Summerdale council working with Civil Southeast on numerous town projects

By Jessica Vaughn
Posted 8/26/21

SUMMERDALE - There’s lots going on in the Town of Summerdale. At the August work session and council meeting, Civil Southeast representatives were present to discuss a number of current projects …

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Summerdale council working with Civil Southeast on numerous town projects

Posted

SUMMERDALE - There’s lots going on in the Town of Summerdale. At the August work session and council meeting, Civil Southeast representatives were present to discuss a number of current projects and potential future projects.

Of these projects, the first item discussed was sidewalk improvements being paid for with monies from a TAP grant. The Town of Summerdale was awarded a $400,000 tap grant from ALDOT in summer 2020. The tap grant program is to give municipalities the ability to provide transportation alternatives for connectivity. There’s an 80/20 match involved, and the town’s portion will be spread out over the next few years.

The proposed sidewalks would include West Lee Avenue, 2nd Street, 4th Street, West Broadway Avenue, Hamm Avenue, and Northwest 1st Street going out to the new Miracle League Field. The overall project would connect the Miracle League, the Community Center, the Summerdale Ball Park, the new tennis courts and the Summerdale Town Hall with the rest of the town’s existing sidewalks.

“We got our first review back from ALDOT yesterday on the sidewalks,” said Civil Southeast engineer Alan Killen during the August work session. “We’re going to have a few plan revisions before we issue it for bid, and then we’ll take it back to ALDOT for their final authorization to bid.”

Killen and Mayor David Wilson have done a final ride through of the town to incorporate design revisions. Killen hopes to get the plans to ALDOT for a final approval and certification by the end of August, and to go to bid around Nov. 1. He says Civil Southeast is looking to go to work in January 2022. An added addition to the plans, decorative signs throughout town limits, has been cut due to cost and increased material prices.

A new project Civil Southeast is working on for Summerdale is the Scrap Tire Marketing Program. Summerdale council voted during the August meeting to allow Civil Southeast to apply for a grant that would cover the cost of adding rubber mulch to the playground behind the Community Center.

“When you go and recycle your tires and get new tires, you’re going to see there’s a $1 tax on each tire that you get recycled,” Killen said. “That money is taken, given to the state and they fund recycled tire projects, such as playground mulch.” Civil Southeast will request approximately $48,000 on behalf of Summerdale, with a match from the town of in-kind services including spreading the mulch and providing a border.

The final project discussed during the August meeting was for the consideration of a possible future development: a brand-new railroad themed park inside the Splash Park. This new project is only in discussion phases. Killen presented renderings to the council obtained from the potential vendor for the new park.

“In front of [the council] is just one option, there’s some examples of a train themed playground to give you an idea of what is possible,” Killen said. “You’re looking at about $115,000 worth of equipment in this potential project, with $15,000 of that being grant, so looking at the difference we’re looking at approximately a $100,000 project.”

Killen plans to return to the September meeting to further discuss a playground in the Splash Park. The deadline to apply for the grant is Oct. 1. If the council decides against pursuing the grant for next fiscal year, Killen says they may do so at a later time.