Council requests grant for Academy Street High School renovation
Published 3:00 am Wednesday, July 10, 2019
The Troy City Council is moving forward with applying for grant funding to being a $1.2 million renovation to the Academy Street High School.
The city has not committed any money yet, but approved the grant application for community enhancement funds of up to $250,000. That would leave the city to still find more than $900,000 to fund the rest of the renovation.
Melissa Sanders, planning administrator, said the price estimate is for the first two of four projected phases of renovation.
“These two renovations would bring the school up to be able to be sued as a community center and cultural arts facility,” Sanders said. It would include general renovations to the kitchen and general areas to make the building usable.
Phases three and four would renovate the parking lot and first-floor classrooms.
The council unanimously voted to go ahead with the project and continue seeking funding to reduce the cost to the city for the renovations.
Sanders said there is not a timeline yet for when the work could be done, and it won’t be set until the funding is in place.
Sanders also brought forward the engineering agreement with Goodwyn Mills and Cawood for an airport improvement project at the Troy Municipal Airport. The grant has already been approved of which the federal and state governments would pay 95 percent of expenses for the project.
The project consists of taking out chunks of the runway asphalt that has been worn down, causing potential confusion for pilots in where they are supposed to taxi.
The council also approved for a 13.5 acre property, a portion of Brantley Mobile Home Park across U.S. Highway 231 from the main portion of the park, to be rezoned for commercial use.. Sanders said the plan is for the owners to market the property for sale.
The council took a moment of silence for former city clerk Alton Starling, whose 26-year-old daughter Kelsey has been missing since a boating collision on the Fourth of July.
The council unanimously appointed councilman Greg Meeks to serve on the newly created Southeast Gas Authority.
The council will meet again on Tuesday, July 23 at City Hall. The executive committee will meet upstairs at 4p.m. and the council will convene in the city council chambers at 5 p.m.