By Lee Weyhrich
PINSON — The Pinson City Council on Thursday held a first reading of a plan to change the name of all portions of a highway that passes through the city in order to cut down on confusion.
Highway 75 currently changes names in the middle of Pinson from Center Point Road to Highway 75. It changes from Center Point Parkway to Center Point Road between St. John Drive and Brumbeloe Drive, meaning that the same stretch of road, within city limits, has three names. Mayor Hoyt Sanders suggested changing the name of the road to Highway 75 to simplify matters. He has already been in discussion with the Alabama Department of Transportation, as well as Center Point Mayor Tom Henderson.
The farmers market may make a move closer to Highway 75 in the future as well. The market, which is currently closed for the winter, has been taking place at the Pinson City Hall parking lot. A location change might not be the only change for the market. The council is considering hiring a farmers market coordinator. The position would be for a “paid volunteer” who could make as much as $100 per week. City employees have been handling the market thus far. Sanders said a designated coordinator would be a welcomed addition.
“The city staff here has done a great job with it, but they — and we — are not really farmers market coordinators,” Sanders said.
Now that Pinson has closed on the Old Rock School property there are plans to move the market there to make it more accessible from the highway, as well as to make more room at Pinson City Hall. Farmers market vendors might not be the only group able to use the Old Rock School property. Sanders said the city might entertain the possibility of renting out part of the old school to tenants. The property might be a good place for a church, as that was what it was most recently used for, Sanders said.
The school is not the only city-owned property that could possibly see potential renters. The council also recently closed on the old railroad hotel building on Spring Street. That property was most recently used as a law office.