By Gary Lloyd
TRUSSVILLE — Construction on Trussville’s greenways project at Civitan Park could begin after July Fourth, according to city officials.
Trussville Streets and Sanitation Superintendent Wayne Sullivan said the job should be let for bid at the end of May. He said construction should begin after July Fourth.
Trussville Mayor Gene Melton said he’s hoping names will be added this summer or fall to the Veterans Memorial Monument.
“We’re prepared to go forward this summer,” Melton said.
The Civitan Park greenway project in Trussville was divided into two jobs in November, Melton said last year. Melton said the first job will involve finishing the parking at the park and landscaping around the Veterans Memorial Monument. The second aspect involves the rest of the site, including linking the greenway from Civitan Park to the Trussville Sports Complex along the Cahaba River.
The city’s portion is 20 percent of the work’s total cost, just over $80,000. The state is paying the other 80 percent.
The Trussville City Council in November approved of spending $16,053 with engineering company KBR to supervise the project.
The $1.7 million greenway project began in April 2012 and was supposed to have been completed in the fall of 2012. The project has been in the works since 1998.
The project is funded with a federal grant and administered by the Alabama Department of Transportation. The city of Trussville has no supervisory authority over the contractor.
Melton spent much of last year’s Memorial Day weekend at Civitan Park as crews from the Alabama Department of Transportation worked to address the problems the Alabama Department of Environmental Management listed in a project status report. Trussville could have faced a $50,000 fine had the problems not been corrected, which they were. The city council in May 2013 approved of paying Cahaba Disaster Recovery up to $25,000 for work it did to clear debris from the Cahaba River on Memorial Day weekend. Melton said at the time that about 768 bales of hay were purchased and spread around the river at Civitan Park.
Prior to that, several Trussville residents at a May 2013 Trussville City Council meeting asked about the project’s status. One called the area surrounding the memorial a “disgrace.”
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.