Clanton Council approves hospital grant application
Published 4:04 pm Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Clanton’s City Council voted on Monday to apply for another Community Development Block Grant that would be used to help open a hospital in Chilton County.
A public hearing was opened for discussion about applying for the grant, but no one in the audience wished to discuss the grant, so the council proceeded.
The $200,000 grant could be combined with a separate $200,000 for a combined $400,000 to be used to install a water and sewer system at the site of a planned hospital, off Highway 145 in Clanton.
The water and sewer work has been estimated to cost about $500,000.
The grant the council approved Monday would require a 20-percent match, meaning the city would have to match grant funds with $40,000 of its own.
Clanton’s grant writer, Louise Campbell, was asked if there was an update on a grant for improvements to E.M. Henry Park in West End, but Campbell said there was no update to offer.
The council also revisited a discussion about rezoning a piece of property off Highway 31, across from Goose Pond Park.
The property owner wishes for the lot to be rezoned from business to residential, and the change was approved by the city’s zoning board.
However, the council would have to make the final decision.
It was decided at the Sept. 22 meeting that the topic would be addressed again at Monday’s meeting, but the property owner’s attorney requested that the council wait until the next meeting, on Oct. 27, to make a decision so the attorney would be able to attend.
The council voted 3-2 in favor of tabling the matter until the next meeting, with councilmen Greg DeJarnett and Jeff Price opposed of the delay, instead wishing to go ahead and make a decision on the matter.
In other business, the council:
•Was updated by Councilman Sammy Wilson about the effort to reopen the E.M. Henry Head Start Center. Wilson said plans for renovations have been sent to the state fire marshal’s office for approval.
•Approved the hiring of Cornelius Jenkins in the sanitation department to replace a worker who recently retired.
•Waived the required license fee for the Chilton County Fair, which is being held this week.
•Tabled a decision about a rights-of-way agreement with a company because of lack of details about the proposed arrangement.
•Approved the minutes from the Sept. 22 meeting, and approved paying the necessary bills.