By Sherri Blevins
moc.letsremrafobfsctd@snivelbas
FORT PAYNE, ALA. The Fort Payne City Council met twice last week. On Tuesday, the Council held its regular meeting, approving a tax abatement for The Children’s Place and a Memorandum of Understanding with Fratco; other items were also approved. It met again on Wednesday to address a pressing issue—how to keep shoppers visiting the downtown area.
On Wednesday, the Council held a special meeting to help alleviate the problems associated with the long-awaited sidewalk upgrade project. For over ten years, the City has worked to secure funding to improve the downtown sidewalks and make them handicap accessible. This past May, the City received notification that they were recipients of a Transportation Alternatives Program(TAP) Grant to revitalize the sidewalks from 1st Street to 3rd Street. However, the work on the project did not begin until late September and is expected to take several months. With the upcoming holiday season, the timing of the project is causing problems for downtown restaurants and retail owners, and they are afraid they will lose customers because of the perceived difficulty of shopping downtown.
Business owners and even Council members shared that seeing the orange barrels and construction workers in front of businesses might give the impression that the businesses are closed. Mayor Baine had some good news to share that could help solve the problem, and the Council, the Fort Payne Chamber of Commerce, and Fort Payne Main Street also came up with a plan to alleviate the problem.
Mayor Baine said he received a call Tuesday afternoon letting him know the City had been approved for the second phase of the sidewalk project, enabling the City to upgrade the sidewalks from 3rd Street to 5th Street. He said he was also given permission to combine the two projects, allowing Avery Construction to complete the street it is currently working on and then skip to 5th Street to continue work, which would greatly reduce the number of businesses impacted during the holiday season. Baine said that Avery Construction has been very cooperative in trying to help restaurants and retail owners find a way to keep customers shopping downtown.
During the meeting, Chamber Executive Director Jessica Townsel and Fort Payne Main Street Director Connie Fuller discussed their plans for letting the public know its downtown businesses and eateries are open and ready for business. Townsel explained that the Chamber has already posted videos on social media showing customers how to access the businesses located where construction is currently taking place. She added that her office had been working on a marketing plan to create signage such as “Pardon our Progress” and a business location directory showing customers where to park and gain access to all the businesses. She said she didn’t have an exact number yet as to the cost of the plan, but $10,000 would be an estimate for the new signage and advertising needed to get the word out to the public.
The Council voted to accept the second TAP grant and approved giving the Chamber $10,000 for the marketing plan. They also seemed ready to consider additional funds for the Chamber if needed in the future to ensure everyone knows Fort Payne is open for business.
In the previous meeting, the Council approved these additional items:
• Resolution 2024-33, assessing a lien against James E. Burt, 1001 Sanders Avenue NE, for debris removal (This removal was a $5,400 expense for the City, which will result in a lien of approximately $8,100 against Burt)
• Activity permit for First Baptist Church for closure of 2nd Street SW between Grand Avenue and Alabama Avenue for the Fall Festival celebration on Sunday, October 27, between 3:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
The next City Council meeting is scheduled for Nov. 5, 2024.
