Council approves budget amendment after state will not fund right‑of‑way for Highway 67 realignment

The Decatur City Council approved a budget amendment to cover right‑of‑way acquisition for the Highway 67/Upper River Road realignment after staff said the Alabama Department of Transportation will not reimburse the city for those costs.

A staff member explained the change saying the construction portion of the project will still receive 80% state funding for the roughly $2,000,000 construction estimate, “and then and they will not that they're doing 80% of our $2,000,000 of the construction, so the right of way is all on us, and this is just a budget adjustment to get us to where that, cost was.”

Council discussion clarified the city had initially assumed right‑of‑way costs would be eligible for reimbursement; the amendment adds local funds to the project budget to cover property acquisition and related demolition the city has undertaken. A council member noted the adjustment was an oversight and the change restores appropriate funding for the acquisitions.

Why it matters: The shift places the full financial responsibility for acquiring property rights on the city for that segment of the realignment. The construction phase remains largely federally or state funded per staff comments, but right‑of‑way obligations will be borne locally.

Next steps: Council approved the budget amendment to move funds in the current appropriation to cover the outstanding right‑of‑way costs; no additional external approvals were reported in the meeting record.