Gulf Shores, Ala. – (OBA) – Gulf Shores is seeking a grant from the state for $252,562 to help with its annual resurfacing project for 2024.

“This is something that Gov. Ivey started a few years back and provides funding to local municipalities to improve roadways,” Construction Manager Clint Colvin told the city council at a Jan. 2 work session. “What we’re proposing is submitting a grant that would pay for us to resurface about a mile’s worth of streets in 2024. There is a $50,000 grant match so the total estimate that we’ve got is around $303,000. We would be getting $253,000 and we’d have to pay the $50,000.”

The match would cover the expenses of the construction engineering and inspection services for the project. There is $1.3 million budgeted for street resurfacing in 2024 and if the grant is awarded it would up the total spent on street paving to $1.55 million.

Proposed streets to be resurfaced with this grant include:

• West 12th Street
• West 11th Street
• Shoreland Drive
• Shoreland Circle
• West Eighth Street
• Pine Lane
• Sunrise Drive

“These are some smaller streets and the thinking was the higher number of streets would make it more likely that we would get the grant from what we’ve heard,” Colvin said. “There is some money in there for some repairs like some base repairs on a couple of those streets that have some bad spots but nothing outside of the roadway itself.”

In addition to those streets listed above, the city is also planning on resurfacing several other streets throughout the city in the 2024 paving project.

“I’ve got a ‘potential’ list that I have to run by everyone,” Colvin said. “It will probably be a few weeks before it’s finalized.”

The grant money comes from a new gas tax enacted and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey in March of 2019.

“The funding is made available through the Annual Grant Program, a program created under the Rebuild Alabama Act,” a release from Gov. Ivey’s office states. “The Rebuild Alabama Act, overwhelmingly passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Ivey in 2019, requires the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) to establish an annual program setting aside $10 million off the top of the state’s share of new gas tax revenue for local projects.”

During the meeting, the council discussed:

• Reappointing John Tuberville and Grant Brown to the Board of Zoning and Adjustments and Appeals for a three-year term ending on Jan. 7, 2027. Both men’s current terms expire on Jan. 7.
• Authorizing the purchase of wetland mitigation bank credits to fill in 1.03 acres on the site of the city’s new fire training facility to be built at the west end of West 36th Avenue from the Army Corps of Engineers for $29,355.
• Giving a conditional business to Mudbugs Pub for 2024 based on meeting 12 criteria including maintenance of security, training of employees and clearing the building and parking lot by 2 a.m. nightly. Deputy Police Chief Dan Netermeyer and Revenue Supervisor Layla Andrews will recommend granting of the business license.
• Granting a conditional use permit and site plan for Langston Animal Hospital to construct a new 12,384-square-foot facility on 4.55 acres on the west side of State Route 59 just south of County Road 8.
• Issuing a public assembly permit for the Shaka Beach Bash volleyball tournament on March 22-24 at Gulf Place. This is the third year of the event.