Gadsden mayor outlines use of $24 million in ARPA funds, five drainage projects underway

Mayor Craig Ford and City Engineer Heath Williamson provided a status update on the City of Gadsden’s use of $24 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds for drainage and flood-mitigation projects, saying five projects are under construction while several others remain in design or need additional funding or easements.

Ford said the $24 million in ARPA money “is prior to me getting elected,” and that the previous administration and council had already identified and designed multiple drainage projects. Ford told residents the city “had already spent approximately 6 to $8,000,000 of that $24,000,000,” and that his administration continued the previously planned projects to maximize the number of improvements completed.

City Engineer Heath Williamson gave item-by-item status updates. He said five ARPA-funded drainage projects are in construction and summarized each:

- Ninth and Lay Street (District 2): Bid at about $624,155 and roughly 90% complete, with pipes and drainage structures installed; crews were finishing asphalt patching and punch-list items, and Williamson expected completion in May, barring weather delays.

- Delhaven Place (District 4, Country Club Drive/Meadow Road area): Bid at about $434,806 and about 40% complete. Williamson said main drainage structures and headwalls are in place but the project cannot be finished until three property easements close; he said two easements remained and estimated contractor return in roughly three to four weeks after closings, with finishing work taking another two to three weeks.

- Spring Rock Street / Peyton Road area (District 1): Bid at about $1,388,384 and about 85% complete; most work on Peyton Road, Line Street and Spring Rock Street was finished, with remaining pipe work across Miller Avenue. Williamson said crews observed the system functioning during recent rain and estimated May completion.

- Adams Park (Districts 1 and 2): Bid at about $1,225,176 and roughly 20% complete. Williamson described clearing and utility relocations as finished and said the contractor would soon begin constructing a new concrete open channel and additional drainage structures.

- Agricola (District 3), Phase 1 and Phase 2: Combined contract price about $6,213,156. Williamson said phase 1 is about 40% complete and phase 2 about 5% complete; two-thirds of a large detention basin had been excavated and will be built as a dry detention area with French drains and a pump system to avoid standing water. Phase 2 remains partially dependent on easements and drying conditions before some work can proceed.

Williamson also listed other drainage projects that ARPA funds covered for design work or that will need additional financing if they move to construction: Greenwood/Arrowhead area (District 1) split into four subprojects with an estimated $2–3 million to finish; North Gadsden Park/Goldenrod Avenue (District 2), roughly $1 million to build; Oak Park drainage (District 6), several small sites estimated at $1–2 million; studies along South Fifth and South Sixth streets that showed aging infrastructure and potential targeted repairs; and a large South Eleventh Street basin project (District 5) previously estimated at more than $20 million that the city has broken into phases, with the first two phases estimated at roughly $5 million each and intended to be started near the basin outfall and work upstream.

Ford said the city “had to borrow another million dollars from our undesignated funds to complete the 5 projects we had.” He also told residents the ARPA money was largely encumbered by the end of the last calendar year and that the city had been able to draw interest on those funds, which bolstered undesignated funds used for other projects. Ford described placing designs on a “shelf ready” status so the city can pull projects for construction more quickly when funding is available.

No formal council motions or votes were described during the update. Officials identified specific implementation constraints — notably easement closings for Delhaven Place and phase 2 of Agricola, weather-dependent scheduling, and the need for additional outside funding for large projects such as South Eleventh Street — but did not report any new funding approvals or ordinance actions during the remarks.

The mayor and engineer gave estimated completion windows for several projects: multiple projects targeted for May completion if weather allows, and mid-summer for projects awaiting easement closings or larger excavations. Williamson and Ford emphasized continuing previously planned designs and phasing larger projects so smaller, locally focused work can proceed without waiting for major new capital infusions.

Residents with questions about specific properties, easement status, or construction timelines were not given a formal contact in the remarks; the update was presented verbally with video footage, and Ford said the presentation was intended to increase transparency about how ARPA funds are being used.