Council approves railroad crossing at Tabernacle Road

The Hartselle City Council has approved a resolution that will see the addition of a railroad crossing at Tabernacle Road.  

Mayor Randy Garrison said the crossing will largely be funded by ALDOT.  

“ALDOT thinks they will be able to get 90 percent funding through federal funds,” Garrison said to the council at its regular meeting Feb. 23. “They are asking us for 5 percent and will ask the county for the other 5 percent.”  

“Even though that’s going out of the city, there are a lot of people who live out there who do business in the city,” Garrison added. “Who knows – one day it might be inside the city. I think it would be a good thing if we could get that done, for the safety of the people traveling.”  

The total cost of the project is estimated at approximately $340,000, with the city’s portion coming in at $17,000, according to Garrison. 

Garrison added a budget adjustment will come at a later date, once those numbers are finalized.  

The council also approved a resolution authorizing an application for a no–match grant that would benefit the Hartselle-Morgan County Regional Airport.  

Jeff Johnson, director of development, said the funds would go toward operations and maintenance and would be in the amount of $13K.  

This past year the airport received a similar no-match grant through the federal CARES Act for $30K.  

In other business, the council also:  

–approved a request from Hartselle Fire Department for two grants for radios and a new aerial platform fire truck that will replace the department’s current 1997 model. The city’s total responsibility for these partial match grants will be 74,371.90, according to Toby Houser with HFR.  

–approved a request to declare certain items surplus for the IT department.