By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Bethel Road from the Hartselle city limit to Bethel Baptist Church will be resurfaced and restriped as part of a larger project on the road to be funded by Morgan County District 2.
The city council has agreed to appropriate $33,500 to do the work. The money will come out of a State Capital Improvement Fund, which has a current balance of about $85,000.
Mayor Dwight Tankersley recommended the resurfacing project after he met with District 2 Commissioner Ken Livingston and received a quote on what it would cost to repave the portion of the road that is inside the city limits.
"If would cost $33,500 to resurface that portion from the city limit to Bethel Baptist Church, which is in very bad condition and $101,000 to go all the way to East Main Street," Tankersley said. "My recommendation is that we resurface the road to the church and hold up on the other part. The project would not interfere with school traffic at F.E. Burleson Elementary."
Livingston said he will chip seal the 1.5 mile project and cover that with one and one-half inches of asphalt. It will also be striped.
Council members Bill Drake, Mark Mizell and Bill Smelser each wanted to know if the city has other streets that are in worse condition.
"I didn't realize it was as bad as it is until I rode it and took a close look," Tankersley stated. "There's probably one or two in town that's rougher with you consider the cuts that have been made and patched but none as badly cracked."
"I'd prefer that we hold off on resurfacing a street until it gets on the schedule," Smelser said. "But I travel that street on a regular and I'm aware that it's getting in bad shape and needs repaving,"
"I agree that it's getting worse every day and needs to be repaved," Councilman Samie Wiley said.