TALLADEGA Talladega city clerk Sue Horn, Public Works director James Swinford, City Councilmen Charles Pope, James Armstrong and Eddie Tucker and council president William Clark met Tuesday with Steve Fleagle, the administrator for the McMillan Street/John D. Hill drainage and renovation project, to discuss the final steps necessary to close out the grant.Money for the project was first awarded to the city in 1998, as a community development block grant valued at $600,000. The city is to provide an equal match for the state funds. The main purpose of the project is to construct a large retention pond, similar to the one built on Avenue H with Federal Emergency Management Agency funds, designed to ease flooding problems during heavy rains. During drier weather, the bottom of the pond will be grassy and can be used as a public park.
In addition to the pond/park, the grant adds or renovates streets, sidewalks, sewer and water lines and possibly some homes in an area that includes not only McMillan but also Cobb, Brown, Sunset and Mary streets and Johnson Avenue.
Work on the main portions of the project are "99 percent plus complete," Horn said. "The biggest thing we have left to do is offer to rehabilitate houses for certain eligible homeowners."
Approximately $130,000 is budgeted for this portion of the project. The money must be used to bring the houses up to the city's building codes, and cannot be used for cosmetic or aesthetic improvements, according to Horn.
Homeowners must show that they are in the low to moderate income range, which means an income of no more than $24,000 per year for an individual, $27,850 per year for a family of two, $31,300 for a family of three and $34,800 for a family of four.
If the homeowner is a resident of the house to be renovated, they will be responsible for a 25-percent match of the overall cost of the renovations. If the owner rents the property to someone else, the owner is responsible for a 50-percent match. Vacant or abandoned properties are not eligible.
The owner must put up matching funds before the contract is let.
Older mobile homes are also not eligible for renovation. Horn said she was not certain about newer mobile homes, but added that even if they were eligible on one score, most of them would probably be up to code already.
The project map shows approximately 40 homes in the area covered, but Horn pointed out that of these, "several of them are newer homes that are already up to code, some of them are vacant, some are older mobile homes, and there are even a few that the city has already condemned and demolished. What the council has decided to do is to determine the interest of the residents before we proceed. If the interest isn't there, or if the interested residents are not able to put up the matching funds, we can delete this portion from the overall project."
Horn and Pope, whose district includes the project area, will begin making first contact with residents this week.
"I'm preparing letters to go out, and then we'll be going door to door," Horn said.
Applications are also available at city hall.
For any residents who are interested, a total inspection of the home must be performed first, followed by the filing of various reports and letting the renovations out to bid.
As for the rest of the project, very little work remains to be done. The contractor will be responsible for grassing and regrassing and replacing traffic signs, while the city will be responsible for restriping the crosswalks and removing downed trees.
"Mostly it's just clean up, dressing up the landscaping," Horn said.
Pope said the final inspection of the area with the project engineer (the firm of Goodwin, Mills and Caywood) and the administrator would probably be arranged by later this week.
After completing the final walk-through, the city will also have to take up the issue of cost over-runs.
According to the summary change order report, these over-runs represent a net increase of $45,000.
"The total increase was actually $70,000," Horn said. "But those were counterbalanced by $25,000 worth of under-runs."
Most of the items listed in the summary are previously approved changes or additional materials.
The project was a centerpiece of both of the late John Hill's successful bids for the Ward 4 City Council seat. The project was renamed in his honor when Hill died of cancer in February.
Hill cited the importance of this project as one of the reasons he did not give up his seat on the council after being diagnosed with inoperable cancer in June 2002.
His widow, Jan Hill, similarly cited the completion of the project as a priority when she agreed to fulfill her husband's unexpired term after his death.
