A $1 million project underway on the north side of Andalusia is designed to extend the life of the city’s sewerage treatment plant.
Mayor Earl Johnson described the project as “huge.”
“We are relining all of the north side basin, which is basically the north side of town,” Johnson said.
The project began because of the extreme amount of rainwater that was entering the system.
“On average, our sewerage treatment plant processes two million gallons a day,” Johnson said.
On a really rainy day, he said, that number doubled.
“Basically, we were treating rainwater,” he said. “But we have to treat it because it goes back into the river.”
The project involves lining the existing sewerage lines with a material to prevent leaks. But in places where the lines have collapsed, the lines are being dug up and replaced.
“When all of the repair work is completed, we can come back in and repair the streets,” Johnson said. “It would be cost prohibitive to have a contractor do the street work in small pieces.”
This is the first time in the system’s history the lines have been repaired to this extent, he said, adding that when this project is completed, the Utilities Board will begin looking at a similar project in the south basin.
“At the end of the day, this is a project that should have been done in smaller pieces, years ago” Johnson said. “But as with many unpleasant things, it’s been kicked down the road.”
It is estimated a new sewerage treatment plant would cost $40 million.
“This is a huge job, and we know it’s an aggravation to the public,” Johnson said. “We believe it will pay off for the city in the long run, in extending the life of our treatment plant.”
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Andalusia Star News
By: Michele Gerlach
Good news, genealogy fans and car fanatics, the Andalusia Public Library will soon add two new databases to help further your hobbies.
APL Director Karin Taylor said Friday the library will soon add ancestry.com for free for patrons and the app for patrons to have a free download of the Chilton manuals for their smartphone or tablet.
Taylor said the service is available through the Alabama Public Library Service.
“Ancestry.com is very expensive,” she said. “But we don’t have to pay for it, thanks to the Alabama Public Library Service. We are excited to offer this to our patrons.”
She expects to have those free services in place in September.
Taylor said they have also recently started offering rednovels.net through the APL website, which offers a wide variety of books for free to read.
She also lauded apps such as Homework Help and tutor.com.
“Tutor.com offers a chance for people to get a tutor from 3 p.m. until 10 p.m., Sunday through Thursday,” she said.
Taylor said the website is available for kindergarten through college and even adult education and job assistance.
For more information, contact the APL at 222-6612.
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Andalusia Star News
By: Kendra Majors
Andalusia Star News
There’s a whole lotta sidewalk work under way in Andalusia.
In the downtown area, ramps at street crossings are being brought into federal compliance.
Andalusia Director of Public Works Glynn Ralls said that a project from Stanley Avenue to Winn-Dixie is being completed by a state contractor.
“They have 14 sites life to fix,” he said late Tuesday. Federal highway funding is contingent upon sidewalks on state right-of-ways being handicap-accessible.
Meanwhile, on the west side of town, construction continues on an Alabama Department of Transportation grant-funded project to build a new sidewalk from Dunson Street down Prestwood Bridge Road to Cedar Road.
Already, sidewalks have been extended on Church Street and Snowden Drive.
The project was bid at $398,960. The ALDOT grant requires the city to pay 20 percent of the project.
By Michele Gerlach
Andalusia Star News
Click the 
at the top of the map to view street names.
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 is the projected start date for the Street Resurfacing Project. The red markings on the map above indicate the streets that are anticipated to be under construction. The budget will determine the final project, but the Public Works Director has prioritized the list for construction as follows:
- South Cotton Street
- Feagin Avenue to Whatley Street
- South Cotton Street
- Railroad tracks to East Watson Street
- Old Antioch Road
- MLK Jr. Expy to the intersection of Antioch Road and Sutton Road
- Elm Street | Grider Street
- MLK Jr. Expy to Sanford Road
- Packer Avenue
- Cawthan Street to Thweat Street
- Albritton Road
- Stanley Avenue to Adams Avenue
- Through Street
- 300 ft section in front of Cold Storage Plant
- Cadiz Street
- 600 ft dirt section
- East Pass Road
- Dirt section
- Hillcrest Drive
- Snowden Drive to Covington County Commission and Sheriff's Office
- Midway Drive
- Academy Drive to City Limits - and 300 ft portion of Ben Valen Road
- Coffee Street
- Court Square to Historic Central Street
- Second Avenue
- East Three Notch Street to College Street
Standard & Poor’s Rating Services issued an “A” rating for the City of Andalusia’s finances this week.
The rating jumped two notches from the most recently-issued rating, a BBB+, to an “A,” and changed the outlook from stable from positive.
“This was harder than ever to earn, because Standard & Poor in the past two years has strengthened and tightened it’s rating system,” Mayor Earl Johnson said. “It was harder to get this ‘A’ than a previous ‘A-’.”
The city sought the new rating in preparation of a bond issue to fund its portion of debt at the South Alabama Regional Airport. The debt was shared with the City of Opp and with the county, and the three entities have worked for months with the South Alabama Regional Airport Authority to refinance the debt. The city’s portion is $8.9 million.
The city also is refunding a 2009 series bond, without extending the terms, which will produce $500,000 in cash. The mayor said this will go into the city’s reserves. The Series B bonds to be issued total $6.44 million, and a portion will be used on the city’s existing debt for interest rate savings, with approximately $2 million going toward downtown redevelopment projects, according to the S&P report.
“We base the upgrade on structural changes the city has made that have significantly bolstered revenues and the city’s budgetary flexibility,” S&P wrote in its rationale for the new rating. “
Johnson said the improved rating boils down to four things.
“We increased our revenue,” he said. “We reduced our expenses. We increased our reserves to more than 15 percent of our gross budget needs, and we reduced the principal of our long-term debt for $4.3 million in the last three years.
“And we’ve done all of that in a weak economy, as defined by Standard and Poor’s,” he said.
The S&P report states, “We consider Andalusia’s economy weak … The city has a projected per capita effective buying income of 75.2 percent of the national level and per capita market value of $65,165. Overall, the city’s market value was stable over the past year at $596.3 million in 2015.”
The report also states that management has met its informal target of maintaining 15 percent of annual operating expenditures in reserve, and says the city has a “strong budgetary performance.”
The report also praises steps taken by the city to increase revenue, namely a sales tax increase implemented in August 2013.
“This is a red-letter day in Andalusia, Ala.,” the mayor said. “It’s more than just a good credit rating. It means the health of your operation is good when you have an A rating.
“This is made possible by the support of the city council, and our great staff,” the mayor said. “And the people of Andalusia who have supported us while we do this. We’re going to be a better city for it.”
The new bonds are expected to be executed in the next month.
Andalusia Star News
By: Michele Gerlach