HANCEVILLE, Ala.- The focus at Thursday evening’s Hanceville City Council meeting was on how to best allocate the money expected from the American Rescue Plan. Hanceville is also expecting additional money from a recent settlement from Tyson. Mayor Kenneth Nail presented his ideas and suggestions to which the council supported.
Mayor Nail informed the council, “We found out that you can’t use COVID money to pay against the new senior citizen building because there’s already a federal grant there.” After learning that the money could not be used for the senior center, Nail shifted his focus to the Hanceville Civic Center, which has served as the main location for distribution of food and other COVID-19-related items throughout the pandemic. The civic center is also the location the City of Hanceville uses for storage of PPE and other inventory pertaining to emergency COVID response.
For those reasons, Nail said, “I feel like we could use the COVID money for that building.” The city has spent much of the past year renovating and making major improvements to the civic center and Nail suggested finishing the windows and masonry work, as well as installing central air and heat to the portions of the building that are currently without.
The estimated cost of the final improvements are approximately $65,700. Nail added, “We are getting a lot of compliments on the building. It’s something we can be proud of and now, we can have events in Hanceville where people don’t have to be ashamed of folks from out of town showing up.”
Nail also suggested a couple of drainage projects in trouble spots that are prone to flooding. Nail pointed out that flooding poses a threat to the well head and could potentially compromise the sewer lines if not addressed. The council approved laying new pipe and making other improvements from Blountsville Street to Cagle Street and a portion of Edmondson Road.
The council approved the allocation of the American Rescue Plan money to the improvements.
In other business, the council approved the following:
The surplus of the Hanceville Police Department’s Investigator truck and the purchase of a new truck.
Financing Hanceville Fire and Rescue’s new fire pumper, expected to be ready in September, through Merchant’s Bank and allowing Mayor Nail to sign any related paperwork.
Hanceville has a couple of major events scheduled for September. They will welcome Confederate Railroad and other musical guests to the Hanceville Music Fest and Veterans Memorial Park on Sept. 18. The concert is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. and tickets are currently on sale on https://www.eventbrite.com/.
Kids Night Out is scheduled for Sept. 25 from 6-9 p.m. at C.W. Day Park in Hanceville.
The next Hanceville City Council meeting will be Thursday, Sept. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in Hanceville City Hall. The public is invited to attend.
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