceville Revitalization) meeting will be on Monday, June 13 at 6 p.m.
