Hamilton council approves grant application for $15 million County Road 35 project, OKs sidewalk, equipment and small donations; tables easement and softball-bu

The Hamilton City Council on a regular meeting on Sept. 16 authorized city staff to apply for federal planning funds for a 1.4-mile County Road 35 project and approved several small purchases and community donations while tabling an easement request and a bid for a girls softball facility.

The council passed Resolution 2025-9-15 to appoint engineering firm Farmer and Morgan to apply to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rural and Tribal Assistance Pilot Program to fund planning for the County Road 35 segment from I-22 to U.S. 43, a project the council described internally as a roughly $15,000,000 undertaking. The council also acknowledged notice of an $800,000 ADA sidewalk grant awarded for fiscal 2026 from Alabama’s governor and approved a special work authorization agreement with the Alabama Department of Transportation to install and maintain traffic-signal cameras and related equipment the meeting described as $200,000 in value at no cost to the city.

Why it matters: the actions set in motion engineering and planning work the council said would be required before construction on a multi‑million-dollar road project could begin. The highway work, new sidewalks, and traffic-signal equipment would affect circulation and pedestrian access on the city’s principal corridors.

During the announcements portion of the meeting, the presiding official said the city had "just notified that today, and we'll be doing some new sidewalks in town with that money," and identified Farmer and Morgan as the firm pursuing the federal grant application. The motion to adopt Resolution 2025-9-15 was made by Wade and seconded by a councilmember identified on the record as Scott; the council voted in favor.

The council’s other formal approvals included:

- A purchase of replacement parts for Water Department Filter 3, $8,800, described by the council as a measure to allow staff to schedule backwashing by measured need rather than by a weekly guess. Ross made the motion; the council approved the purchase.

- Approval of a Special Work Authorization (SWA) with the Alabama Department of Transportation to allow ongoing maintenance activities and the city’s receipt of signal/camera equipment the meeting described as having $200,000 in value at no cost to Hamilton. The motion to approve the SWA was made by Pat and seconded by Wade.

- Two small community donations: $2,000 to support the Veterans Day program after a request from Harlem Holloway, and $3,000 to assist the Hamlin Marching Band’s planned trip to Chicago for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. The council approved both donations; the $2,000 donation was moved by Scott Tower and seconded by Scott Robertson; the $3,000 donation was approved after a motion and second (movers/second recorded as on the meeting record).

Items tabled: the council voted to table two items to a future meeting:

- A motion to begin legal work for easements requested by Steve Howard for property north of Hamilton. The presiding official said the city attorney was at a conference and recommended delaying the matter for additional legal work; the council tabled the item on a motion and second and asked staff to resume work for the next meeting.

- A recommendation to accept the lowest bid of $66,008.39 from John A. Holiday DDAH HCE LLC to build a locker room and weight room building for the girls softball diamond. Joel Bartlett presented the bid and the council discussed removing the weight-room component and questions about a proposed walkway; council members said they had identified an alternate weight-room facility at the high school and wanted technical issues resolved before moving forward, so the council tabled the contract award. Scott Tower moved to table and Scott Robertson seconded.

Procedure and context: several items were routine approvals with limited debate; where the council discussed technical or legal limits (for example, the need for an attorney’s review before easement work), the meeting record shows the council chose to delay formal action. The council also announced a September 30 work session and reminded residents about a runoff election with polls open 7 a.m.–7 p.m. on Sept. 23.

Direct quotes in the meeting record include the presiding official’s announcement that the city had received the sidewalk grant and would "be doing some new sidewalks in town with that money," and an explanation that the replacement filter parts will let operators know exactly when to backwash the filters rather than rely on a weekly schedule. No vote tallies by individual councilmember were recorded in the meeting transcript for the votes taken; motions and seconds were captured in the record where named.