Small Town News

Tuskegee Council focusing on reparing damaged roads

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Potential solutions for road repair across the city occupied most of the discussion at the February 9 Tuskegee City Council meeting.

In other action, Mayor Omar Neal and the Council commended the City Clean-Up program and paused to give attention to VictoryLand's closing.

After being unable to arrive at a solution to repair damaged roads in Tuskegee, the Council granted City Manager Alfred Davis authorization to close streets that present the community an "imminent danger."

Potholes, burst pipes, flooding and uneven pavement are among the defects that plague many streets in Tuskegee and concern the Council.

Neal was cautious about closing streets immediately, which lead to the decision to allow the city manager to make these decisions based on his discretion.

"There are unintended consequences sometimes when you close streets that maybe you don't think about," Neal said. "We have to think about it and give (Davis) an opportunity to think about it."

Authorization to the city manager was a unanimous decision by the Council. Earlier in the meeting councilwomen Mae Doris Williams and Willie Louise Fields urged the mayor to put action in motion that evening.

However, the scope of the problem concerning the roads kept that from happening.

"We have problems with our streets -- not just the potholes, but there are drainage problems and other kinds of things that are more significant in terms of the challenges with these streets," Neal said. "So if you just put pavement on these streets and don't deal with those drainage problems, then you're going to have the same problems again.

"So we have to think about it in a bigger way, not just temporary solutions to more permanent problems."

Williams and Fields expressed their concerns that Auburn Street and Nancy-Street were among the roads in Tuskegee in need of immediate repair.

City-wide road repair would be cheaper than performing work piece by piece, Fields said she was told this by a contractor in Opelika.

However, such a project would carry a price tag of tens of millions of dollars for the city, said the city manager, depending on factors such as scope, method and contractor.

The Council will try to develop a plan of action at its next meeting, February 23, after giving Davis more time to assess the widespread problem.

The Council also heard the mayor express his delight with the City Clean-Up event on February 6. Members of the community were joined by students from Tuskegee and Auburn University that day for the clean-up. Neal emphasized, however, that cleaning up the city is only half the battle, and Tuskegee residents must now make the effort to keep their city clean.

The meeting didn't conclude without the Council acknowledging residents unemployed by the closing of VictoryLand.

"Our prayers go out to the workers and employees of VictoryLand who lost their jobs during this period of time," Neal said.

"Council, we need to be vigilant as it relates to the new legislation that is being presented now concerning games, and make sure that our interest is being served in the legislation."

Williams urged residents to remind those receiving unemployment compensation that they earned these finances.

"Say to people, as they go about their daily lives, that Governor Riley is not giving them unemployment funds," she said. "Let them know that if you worked, you earned the unemployment dollars. He's not giving you anything."



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© 2010 The Tuskegee News Tuskegee, Alabama. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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