Leaders visit with delegation

Hartselle city officials take time to pose for a picture with Rep. Robert Aderholt during last week’s trip to Washington, D.C.

Mayor says trip will help with projects

Mayor Dwight Tankersley believes the city will reap the rewards of its visit to the nation’s capital last week to meet with the local Congressional delegation.
The city did meet with Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville; Rep. Robert Aderholt, R-Haleyville; Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa; and Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Mobile, during the trip to Washington, D.C. last week.
Tankersley said the city may not receive funding through earmarks, but he said there are programs that will help the city obtain funding for projects.
“The new Congress said they would be eliminating earmarks for at least the next two years,” Tankersley said. “At the same time, they’re in a budget crisis just like everyone else, but there will still be many federal programs that can help us. The only difference is that it will be through a competitive application process instead of earmarks.”
Because the city will be applying in many federal programs, Tankersley added that it was important for the local representatives to know that the city was applying for funding.
“It really helps when they know you’re applying,” he said. “They can make sure that we’re applying in the right programs and they can help us make our application stand out from the thousands of others. If we don’t get the grant this year, then they have a process to see how you can make the application better next year and have a better chance of getting it.”
In addition to Tankersley and the city council members, Hartselle was represented by Chamber of Commerce, the city utilities, Jeremy Nails from the Morgan County Economic Development Alliance and District 2 Morgan County Commissioner Randy Vest.
Tankersley doesn’t know when the city will hear back on its requests, but he believes the city will see some benefits from the visit.