Commission seeks more CDBG funds

Commissioners also hear first ready on a property annexation proposal and give permission for Youth Summerfest to use Northwest Park.

Cedartown commissioners are looking for more money for sewer work in the coming years as a project the city already got grant money for is just about to begin and will take months to complete.

City manager Bill Fann told commissioners during their February session last week that contractors are gathering materials as final preparations are underway to begin work on a sewer project in the residential area south of Goodyear Park in anticipation of a project expected to last through August on sewer line replacement on Slusser Street, Second to Fourth Streets and Laude Street.

Bids were put out before and came back well over expected, and then again a second time before Commissioners finally approved the costs and went forward with the line replacement work with the some $500,000 coming from the Community Development Block Grants of the $1,249,180 pricetag for the work. The city’s stake in the project is nearly $750,000 overall.

Commissioners approved the low bid on the sewer work on January 18 during a special called meeting of the board, awarded to Site Engineering of Atlanta.

Now the city is looking for more grant money in hopes of finishing up all the sewer replacement work in the Goodyear Village.

Commissioners voted unanimously to allow officials to move forward in applying for a 2017 grant for more sewer work, which will be awarded from the Department of Community Affairs if Cedartown is one of the chosen cities to get grant money this year.

The application seeks to continue work in the Goodyear Village area of Cedartown along Cedar Creek, replacing deteriorating sewer lines made of clay or iron that have needed repairs for several years.

Work is expected to start in March on the line replacements, which will cause portions of streets to be closed at times as lines are dug up underneath roadways.

The Commission chose earlier this month in their work session to reject bids from contractors and set aside the Lankford Events Center construction project in order to pay for sewer line replacement work now, since it was the cheaper of the two projects.

Along with the application approval, commissioners also heard a first reading for an application to have more than a dozen acres of land to join the city from Polk County along East Avenue.

The city will have to go through a second reading of the application before they can vote on it in March to allow property owned by Ray Trammell to come into the city totaling up 13.92 acres.

Fann said Trammell wanted to join the property to his business already located within the city limits, allowing for more room to expand if needed.

Youth Summerfest organizers center early

The Cedartown Commission gave their nod of approval to organizers of the 19th annual Youth Summerfest who came to ask the board for permission to use a park in late July for the event.

Annually the event has been held at the Bert Wood Youth and Athletic Center, also known as Northwest Park, to host the event providing a number of activities, giveaways and even free haircuts for students who need the help before heading back to school.

Harold Gipson brought along Rev. Dr. Ken Brown to the meeting to discuss their plans for making the Youth Summerfest bigger and better this year.

“We’ve been trying to beef up the event this year,” Brown said. “We normally come in June asking for Bert Wood Park for the July 29 event, but we’re trying to make things better and try to enhance what we’ve done, and this is part of doing that.”

Gipson said the idea of the event is to make sure children have the opportunity to get some of the extra energy of summer out of their system before school starts in August.

“This is a festival that we put together to help the kids get back into the group element right before having to go back to school,” Gipson said. “Its always an event thats filled with an upbeat atmosphere, one of joy with music and exercise, food and haircuts, whatever that’s positive.”

Organizers are meeting on a regular basis at the Turner Street Park building to discuss plans and assign areas of need to those helping with the annual event, Gipson and Brown said.

Those interested in participating in organization efforts can contact Gipson at breezygipson@kbcnetwork.net.

Gipson said Youth Summerfest has evolved from a small, 18 person event when it first began to serving hundreds and thousands of children from across Polk County.

“It’s an event that’s well worthwhile, and always turns out to be a success in character building and brings a lot of help to the community,” Gipson said.

Organizers have set the date of the Youth Summerfest for July 29.

Commissioners gave their praise for the work being done by organizers for youth in the community, and Brown pointed out that no one person is responsible the work that goes into making Youth Summerfest a big hit for everyone on an annual basis.

Other actions

Commissioners also gave approval for this past weekend’s Black History Festival following the Black History Parade in Cedartown, and voted unanimously to approve a proclamation celebrating National Arbor Day in Cedartown. See this week’s story in the Lifestyle section for more on Arbor Day in Cedartown.