BY SARAH STEPHENS
ELMORE/AUTAUGA NEWS
The City of Millbrook has applied for up to $500,000 in a Community Development Block Grant that, if approved, help to construct a new Welcome Food Pantry for the city.
A public hearing was held last week for the possible funding at the Millbrook City Council meeting.
Leslie York is with the Central Alabama Regional Planning and Development Commission (CARPDC), and led the public hearing. She also explained how the funds became available.
“One of our primary duties is to assist our municipalities and local governments in finding grant dollars. The CDBG program is a grant that comes around annually,” York said. “This past year we had Covid money that they put into the grant program. The money was originally designated to go to counties throughout the state. Believe it or not, there were some counties and entitlement communities that did not apply for that money. So, it left a small pot of money remaining and the state decided to open that up and have a competitive grant process. So, this particular program has about $7 million allocated and the maximum you can request is $500,000.”
Preliminary discussions for this money, should Millbrook receive the grant, is for a new Welcome Center building and food bank but other projects can also be considered.
Walt McNeely is the assistant director for the Welcome Center and spoke before the council.
“The Welcome Center services an average of 250 to 300 people a month. We help them to provide food and substance. That is what we are here for, to serve you and the community,” McNeely said. “As you know the building is old. It has no insulation at all. We have been adding as we can. The city has expressed a desire for us to move. The inside of the building is a lot to maintain. We are looking forward to being considered for this grant.”
There is a low and moderate income requirement for projects considered for these funds and that is one reason the Welcome Center is being considered. They meet that requirement. Potential projects must be submitted by Nov. 1.
Should the funding become available, it is expected the new Welcome Center would be located where the old, dilapidated former police department now sits. That property is already owned by the city, and is adjacent to the new Senior Center currently under construction.
The old police department has not been used, other than for training and storage, since the new police department and municipal building was built across the street on Grandview Road.
The plan has always been to eventually demolish the old department, and construct storage facilities behind the new Police Department.
If the funding comes through and the Welcome Center is the recipient, the building where they are now located would be preserved. After all, it sports the brand new mural on the south side of the building that has become a popular photo spot. It is the first of at least six murals planned for the future downtown.
The City purchased the Welcome property two years ago when officials learned it was up for sale.
“We wanted to purchase that property because the fear was that if a new owner came in, they would force Welcome out, or perhaps raise the rent and impact Welcome’s budget to provide services,” City Council President Michael Gay said. “The services that Welcome offers to our residents are far too valuable.”
Once the city acquired that property they struck a sweet deal for Welcome. The organization no longer has to pay rent, and is only responsible for utilities and their operating costs. But there is definitely a need for a new building for the facility, to be able to improve and even expand their services.
And all of this is part of a larger, master plan for the downtown area of Millbrook. The city is expecting grant funds to be announced soon for the expansion of the Creekwalk. More improvements are being discussed for the Village Green Park area as well.
“When you look at the master plan for downtown, you are talking about a 10-year plan,” Gay said. “But we have already taken some extremely important first steps.”
Other work has also started in the area, with a focus on derelict properties. The city passed new ordinances last year that directly relate to derelict property throughout the city. Many of those buildings and properties are along Main Street and are being addressed.
Owners of those buildings/properties have been notified by the city that actions must be taken to either correct the issues, or the buildings could come down. We will focus in the near future on where those buildings are located, and what plans, if any, are in place for the future.
NEWS ABOUT THE WELCOME FOOD PANTRY:
The Food Drop for October will be held on Thursday, Oct. 28 in the parking lot of A Climate Control Storage on Main Street. It lasts for approximately two hours. Brookwood Baptist Church is sponsoring this event.
We appreciate our returning Volunteers and always are in need of additional Volunteers to help unload, set-up tables and distribute the produce as the families drive between the tables. Volunteers are requested to arrive between 07:15 and 07:30 and we normally about 10:30
To participate in the Food Drop, one must be a resident of West Elmore County and register with the WELCOME Food Pantry on Main St Millbrook the 21st, our address is 3253 Main St, Millbrook, AL 36054 We are open on Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Note there will not be a Food Drop in November due to Thanksgiving falling on the fourth Thursday.
Welcome Food Pantry is located at 3253 Main Street Millbrook, AL 36054.
Welcome, Inc. is Millbrook’s only Food Pantry serving the people of West Elmore County. Open every Thursday from 8am – 2pm. Welcome is a 501c3 non-profit organization. We help over 250 families per month. We love your clients and our volunteers!
If you are needing assistance please send us a message requesting to be contacted Please provide your name contact number so we may call you back
You can message the Welcome Food Pantry on their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WelcomeInc
The Phone number is (334) 285-0150.
Their email is welcome.millbrook@gmail.com
