Red Bay | Some city residents have begun receiving letters in the mail advising them to clean up or repair their properties. It’s the first wave of directives recommended by Red Bay’s new Beautification Committee.
“This is the first of many forthcoming recommendations you’ll receive from the Beautification Committee,” Mayor Charlene Fancher told members of Red Bay’s City Council during last week’s meeting. “They’ve been doing a lot of work.”
The committee members have been reviewing properties all around the city and have compiled a list of priorities. Dean Hubbard has then reviewed the properties and gone back to the committee with his recommendations on what needs to be done.
“This has been long overdue; I think you all would agree,” Fancher said.
A list of recommendations was presented and letters were prepared for the property owners. Letters have been sent by certified mail and will allow 45 days for the situation to be remedied.
In other news from last week’s meeting, the city learned it did not receive grant funds for needed improvements at Red Bay’s family fun park. However, the council is still facing the requirement to make improvements at the facility.
Fancher told the Council that two representatives of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) toured the fun park in February and has submitted a list of improvements that need to be made, including building a ramp at the pavilion and signage updates.
Council member Brad Bolton expressed concern that ADECA was going to require the city to make costly replacements of some equipment without grant funds to assist, but Fancher said it appeared repairs were all that were in order and not replacements.
In other action, the Council:
• Approved the purchase of a 1/2-ton pickup for the city from the equipment fund and agreed to seek bids on financing a one-ton dump truck to pull the city’s exactor.
• Moved Tim Farris from part-time temporary employment on the city’s garbage truck to full-time temporary.
• Approved a series of teacher requests from the city’s Education Fund, including awarding $25,000 for repaving and striping the track at Red Bay High School.
“We’re the only school in the county that has a track (like this), but even more than that it’s open to our citizens who use it year-round,” Councilman Mike Kennedy said. The total project is about $36,000; $30,000 for paving and $6,000 for striping. The remainder of the funds would be garnered from the Franklin County Board of Education and possibly from the Franklin County Community Development Commission. The city agreed to award the money as a donation to the board of education.
