Haleyville to receive new aerial photos

HALEYVILLE - Buildings, structures and streets look different in the air, and one often sees these places in a new light when viewing from above. Aerial photography allows people to see places which may be difficult to get to on the ground. Another use for it is assessing taxes and appraising property along with economic development.
Thanks to partnering with the State of Alabama and their statewide imagery program, flyovers were done for the county in 2019. However, Haleyville will be photographed again on a larger scale to show more detail. Plans are to do the flyover between now and mid-March, when leaves begin budding on trees. This will be done to see new structures for taxing purposes and will be available online.
“We use Atlantic for the aerials,”  Dawn Carroll, chief clerk at the Winston County Revenue Commissioner Office, explained. Atlantic is a geospatial mapping company based out of Huntsville and works with all 67 Alabama counties. The cost factor is the main reason why flyovers are not done more often, even though there are places not accessible to assessors.
“We don’t have a boat,” Carroll said. “Some places are gated. (With aerial photos, we) can see if they have steps to the water, a boat dock, a new barn, different things about the house we might not be able to get to if we’re just looking through the gate. It helps us see things we can’t physically get to.”
Another use for the imagery is hunters, who use the maps for hunting purposes.
The total cost to perform the Haleyville flyover is $44,709.61, which was approved during the Winston County Commission meeting Sept. 28. The City of Haleyville approved $5,000 toward the cost July 6.
“Any time we do this, it is beneficial for us in economic development and the recruitment of industries,” Haleyville Mayor Ken Sunseri stated. “It’s an important part of what we’re doing. We use it to locate buildings available for use for industry or retail. It gives us detailed profiles of the buildings. It’s an invaluable tool for economic development and also for future projects and the use of land within the city limits.”