By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

During their April meeting members of the Bostwick City Council unanimously approved two expenses: one for hotel improvements and another for a cemetery survey.
It will cost $936.25 to have the upstairs hallway and steps of the historic Susie Agnes Hotel sanded, sealed, and polyurethaned, according to Mayor John Bostwick.
Councilwoman Angie Howard explained that the money will come out of the hotel fund.
Bostwick noted they have about $15,000 in that fund and suggested they get someone to come in and finish out the rooms. They need sheetrock, he said.
Councilman TroyDobbs said he will be glad to see the rooms done.
As for the cemetery survey, Ben McElroy will do that for the city at a cost between $10,000 and $10,500, Bostwick said.
The cost includes locating the road around the cemetery and placing pens around each gravesite.
In other news, Bostwick said the radar speed sign, as discussed during the group’s February meeting, has been ordered at a cost of $3,300 and should arrive in three to four weeks.
Once it arrives it will go in on Apalachee Road to begin with but can be relocated, he said.

Printed in the April 4, 2013 edition.

This year’s Morgan County fund-raising goal: $65,000

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

Members of the Madison City Council approved all six items that came before it during its special called meeting Monday night, including a resolution to apply for a housing Community Development Block Grant (CDBG).
City Planning Director Monica Callahan shared that a total of seven structures will be affected by this grant, if their application is approved.
Those addresses are 722, 835, 852, 853, 916, and 944 Pearl St. and 609 Wellington St.
“From the road it’s visually deceiving as to the condition of the homes,” she said. “Some people are living in dire circumstances in our own community – I was surprised.”
Two of the structures – at 722 and 916 Pearl St. – will be removed as they are too far gone to rehabilitate, she said. The other five will be rehabilitated.

Callahan explained that rehabilitation efforts include bringing the houses up to code and not cosmetic or “would like” issues such as a room addition or new carpeting.
As for the two lots that will be vacant if the grant comes through, she said that Habitat for Humanity as well as a local builder, Leon Peters, have expressed interest in rebuilding.
She reminded council that the city will not have a financial outlay required for this grant and that this type of grant is very competitive.

“We were really told to focus on one street this year,” she said, adding that it may take two application rounds before the grant is approved.
Callahan later explained that the city followed the Department of Community Affair’s rules and regulations to determine which houses would be eligible for this grant.

By Patrick Yost
Editor

A Dixie Highway resident suffered the loss of silverware during a burglary.
According to Assistant Madison Police Chief Carl Jones, someone gained entry to the house by removing a portion of a large glass window off the front porch of the residence.
Jones said specific silver items were removed from a formal dining room in the house.
The owner of the house told officers that she noticed the items missing at noon on Monday and said that she had last walked through the room on Saturday evening. Jones said officers are not sure when the burglary might have occurred and that the homeowner was still completing an inventory of the items taken.

Printed in the March 28, 2013 edition

By Stephanie Johns
Staff Writer

A chain-link construction fence was installed around the old Mapp-Gilmore building located at 200 W. Washington St. on Friday morning.
According to Kathi Russell, owner of the building and of Madison Tea Room & Garden, construction sites usually have construction fences to keep pedestrians safe.
“The building is very unstable, particularly the wall on Washington Street,” she said. “The fence is a really good way to protect pedestrians from falling brick.”
Russell said she spoke with Madison City Manager David Nunn as well as Morgan County Planning Director Chuck Jarrell to get permission.
Russell sought permission from the Madison Historic Preservation Commission (HPC) in March to remove the current structure and replace it with a building in the original design and was denied.
In an earlier interview, Russell said she bought the building with the intention of rehabilitating it but during the early stages of that process discovered that the building had more damage than she knew about prior to purchasing it.

Printed in the March 28, 2013 edition