30 Minutes with Mayor McCamy

Clarion Top News

Friday, 26 February 2021 10:24

by Martha Smith

In keeping with a commitment to resurface streets, Mayor Jim McCamy and City Engineer Josh Little recently sat down with the City Council Paving Advisory Committee and Jim Green from the Water, Sewer and Gas Board (WSG) to discuss a list of streets and roads in Scottsboro that need paving, identifying some of the worst for wear in order of condition, as well as consideration of WSG projects. Currently, Little is assembling paving packages of streets from the list that also intersect, are adjacent or very near to the listed streets that also need work. This will keep the contractor from having to move their equipment, allowing several streets to be resurfaced without having to redeploy, cutting down on time and cost.

McCamy stated, “Once City Council looks at what he puts together, upon approval, the jobs will be put out to bid.”

Regarding the ATRIP-II Grant the city was awarded for County Park Road and Highway 72, it will be combined with funds from the Safety Grant Scottsboro was awarded in 2019. This $2.4 million project includes closing crossovers, changing the sequencing of signals, adding secondary turn lanes, and adding approximately 700 feet of frontage road on both sides of US 72. Recently ALDOT reallocated the funds from the 2019 Safety Grant to another project that was ready to go at the moment, moving the Safety Grant funds for later in the year.

“This doesn’t mean we won’t get the funds; it just means that ours is going to be delayed,” McCamy stated. “We’re going to be working with ALDOT to get this bid as soon as possible. Mr. Little and I have a meeting with ALDOT to ask if they can help us move forward with bidding the ATRIP money in June, so we can get started. We need to wait until that interchange is completed before we try to resurface County Park Road. It doesn’t make sense to tear up new pavement until that interchange is fixed. We’re trying to do everything we can to avoid having to cut a newly resurfaced street.”

The City is nearing completion of the ADECA grant to help remove and clear a number of blighted structures within the city. Several owners of these properties reconsidered participation in this program and that created opportunities for other structures to be added. McCamy recently sent revised paperwork to TARCOG, requesting ADECA approval to add a few more structures to the grant. Two to three additional structures will be hopefully approved to be added.

Zoning ordinances have also been under review. Mr. Little has completed the recommended zoning changes and is preparing packages for the Council to review. McCamy hopes for Council’s approval of the changes by the middle to the end of March, allowing the city to move forward with consulting contractors for input on how to make Scottsboro more business-friendly.

The Mayor also stated, “We’re trying to be transparent and inclusive with everything we’re doing, to make sure we do what we need to do. That’s not something you can really write about – that’s something people need to see.”

McCamy also expressed hope for the patience of Scottsboro’s citizens as this time of year does not allow for paving or resurfacing. As soon as weather allows, the projects will begin, and the city will already be looking down the road to the next two to five years and assembling a comprehensive resurfacing plan.