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“Getting the downtown area back on its feet and back to what it used to be years ago was something I had in mind when I first took office and something I really started focusing on about a year ago,” Grissom said. “I’ve talked with city leaders in places like Florence, Sheffield and Cullman that have undergone similar downtown transformations and we are basing what we want to do after what these towns have done.”

He called the downtown “the heartbeat of any community.”

“We have some businesses that are doing well in the downtown area, but we have some room for improvement,” he said. “I have been working on this for a long time, but I felt it was best to utilize NACOLG to help with developing a full plan because they have experience doing this sort of thing with other cities and towns.”

The agreement with NACOLG will cost $14,000 that will come from the city’s general fund, Grissom said.

Nathan Willingham, director of planning and transportation for NACOLG, told council members Monday the plan would include design, organization, promotion and economic restructuring.

Willingham said the design phase would include streetscapes, public spaces, design standards and updating zoning ordinances to give the downtown a more uniform look. He said the organization phase would focus on strengthening partnerships with the city, business owners and residents and taking the ideas garnered from public input meetings NACOLG would set up.

“We want to make sure the public is involved in this process,” Willingham said. “It will be important to establish some type of active downtown organization and to make sure we have representation from a cross-section of the citizenry. We want to know what kinds of ideas and visions they have for this area as well, and we’ll do that through a series of public meetings.”

Willingham said the promotions and economic restructuring phases would focus on establishing a mix of retail business, entertainment, restaurants and other shops.

“We will use some of the funds to utilize a market study that will determine the retail recruitment targets we would want for this area,” Willingham said.

Grissom said the plan also would establish what they would call a “development district.”

“Right now, what we are calling the ‘downtown’ area is Jackson Avenue from Cotaco Street to Tuscaloosa Street and west to Washington Avenue and east to the railroad tracks,” Grissom said. “The main business district will focus on an area from Franklin Street to Montgomery Street. We need to establish those parameters so we will know exactly what area we are working with and exactly which areas will be affected by any zoning changes or design standards.”

The council also approved a resolution to apply for a 2015 Transportation Alternative Projects (TAP) grant through the Alabama Department of Transportation for the Downtown Sidewalk Improvement Project, which includes sidewalks and lighting improvements for Franklin Street and Lawrence Street from Washington Avenue to Coffee Avenue.

“The deadline to apply for this grant is May 1 so we needed to move forward with this if we were going to apply for this fiscal year,” Grissom said. “If we receive this grant, it would help us make repairs and update sidewalks in the specified sections of Franklin and Lawrence streets and also add lighting that will match the smaller light fixtures already in place along Jackson Avenue. This will give everything a more uniform look.”

Grissom said the city should receive word by September if they are approved for the TAP grant, which is funded at an 80/20 rate, meaning the grant would pay 80 percent of the project cost and the city would pay 20 percent. According to Grissom, the total project amount is $292,578, making the city’s portion of the project $58,516 if the grant is approved.

“This is something we would hope to continue in subsequent years so that we were able to make these improvements to the other side streets in the designated downtown area,” he said.

Grissom said this downtown redevelopment project would not be something that could happen overnight.

“Right now it seems like this will be a five- to 10-year project,” he said. “We want to make sure we do this right and that means it’s going to take some time to get everything in place.”

Willingham said NACOLG should be able to have a comprehensive, completed plan for the city’s redevelopment initiative in about nine months, depending on how long the market study takes.

“It’s a perfect time to be doing something like this, especially with all the improvements we’re seeing across the city because of the different ATRIP projects,” Councilman David Palmer said. “I realize this will take some time for all of this to become a reality, but I do believe it will be worth it to have a revitalized downtown area.”

In other business, the council:

• approved the ALDOT resolution and agreement for preliminary engineering/right of way/construction agreement improvements to Lawrence Street from U.S. 43 to the intersection of the Industrial Access Project for Innovative Hearth Products;
• approved a resolution to bill for fire protection and related services from Russellville Fire Department;
• authorized the abatement of nuisances and demolition of property at 2 Brewer Lane;
• hired Timothy James Balcom and Jeremy Ray Burfield as patrol officers for the Russellville Police Department;
• approved a 5-percent pay raise for Grant Tarascou for receiving certificates for Fire Inspector I, Firefighter I/II, Fire Instructor I, and Fire Officer I; and
• approved a request from the Russellville Marching Hundred to waive the rental fee for the A.W. Todd Centre for May 12.