By Lee Weyhrich
CLAY — Two resolutions could be the first step to an emergency storm shelter in Clay.
The first, Resolution 2014-62, will allow Mayor Charles Webster to pursue a Federal Emergency Management Agency Hazard Mitigation Grant that will allow a first responder storm shelter to be built at Clay-Palmerdale Fire Station No. 4. The grant is supposed to be for 20 percent of the project, but City Manager Ronnie Dixon said enough funds were available that the grant might cover 100 percent of the project.
The second resolution, 2014-63, will enter the city into a contract with a consulting company called EnCompass360. EnCompass360 will work as a go-between for the Clay City Council and FEMA. According to Dixon, EnCompass360 believes it can get a large enough grant to cover not only 100 percent of the cost of a safe room for 77 people at Station No. 4, but also a second grant for one of the city’s other stations.
EnCompass360 charges a $7,500 fee for this service, which is reimbursable if the grant is approved.
In other news, a solution may be in the works for another public safety concern. The council recently purchased traffic cameras, only to find out later they were not allowed to connect to the existing power supply at the intersection of Old Springville Road and Chalkville Mountain Road. Dixon thinks there may be a workaround. There is already an existing power pole on the Texaco property near the intersection. Dixon is in negotiations with the property owner to see if the city may use that pole. If so, the next step will be to get permission from Jefferson County to string the wire for the cameras over the existing traffic light wires.
A new church has also been given the “green light,” so to speak. The Hispanic Church of the Nazarene has gotten the go-ahead for rezoning it needed to build a new church at 2550 Sweeney Hollow Road. Construction will not begin immediately, however. For now the church is meeting at the Center Point Church of the Nazarene.
The council also received news that a recently completed project had also come in far cheaper than expected. Dixon announced that the latest paving project at San Moore Drive came in $18,000 under budget. Now that that project is completed, the next project on the agenda is Steeplechase Parkway.
