The Town of Decatur may soon have a new place to store Public Works equipment after the Board of Aldermen voted Tuesday to move forward with a plan to erect a new equipment building in the Decatur Industrial Park.
At a regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, Mayor David Marshall said he looked at the available land in the industrial park and thought the best place for the new building would be near the self-storage facility at the East end of the park.
“That would put them at the top of the hill,” he said. “It’s the flattest area.”
Marshall said that area would meet the town’s current storage needs and offer plenty of room for expansion in the future. However, he said he would like to leave at least 25 feet of space at the back of the property, which boarders the self-storage business.
“If we need to dig a ditch for runoff, I want to make sure we have enough room to get equipment back there,” he explained.
The aldermen agreed the last thing they wanted was for runoff from the equipment building interrupting the self-storage facility. A 25-foot buffer would allow for a small excavator or other equipment to get behind the building to build or repair drainage ditches.
The board voted to move forward with the project and begin construction. Bids for the project had already been accepted pending approval of the location, and City Clerk Brenda Harper assured aldermen the project had been included in the FY19 budget.
Also, on Tuesday, Marshall brought a plan to build a new baseball facility to the board. Settlement money from the BP oil spill was divvied up in the special legislative session in August, he said, which could help pay for the facility.
“The northern counties get $10 million over the next 10 years,” he said.
Applications for the BP money, Marshall said, is highly competitive as “northern” counties is somewhat subjective.
“You have the six counties on the coast, and everyone else is splitting this $10 million,” he said.
Marshall said he was looking at a 15- to 20-acre facility to begin but noted the facilities he has seen in other towns are usually around 40 acres. However, Board Attorney Jason Mangum said soccer fields could easily double as youth football fields. For a phase 1 project, 20 acres would be plenty.
“It’s when you get into a baseball stadium and concession stands that you start getting into the big money,” Mangum said.
Although it was unlikely the town’s application would be approved due to high competition for funding from other counties, the board agreed to come up with a plan for a facility and send in an application.
“It’s worth a shot,” said Alderman Phil Sutphin.
In other business, the Board of Aldermen approved:
Purchasing two radios for Decatur Police Department using JAG grand funds from the police department;
Transferring $406,920 received from tax collections to the general fund; and,
Advertising for bids for pest control at city owned properties.
