Malia Riggs
Elmore Autauga News
The Street Drainage and Lights Committee met Thursday afternoon and covered a myriad of local topics to the City of Prattville. These included upcoming street paving projects, and particularly the rapidly deteriorating roads of the Candlestick neighborhood.
Prattville City Engineer Robby Anderson stated that there is a process in which the city and engineering department determine when and where the next paving projects will occur.
The process starts with input from the public that are recorded in a file throughout the year. Engineering has a comprehensive ranking system of all the streets within the city limits, Anderson confirmed. Anderson also said that the goal for every street is to have a grade above 70.
The comprehensive plan is fully adjustable, Anderson explained, and is really based off the need, how fast a street is degrading and the funding available.
The funding for paving projects comes from the gas tax revenue, and if the revenue does not meet the amount needed, then it’s supplemented from the general fund, Prattville Finance Director Daniel Oakley stated.
In speaking of older neighborhoods within Prattville, Mayor Bill Gillespie stepped forward and asked for guidance and support from the committee regarding the Candlestick, Brandywine and the Hilltop Reserve neighborhoods.
Gillespie stated that the roads have become extremely dangerous to travel on, and the current roads may not support public safety and emergency vehicles. Not only are the roads becoming increasingly dangerous there is also flooding and groundwater issues.
“We’ve had a lot of complaints from the residents that live there, both inside the city and outside the city, that they need some help,” Gillespie said.
The issue is, parts of these neighborhoods are within the corporate city limits of Prattville, and some are outside of the jurisdiction. Gillespie also stated that a portion of either Hilltop or Brandywine has not been zoned properly for that type of neighborhood and staff have been working with the owners to annex that area.
“I don’t know what the solution is going to be to this, but it does need to be addressed, and we are going to help our citizens. Basically, you’ve got to go through the city portion to get to the county portion,” Gillespie said.
There was further talk of getting city lawyer Andrew Odem involved to ensure each step forward is taken with calculation and is legally correct.
“Brandywine has not been repaved in years. There were some pretty major washed-out places. I won’t even call them potholes, there were some craters in the road and we would have to maneuver off the road through grass to get an ambulance to a residence,” Prattville City Councilmen and member of the Street, Drainage and Lights Committee Michael Whaley said.
Whaley retired as Deputy Chief from the Prattville Fire Department where he had a 27-year career.
Gillespie urged the committee and engineering department to get with other city staff, to make a trip out there to see first-hand, and go from there.
