Haleyville plans to apply for Rebuild Alabama Act Grant

HALEYVILLE - With no ATRIP II money coming in this cycle of the new program, the City of Haleyville is seeking out other avenues to obtain money for road repairs.
The Haleyville City Council voted to apply for a Rebuild Alabama Act Grant during its Oct. 23, meeting.  The Rebuild Alabama Act Grant derives from the recently imposed gas tax.  The act has a cap of $250,000 to be used for street resurfacing and does not require matching funds.  However, according to city engineer Calvin Cassady, every town, city and county in the state is competing for the grant funding, so he recommended to the city to show matching monies would be available for the project the city would submit for the grant funding.
The Alabamian was given a letter from Cassady to the City of Haleyville showing five different projects he had been looking at on behalf of the city, projects for which the grant money could be potentially used, if received.  Out of the five projects, Cassady recommended to the city to pursue the grant funding for Brookhaven Subdivisions I and II.

Cassady gave several recommendations for why the Brookhaven subdivisions were best suited for the grant request.  The road surface in the Brookhaven Subdivision is deteriorating very quickly.  Many new pot holes could form in the subdivision over the winter if the weather is cold and wet.  Also, Brookhaven currently has 66 residents that use the streets daily.
Other roads reviewed by Cassady as potential fits for the Rebuild Alabama Grant Act were 15th Avenue from Highway 195 to 28th Street; 30th Street from Highway 195 to Newburg Road; 11th Avenue (Kelly Hill Road) from Highway 13 to Newburg Road and roads within Hilltop Subdivision that have not been recently paved.

For the Brookhaven I and II potential project, Cassady believes that a good estimate for the projet will be $350,000, which will include repairing some drainage issues and resuracing the streets.  The amount will also include engineering fees.
In other business, council member Blue Russell was appointed to the Haleyville Water Board for a one-year term.  Russell was not in attendance for the meeting that night, and council member Drew Thrasher abstained from the vote.

The next meeting of the Haleyville City Council will be Monday, Nov. 18, at 5:30 p.m. in the courtroom of Haleyville City Hall.  All interested persons are welcome to attend.