The days are numbered for Hotel Talisi.
The burned out structure will be torn down in the next two months as the Tallassee City Council approved using city funds instead of grant funding to demolish the structure.
“Based on additional stuff falling recently we are going to declare it an emergency takedown,” Tallassee Mayor Sarah Hill said. “Because of the ice and other weather it will continue to be a problem. We hope to be able to start taking it down in February.”
The demolition project had been held up with required procedures using grant funding. With city funds, only the council has to sign off on the matter.
But the Hotel Talisi isn’t the only thing to soon change in downtown Tallassee. The council accepted a bid in the amount of $1,884,752.40 for the downtown TAP streetscape project. The project is more than $1 million over the 2017 estimate of $725,000 where the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) was giving the city a grant in the amount of $520,000 and the city would match $205,000 for streetscape such as sidewalks and lighting. The bid includes about $600,000 in paving for downtown streets.
“We are requesting additional funds from ALDOT,” Hill said. “We accepted the bid contingent on additional funds.”
Hill said if the city receives $580,000 in additional funding from ALDOT, the city would have to come up with another $200,000.
Fitzpatrick Bridge work
Work will begin next month on renovations of the bridge in Tallassee.
Hill said contractors are scheduled to begin work on Feb. 14. Work will include the sandblasting and painting of metal, replacing some of the chain link fencing and some repairs to the driving surface.
“It’s a pretty hefty project,” Hill said. “It will likely close one lane at times as they work. We are still waiting for ALDOT to understand what the traffic flow will look like.”
Recognizing hard work
Hill and the council recognized city employees from the city’s water treatment plant and the public works department.
“They worked really hard on Christmas Eve and during the subsequent week as the water issues related to the cold weather hit our area,” Hill said. “They went above and beyond to help keep the system operating.”
In other action the Tallassee City Council:
• Approved minutes from the December meeting.
• Approved the Severe Weather Preparedness Sales Tax Holiday for Feb. 24-26.
• Opened and closed a public hearing with no comments on moving grant funds for the demolition of the Hotel Talisi back to other dilapidated structures in the city yet to be determined.
• Authorized the Tallassee Fire Department to apply for two grants.
• Authorized the purchase of two 2023 Ford Mavericks to be used by the Tallassee Police Department’s school resource officers. The funds would come from the police department’s capital patrol car fund.
• Accepted a bid for repairs to city hall and the senior center. Councilmember Jeremy Taunton abstained.
• Approved moving the Feb. 14 meeting to Feb. 13.
The next meeting of the Tallassee City Council is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 24.