by Dwight Turner

Area motorists traveling along Third Avenue in Ardmore will notice that the street is much improved, due to the completion of a repaving and striping project. The project, which makes travel along the busy street easier for Ardmore residents, was the subject of a brief report delivered to the Town of Ardmore, AL Mayor and Town Council on Monday night, May 14.

“All of the paving and striping has been completed,” stated Street Superintendent Terry Barkley. “The contractor did a great job with all aspects of the project and we have not heard any complaints from the neighboring residents.”

Councilwoman Mary Hobbs added that she had received numerous positive comments from local residents on the new look of Third Avenue. Barkley went on to add that the project met or exceeded all expectations.

In other business, the council approved the purchase of 12 light poles at a cost of $6,800. According to Barkley, the poles were taken down from the tennis courts at Calhoun Community College due to a renovation project. The poles are earmarked for use at the Alabama Park sports field and at the new sports field at John Barnes Park on the Tennessee side.

Barkley added that work on the lighting at the sports field at the Alabama Park is on schedule.

“The new poles are there and are painted,” reported Barkley. “They will be put up this week and all lighting should be in place by the end of the week.”

Barkley stated that the trenching for the wiring of the new lights will be done in-house, but that pulling the wires and hooking the electricity up to the poles will have to be done by Athens Utilities.

“It is hard to get them to give us an exact date,” said Barkley. “But it should be soon. When we finish there won’t be a dark spot in the park. The lights around the walking track and the sports field are of good quality, and they won’t be aimed at any of the nearby houses.”

In other business, the council unanimously passed a resolution appointing Mayor Eugene Shannon as financial officer in charge of executing the paperwork involved in the town’s Community Development Block Grant project, aimed at upgrading the water and sewer system. Shannon reported that the Water and Sewer Board would be responsible for a $56,485 match of funds as per grant guidelines.

In a final matter, the council unanimously approved an amendment to the Zoning Ordinance, which consists of five minor administrative changes, brought about by the fact that the old ordinance was out of date.

The next scheduled meeting of the town council is on Monday, June 11 at 6:30 PM.

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