By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
Atmore City Council members heard nothing but good news during their Monday, October 28, meeting, including awarding of $1.4 million in state funds to acquire property that will expand the city’s industrial park and hopefully help pay for repairs related to a drainage problem along one of the city’s most-traveled streets.
The Council also learned that Main Street Atmore will foot the bill for an extensive restoration of the Alley Way on North Main Street, a project that is expected to begin within the next week or two.
The city was awarded $703,246 through the Alabama SEEDS Act to acquire additional property within the industrial park, located off Industrial Drive. The extra acreage will allow the Alabama Department of Commerce to market a unified 180-acre site within the park for businesses and industries that might locate here and bring higher-paying jobs to the area.
Mayor Jim Staff said the intermodal site, which has access to a major highway and a rail line, is ready for occupation.
“The site’s interior is already served by two rail spurs owned by the City of Atmore,” Staff said. “It is shovel-ready for industries, with power, water, sewer, gas, and telecommunications all in place. All preliminary engineering, Geotech, and surveys have been done.
“In short, this site will be at the top of the list of properties offered to industries looking to relocate to the area.”
The city will also receive $700,000 through an allocation by State Senator Greg Albritton of Atmore from the FY2025 appropriations granted by Gov. Kay Ivey and the Alabama Legislature for infrastructure upgrades across the state.
Part of the funding will cover the shortfall that exists in the funding for the Industrial Park Expansion Project; the remainder will be utilized for a Trammell Street drainage project that will hopefully mitigate a situation that evolved from a drainage ditch that runs beneath Trammell. Water has breached the ditch for years and has compromised the foundations of at least three buildings.
City Economic Planner and Grant Writer Chris Walker gave a presentation that also included updates on plans to repair and resurface portions of Ross Road and to replace the wooden, weathered signs for city parks and the local farmer’s market. The current signs will be constructed by Landis Designs and will replace metal ones that will be coated with a surface that resists weathering.
Walker also reported that a plan will soon be implemented to install an EV charging station at Boxcar Willie Park. Two such charging stations will be placed amid the first four parking places past the two handicapped parking spaces as one enters the park off Ridgeley Street. (More details on each project will be published in future editions of Atmore News.)
But the most immediate dose of good news came when Shinora Redmond, executive director of Main Street Atmore, announced that organization is ready to begin the Alley Way project.
“Main Street will pay for it all,” she began before providing details on the restoration. “We’ve gotten a couple of grants, and we have about $50,000 to put into the Alley.”
She said William Smith would maintain the area on an annual basis, including the planting of four-to-six trees in planters. Flooring that matches the planters will also be installed, and plans call for the addition of a hummingbird feeder and the restoration of the artwork depicting the history of the community.
“We are going to redo the frames on the train pictures,” Redmond said. “We want to have a pergola, if there’s money, and possibly solar lighting.”
In other action taken during the meeting, council members:
*Approved a request from Bethany Seventh-day Adventist Church to hold revival services at Boxcar Willie Park during November and December. No one from the church attended the meeting, and no dates or times were provided for the services.
*Approved a resolution to begin negotiations for the purchase of property owned by local accountant Randy Nichols. The vacant building, across from Gregg’s Salon, is one of those damaged by the previously mentioned drainage problem.