Shown is Joey Hester from NARCOG presenting info about the ADECA block grant during the public hearing Thursday night at Hanceville City Hall.
HANCEVILLE – The Hanceville City Council met on Thursday evening following a public hearing held at 6:30 p.m. for the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs’ Community Development Block Grant (CDBG). During the regular meeting, the council approved moving forward with the grant application process with the passing of resolution no. 615.
If approved, the $30,000 grant will provide the city with a tangible plan for improvement for its downtown area. ADECA would provide $24,000, with the City of Hanceville responsible for the remaining $6,000.
“The one good thing about Hanceville is your really active downtown committee that’s already going and meeting regularly with a lot of things going on. So, a lot of towns start cold when you start the project and you’re out there trying to get people to be on the committee. Y’all already have the committee in place and will be ready to rock and roll,” said North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments (NARCOG) Director of Planning and Development Joey Hester.
Hester noted that he has received letters of support from Cullman County Economic Development, Sen. Paul Bussman, R-Cullman, the Cullman Area Chamber of Commerce and Main Street Alabama. Also important was the revitalization which is already underway in the area as the grant will show areas where the town can continue that progress. One idea mentioned was possibly taking advantage of a vacant lot to construct a small park downtown.
In other business, the council voted to reappoint Ms. Melba Grant to the Hanceville Library Board of Directors for another four-year term ending in July 2020. City Clerk Tania Wilcox was named the election manager for the Aug. 23 municipal election for the city.
Fire Chief Rodger Green reported that his department has fielded 61 medical calls, two wreck calls and three grass fire calls so far this month. He also noted that the one structure fire was a home fire that started as a result of a lightning strike.
A medical call was delayed by a few minutes as a result of the department having difficulty finding a home in a poorly addressed area of town. The home’s address was in the 300s, but the home was actually located on the 400 block. It should be noted that the mayor has already spoken to the 9-1-1 director who he says will be coming to Hanceville to help find a solution.
The fire department is having a fundraiser and selling blue reflective address signs with residents’ 9-1-1 addresses printed on them. For $20, the department will have the sign made and will install it at a resident’s home. This is an excellent solution for the often confusing addresses on certain streets in town according to Green and beneficial to all homes in the area.
Road conditions and establishing a working relationship with a contractor who is willing to take on the various road projects continue to be a point of contention with the council
The repaving of a section of road on Forest Drive was back on the agenda due to the original bidder from May deciding to no longer do business with the city. The mayor has been unsuccessful so far in securing a contractor to do a project which is deemed too small to even bid for by larger companies such as Wiregrass and Good Hope Contracting.
“Well, we’ve got a little problem on Forest Drive,” started Mayor Kenneth Nail, “Y’all remember we put it out for bids. We put it in the places that we always put it and got the quote from Mr. Cooper to pave Forest Drive. Y’all decided you wanted to ask some more people so we didn’t accept his bid and tried to do some other things. Mr. Cooper doesn’t feel like he’s been treated fairly and he probably wasn’t but he now has withdrew his agreement to pave Hopewell Road.”
After a lively discussion, no action was taken on the repaving of Forest Drive. The council will now be charged with finding a solution for both the Forest Drive and Hopewell Road repaving projects.
Council member Kim Brown graciously expressed her gratitude to the fire and police departments regarding a family emergency situation last week. “I want to thank the fire department and police department for your response to the call the other night and the way that you handled my mother. You kept her from having a hip replacement. The surgeon said the fact that she wasn’t moved and she was handled very well meant that they could put her hip joint back together with screws instead of a hip replacement. He told me to tell whoever it was that picked her up off the ground and didn’t move her in between that did a really good job. Thank you!”
Council members Brown, Doug Batemon and Charles Wilson were present, along with Mayor Pro Tem Jimmy Sawyer, Nail, Wilcox and City Attorney Dan Willingham. Councilman Greg Baker was absent.
The Hanceville City Council meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month. Work sessions begin at 6:30 p.m. and regular meetings follow at 7 p.m. The public is welcome and invited to both. The next meeting will be held on July 14 and the downtown revitalization meeting is scheduled for July 11 at 6 p.m. The meetings are held at Hanceville City Hall, located at 112 Commercial Street SE.
