LOXLEY, Ala.  —  The Town of Loxley passed a resolution at Monday night’s meeting to begin the process of applying for an Alabama Department of Transportation 2011 “Safe Routes to School Program” grant for the construction of sidewalks near Loxley Elementary School.

Stacy McKean, a grant consultant with Premier Grants Consulting, LLC in Fairhope, was present at the meeting and said they can apply for up to $150,000 in grant money and the applications are due at the end of November.

According to the resolution, “there is a need for the construction of new sidewalks to aid children in walking and biking to school and if funded, the grant will pay 100 percent of the construction costs for the new sidewalks and the Town of Loxley will be responsible for the costs associated with preliminary engineering, construction inspection and grant administration.”

The ALDOT web site said , “the purpose of  Safe Routes to School Program is to enable and encourage children in grades K-8, including those with disabilities, to walk and bicycle to school; to make walking and bicycling to school safer and more appealing; and to facilitate the planning, development and implementation of projects that will improve highway safety and reduce traffic, fuel consumption and air pollution in the vicinity of schools.”

McKean said the grant should be approved sometime this summer.

In other council business, a motion was passed to appoint Brenda White to the Board of Appeals and Lloyd Wheeler as an alternate to the Board of Appeals and Amy Allen to the Planning Commission.

Mayor Billy Middleton also announced Town Clerk Carol Middleton retired at the beginning of this month after 39 years of service to the Town. Lisa Lawrence, who has worked for the Town for 14 years, was appointed new clerk. Middleton will continue to work part time as needed.