DOTHAN, Ala. – About halfway through his first year as Hartford’s new mayor, Neil Strickland is focused on several infrastructure projects in the city.
“The reason we are doing these kinds of things is because of our love for this community and to upgrade it and enhance it and take care of our people by means the first responders and move forward from there,” Mayor Strickland said.
Mayor Strickland said Hartford is in a growth phase with a brand-new council working diligently.
“We just kind of come in and started off sprinting right out of the gate,” Mayor Strickland said.
Hartford has about two million dollars worth of utility projects underway. The money to complete these projects comes from grants and funding from the city.
“We are redoing our outflow lines right now from our sewage to our lagoon as well as doing some utility upgrades on our lines and transformers down Highway 52,” Mayor Strickland said.
A $350,000, 50/50, grant is going toward upgrading the outflow lines. Mayor Strickland said the total for that project is about $1.2 million .
The total for the utility upgrade is $615,000, this is motivated by the growth in the area.
“That’s a big plus for our infrastructure right now, moving it forward,” Mayor Strickland said.
The Hartford sidewalk project has now been completed, enhancing the cities look from Second Avenue through Sixth Avenue.
“A lot going on since November,” Mayor Strickland said.
The city is also working to enhance the staffing and the equipment of the volunteer fire-rescue. Mayor Strickland said over the last two weeks they have improved staffing by two to four employees and hope to continue to upgrade that department.
The city is looking ahead, the Geneva County SPEC Building is expected to be completed in the coming weeks. Mayor Strickland said they are looking to possibly constructing two more buildings on land they own.
