Resurfacing project on County Road 42 should begin in May

Published 12:09 pm Tuesday, March 17, 2015

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The Jemison City Council was updated on Monday with a letter from the Alabama Department of Transportation regarding the status of a project on County Road 42.

Jemison Mayor Eddie Reed told the council the project to resurface County Road 42 is scheduled to be let out for contract during May, and there will be an allowance of 90 days for the contractor to complete the project.

“This is something that has caused concern for a lot of people in Jemison,” Jemison Reed said. “We have gotten a lot of calls from residents having issues with this road, and we wanted to let everyone know the status. Each time it rains we have issues on this road and we try to fix them the best we can by patching the potholes, but there is only so much we can do.”

The city’s match will be roughly $200,000 for the project, which is expected to cost roughly $1.5 million.

Reed said many residents have thought the city is responsible for the upkeep of the road, but there has been little the city could do since it is a state project.

“We have been trying to patch the potholes has much as we can, but there is very little we can do with it being a state project,” Reed said. “We are excited that the completion of the project seems to be getting close, and we know when this project is finished it is going to benefit the city.”

Grady Parsons of Living Water Services addressed the council with reports of good water quality and sewer system for 2014 after conducting the city’s annual testing.

The council also voted to pass a resolution adopting a Municipal Water Pollution Prevention Program to be sent to Alabama Department of Environmental Management.

The council also voted to transfer a liquor license from Tony’s B-Mart to the owner of the Jemison Package Store.

Reed also told the council that issues regarding alcohol sales in Jemison had been resolved with a piece of legislation passed by the Alabama Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Robert Bentley on March 12.

“This was something that could have negatively impacted our city if we were not able to sell alcohol, but everything has been resolved,” Reed said. “Now, everything is fine, and we owe a lot to our local representatives for working to get this passed. It took just five days to get the issue corrected and that is truly remarkable.”

Rep. Jimmy Martin of Clanton sponsored the bills, which were deemed necessary after a recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling struck down a state law from 2009 that allowed municipalities of a certain size to hold referendums on the sale of alcoholic beverages even if they were located inside a county that did not allow such sales.

More than 30 cities and towns in Alabama could have been affected by the Supreme Court ruling.