Mobile council approves $2M transfer for DIP community center and adds $1.5M to housing improvement plan

The Mobile City Council on Oct. 21 approved a $2,000,000 transfer from capital project C0116 to the DIP (South End) community center project and authorized a $1,500,000 allocation to the city—s Housing Improvement Plan, steps council members said are intended to spur neighborhood revitalization in the Campground, the Bottom and other South Mobile neighborhoods.

The allocations were part of a package of consent items the council approved by voice vote. Betty Fowler, a longtime community advocate, praised the funding and asked the council to support ongoing programming; Councilman Carroll (District 2) described the housing allocation as part of a multi-year effort to remove blight and return vacant lots to productive use.

Councilman Carroll (District 2) told the council the Housing Improvement Plan is already developing 17 properties and aims to reach 34, using a revolving fund that currently holds about $4.5 million. "This is going to be a neighborhood changer for us in the Campground," Carroll said, noting the program—s potential to lever public dollars into larger redevelopment projects. Carroll also urged the administration to consider a continuing-year deposit to sustain the program.

The council also approved Ordinance 88-053 to donate the eastern portion of 1050 Baltimore Street to the city—s affordable housing program and authorize an option to lease the site, a step council members said will support new housing on Baltimore Street. Council members spoke of past rebuilding and recent community-center investments on Baltimore Street, and framed the ordinance as part of a broader effort to revitalize that corridor.

Capital improvement contracts approved included an award for sidewalks along Dauphin Island Parkway (CIP item 21-12-97) and a contract to renovate an outparcel building at the Hillsdale Senior Center (CIP item 21-12-98). Council members described the sidewalk work as part of efforts to make neighborhoods more walkable and said the Hillsdale renovation will give seniors a dedicated space.

The transfers and allocations discussed in the meeting were identified by council staff as coming from capital reserve funds and an identified capital project (C0116) and appear in the agenda documents as resolutions 091337/091338 (transfers) and 091336 (Housing Improvement Plan allocation). The consent package passed on an audible "Aye" vote; no roll-call tallies were provided in the meeting transcript.

Continuing steps: council members asked administration staff to track program outcomes and consider making at least some of the housing allocation a continuing annual deposit to preserve momentum. Carroll also highlighted an MLK Avenue complete-streets project and other street repaving and public-works investments that he said will complement housing and community-center work.

By approving the transfers and contracts, the council authorized city staff and the administration to move forward with design, contracting and spending under the identified capital projects and grant accounts. The council did not, in the Oct. 21 meeting, set specific construction start dates for the DIP community center or the housing projects beyond the normal contracting steps required to implement the approved work.