Andalusia Star News
Shown in red is the proposed route of the new sidewalk. | Artist's rendering
The City of Andalusia Tuesday authorized Civil Southeast Engineering to pursue a grant for the installation of sidewalks on the east side of town.
Jeremy McMath of Civil Southeast addressed the council with the proposed plan, which would extend sidewalks down Stanley Avenue to Andalusia Memorial Cemetery, and from Stanley Avenue down Lindsey Bridge Road to the intersection of Maple Street.
The estimated project cost is $538,073, of which the city would contribute $143,854, if the grant is approved.
McMath estimated actual work on the project would be two years away, if the grant is approved. A similar grant was submitted last year, but was not funded.
McMath also updated the project schedule for sidewalks on the west side of town, which have been funded. Once the state approves the final engineering plan, he said, bids can be let this summer, and the project will begin in the fall. It should be completed by Feb. 15, 2016, he estimated.
In other business, the council:
• Transferred the beverage license of Boland Lanes to a new owner.
• Accepted Walker Electric’s low bid of $21,717 to
• Agreed to contribute $1,500 to the Alabama Junior Rodeo Association, which will hold its finals in Andalusia in June.
• Awarded a three-year cemetery maintenance contract to Deep South Lawn Service.
• Approved the abatement of weeds on three properties, including 407 Montgomery St., a vacant lot on Fletcher Road, and lot on 222 Crescent St.
• Approved a hazardous building abatement for property at 236 Smith Street. The city will tear the structure down.
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
WKNI TV 25
The Andalusia Police Department surpassed its $10,000 Relay for Life goal by more than $2,500 on Friday with their seventh annual Arrest a Friend event.
More than 300 warrants were signed and delivered to area residents who had to make bail. As of Monday, the APD Relay team had collected $12,531.
The American Cancer Society’s annual Relay for Life raises funds for cancer research.
Chief Paul Hudson said he would like to thank all that participated and the business owners who allowed the officers to come into their business and “arrest” their employees while on the clock.
“Each year our success is owed to our community,” Hudson said. “If it were not for the men and women in Andalusia and Covington County supporting our efforts in fundraising for the American Cancer Society, our department would not be able to make this donation. Our officers donated their off day, my administrative staff worked diligently to organize and prepare for the day’s events, and several of the wives from the ‘Ladies Behind the Blue’ took time away from their jobs to help out.... READ MORE>
Do you have any unwanted, unused, or obsolete electronics?
A good way to clear up some space and to help save the earth is to take the electronic devices to the Andalusia Electronics Recycling event next Fri., May 1.
The fourth-annual e-recycling day is sponsored by the City of Andalusia, AHS Key Club, Alabama Clean Water Partnership and C E & E Solutions.
Janet Wofford, facilitator with the Alabama Clean Water Partnership and event organizer, said the purpose of the event is to collect obsolete electronics, unwanted electronics or things that are no longer working. Additionally, it’s a day that highlights litter awareness.
“We want to dispose of them responsibly,” Wofford said of the electronics. “This will keep people from throwing things out in creeks and it will also save space at the land fill. Most of them are big and bulky.”
This year’s event will be held from 8 a.m. until noon at the City of Andalusia’s Recycling Center on Progress Drive, off of Sutton Road
Items that can be recycled include computers/laptops, televisions, copiers, printers, fax machines, scanners, stereo equipment, keyboards, mice, peripherals, VCRs/DVDs, telephone systems, cell phones, cameras, wireless devices, microwaves, communication cables, medical electronics, servers, typewriters, CD and tape players, electronic games, UPS’s, word processors, modems, pagers and PDAs, radios, camcorders, answering machines, VHS tapes and CDs, to name a few.
The three previous events collected a total of some 30,000 pounds of unwanted... READ MORE>
Andalusia Star News
The City of Andalusia had a banner year, financially speaking, in fiscal year ending 2014.
That’s the message CPA Ken Odom delivered with Rabren, Odom, Pierce and Hayes’ audit of the city’s finances for the most recent fiscal year. Odom said the city is in a “sound financial position,” and echoed previous comments he made that increasing city sales taxes in 2013 was the right thing to do.
Highlights included:
• Total general fun revenues of $16.9 million, or $2.1 million more than the previous year. The 2014 fiscal year was the first full year of a new city sales tax. Taxes collected by the city actually increased by $2.8 million, but that number was offset because the city collected less monies for licenses and permits, and fines and forfeitures.
• At the same time, the city cut general fund spending by $933,511.
• In 2014, $1.75 million of debt was retired.
City Clerk John Thompson explained that the council has set a goal of having a reserve fund of at least 15 percent of annual expenditures, or $2 to $2.5 million.
“At the end of 2014, the city had in excess of $2.5 million in unrestricted cash,” Thompson wrote in the management letter accompanying the audit. “While not all of this amount was able to be set aside as a reserve fund, the city continues to improve its cash position and anticipates a substantial increase by the end of fiscal year 2015.”
Mayor Earl Johnson echoed those comments.
“Halfway in to 2015, we are looking even better,” Johnson said. “A lot of work has been done.”
In his management letter, Johnson wrote, “By conservative estimate, Andalusia has witnessed an unprecedented level of level of reinvestment, $225 million, both public and private, in infrastructure and strategic improvements, since 2000. This represents an effort to rebuild Andalusia with improvements in streets, sidewalks, schools, ball fields, parks, cultural arts facilities, high efficiency manufacturing equipment, office space, aerospace infrastructure, health care service, retail and other commercial applications.”
Johnson said the reinvestment signals a commitment to the future, and demonstrates that private investors re confident in the leadership and direction of the city.
The council’s bold decision in 2013 to increase sales taxes has paid off, he wrote.
“By the end of FY 2014, we had enough in our reserves to pay for our match for the South Three Notch Street Project, and contributed more than $1 million to Andalusia City Schools to complete new Junior High School and sixth grade buildings on the Andalusia High School and Andalusia Elementary School campuses,” he wrote.
Johnson told council members Tuesday that all of the plans for the South Three Notch project are in the ALDOT division office in Troy, and will soon be forwarded to Montgomery.
“What has held it up, is we were trying to get a piece of right-of-way we needed,” he said. “It will be a nicer finished project than it would have been without it.”
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News