State funds may boost Brundidge water
Published 8:40 pm Tuesday, December 21, 2010
The Brundidge City Council on Tuesday Mayor Jimmy Ramage the authority to apply for state funding to help make needed improvements in the city’s water system.
Britt Thomas, city manager, said if the city is awarded an State Revolving Fund, funds up to $1.2 million could be available to upgrade the water system in the Caldwell subdivision.
“That area has 4-inch pipes that need to be replaced with six6-inch pipes,” he said. “The funding would allow us to do what needs to be done.”
In addition to bringing the area up to code, the 6-inch pipes would better balance the pressure from the city’s three wells.
The funding also would make it possible for the city to install an Automated Meter Information system for computer generated meter readings, eliminating the need for manual readings.
The council also discussed the possibility of a similar meter reading system for the electric system. The cost to the city would be around $300,000.
Thomas also discussed the progress of the city strategic planning study. He said a final draft should be available in late January.
“The transportation study is complete and available to the council,” he said.
Thomas brought the council up to date on the installation of the LED lights.
“All 130 LED lights are now up and we have taken down the Cobra heads and put them back into inventory,” he said. “There is the possibility of putting some of the Cobra head lights up in some of the dark places in town, such as on Graham Boulevard. That would increase the cost of power but then, we aren’t going to put up 100 lights. We just want to make some of the dark spots brighter.”
The LED lights were made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Brundidge and Fairhope are the first Alabama city’s to complete their projects.
The council expressed appreciation to Aloice Flowers for, once again, providing the city with its community Christmas tree.
The next meeting of the Brundidge City Council will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 4. The meetings are open to the public.