Red Bay officials seek help with grant work

By Staff
Nathan Strickland
RED BAY- Red Bay city council members decided Monday to seek statements of qualification from qualified organizations to provide professional administrative services and engineering services for its 2010 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and EECBG project.
The issue to move forward with the project was discussed during Monday night's city council meeting.
The project stems from a grant Red Bay received from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) and Gov. Bob Riley.
The $225,000 grant will aid the project, which will consist of energy efficient improvements at the wastewater treatment lagoon and at various pump stations as described in the project application and grant agreement.
The Red Bay project involves installation of aerators at the town's wastewater treatment lagoon and replacement of inefficient pumps at 17 lift stations. The aerators help maintain proper oxygen levels in the system; without sufficient levels of oxygen, bacteria cannot biodegrade waste efficiently. This will help reduce energy consumption and bringing the town into compliance with Alabama Department of Environmental Management regulations.
Red Bay Mayor Bobby Forsythe said there would be several qualifications firms must meet to be involved in this project.
"The city council and I will look over submitted statements of qualification from firms who are interested in upgrading our wastewater system," he said. "Statements of qualification for the administrative and engineering services must be turned in no later than 10 a.m. on April 1. Statements taken after this time will not be considered."
Some factors the mayor and council will take into consideration include:
Franklin County engineer David Palmer was also in attendance to urge the city of Red Bay to jump on board with efforts to gather correct population numbers during this year's census count.
Forsythe and members of the city council elected to add $1,500 towards the anticipated $10,000 marketing campaign the county will use to spread information about the importance of the census.
Palmer said Russellville had pledged $2,000 to the cause along with Phil Campbell, Hodges and Vina giving $500 a piece. State Sen. Roger Bedford has committed $2,500 to the program.