By Carmen Rodgers
Staff writer
Imagine a downtown area with fresh façade, underground power lines, freshly laid sidewalks, updated lighting, free Wi-Fi and other modern commodities. This is the vision discussed during Thursday’s Budget Meeting.
In the meeting, Mayor Johnny Hammock did not request much, but he did ask the council to consider appropriating funding for matching an upcoming Transportation Alternatives Program grant offered through the Alabama Department of Transportation.
“We don’t have to request the full $800,000 grant with the $160,000 match,” Mayor Hammock said to the council during Thursday’s budget meeting. “You could do a $300,000 grant with a 20 percent match if you wanted to.”
“A TAP (Transportation Alternative Program) grant could be used to redo the downtown sidewalks,” said Mayor Hammock. “The entire downtown project would cost $500,000.”
With hopes of drafting business to the downtown area, Hammock and members of the city council would like to rejuvenate infrastructure in the historical district.
“If we go for the full amount, we could bring the sidewalk all the way down to the high school and build a corridor, if you wanted to spend the full $160,000 and get the most for your money,” Hammock said
This along with the CGBD funds set aside for downtown could bring major change to the area. A drive to renovate the downtown area is something many post-industrial towns and cities struggle with. Neighboring Wetumpka recently began a campaign to entice investors to the downtown area. These upgrades were funded through grants like ALDOT’s TAP grant.
According to the Wetumpka Chamber of Commerce, the city was awarded a TAP grant that will provide $377,000 to fund streetscape and sidewalk improvements for portions of East Bridge, South Main and Court streets. With this TAP grant the City of Wetumpka must match $94,000 in funding.
The City of Wetumpka was also awarded a $450,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs that will go toward the subsurface work, with the city and the Wetumpka Water Works and Sewer Board providing a $200,000 match.
Furthermore, nearly $786,000 in funding has been provided through the Montgomery Metropolitan Planning Organization, with the City of Wetumpka matching $196,000. These funds will be used to fund sidewalk and streetscape improvements for Company Street as well as resurfacing work throughout downtown.
Mayor Hammock has expressed his vision for the future of Tallassee’s downtown area.
“I would like to see Tallassee with better infrastructure,” he said. “I’m talking about better water and gas systems. I would like to have fiber Internet available throughout the city. I would like to have free Wi-Fi hotspots available throughout the city so that under privileged children can access the Internet outside of the classroom. I would like to see better recreation and better facilities for the children. I want to see better and higher paying jobs.”
All of these potential renovations would be channeled through the comprehensive plan that the City of Tallassee, Central Alabama Regional Planning Development
Commission and Alabama Community of Excellence are working to producing.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided funding for this project in the form of a $51,000 Rural Development grant. This is a matching grant and requires a match of $12,500, funding that CARPD has agreed to provide.
CARPDC’s mission is to serve the local governments and citizens of Autauga, Elmore, and Montgomery counties by providing community and economic development programs, projects, partnerships, and funding opportunities.
According to Hammock, there will be several topics of discussion while drafting the plan.
“Comprehensive planning is a process that determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development,” he said. “The outcome of comprehensive planning is the comprehensive plan, which dictates public policy in terms of transportation, utilities, land use, recreation, and housing.”
In order to prepare a comprehensive plan, ACE will assign a team of experts from the ACE Associates Council that will guide the community with an implementation strategy as they work through the program.
Alabama Communities of Excellence is a non-profit organization that helps communities develop strategic and comprehensive plans. This is achieved through partnerships with various expert firms and organizations such as the Alabama Department of Commerce, the Alabama League of Municipalities, and the University of Alabama Center for Economic Development.
A portion of the process will include planning, economic development, quality of life, education/work forces/school system, healthcare, and public safety/emergency services in an assessment of the community’s assets and challenges.
Hammock and ACE volunteers are requesting input from the community that will shape the comprehensive plan. To assist in the process, the ACE volunteers are asking citizens to fill out a survey that will help the team understand the community.
According to Hammock, the survey only takes a few minutes to fill out. The survey is available online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TallasseeR3Y8J5X or pick one up at the1220 Café, City Hall, the Tallassee Community Library or the Tallassee Senior Center.