30 Minutes with Mayor McCamy

Clarion Top News

Wednesday, 13 October 2021 08:20

Mayor McCamy sat down to talk about paving going on in Scottsboro. According to the mayor, milling has begun on Bob Jones Road as of early last week. Once milling on Bob Jones is complete, it will begin on Anderson, after which, resurfacing will begin on both roads.
“One thing we ask of the residents is to have patience because it’s going to be a little bit of a challenge and kind of messy with all the weather we’re dealing with,” the mayor stated. “But we want to do it right. And it’s pretty rough right now. I drove it yesterday, and it’s going to be that way for a few weeks. The weather is going to determine what the timeline is.”

The mayor also expressed thanks to Scottsboro City Council members for approving the funding for such an extensive project, stating a bid has already been accepted for County Park and Roseberry. This next paving project will be tackled once Bob Jones and Anderson are complete. Once again, the timeline will depend on the contractor and the weather.

Scottsboro was recently awarded the EPA Brownfield grant at $600,000 that officially went into effect on Friday, October 1, 2021. The City has compiled a list of sites the EPA is currently researching to allow for Phase I environmental studies on those sites. These studies show whether the city can develop on certain sites with no detrimental effects to the surrounding environment or to any incoming industry. They also can determine if something must be done before any developing is done, especially on sites that used to house other industry.

“Obviously if the Phase I doesn’t yield anything of concern, then that’s great. But if it does, we’ll also be able to fund some Phase II environmental studies, but a little more extensive to assess,” the mayor stated. “We’re looking forward to that so we can get some other things going in Scottsboro. It’s going to help us determine pricing and what we can and can’t do and what we need to do.”
Scottsboro was recently chosen to attend the Alabama League of Municipalities’ Economic Development Academy. Using a pilot program, the league chose 30 different municipalities across the state, with only two representing North Alabama.

“We were very excited to be accepted into this. It’s a really good opportunity for us to be better prepared and figure out how to be better prepared for growth. We’re looking forward to attending the sessions to figure out the best way to navigate the opportunities that we’ve got,“ Mayor McCamy stated.

Main Street Scottsboro recently set up a meeting with some of the downtown business owners last week. Main Street’s Katie Kirkland stated, “We wanted to see, with everything we’re doing downtown, how it’s impacting them, how it’s helping them. It’s important we get that feedback and hear their ideas.”

Main Street plans to have these meetings regularly to get these business owners engaged and have a better understanding of what is working, what isn’t, to ensure these efforts are actually beneficial to them.

The mayor stated, “I was really glad to see that they’re going to do that. It will be good input for us as far as what is helping them. I think that was a good step in trying to do what we need to do. They had several show up, so they’re going to try to pull in some additional business owners.”

by Martha Smith