This year we have also contracted with GMC to create a master plan for our municipal park. This Park has been uncompleted for years and as a city we need to provide services to our community. What better way to finish out a municipal park for our citizens to enjoy? This Park will be built in stages and will offer walking paths, sports fields such as soccer, baseball, football, basketball, beach volleyball, and pickleball. The design also incorporates a small skate park, additional Playgrounds, dog park, and an event venue for outdoor concerts, church services, and much more.
Speaking of services, with the assistance of the Public Works Committee, a new service will be coming next year to our citizens within our corporate limits. Semmes will now be offering limb and debris removal once a month. This and other services will provide a tool for annexation. There is still plenty of opportunities for growth of our community, but we need to fill in the gaps of our corporate limits before we start growing outside of it. As a Municipality, we need to offer reasons for people to join our corporate limits through annexation. Right now, all they get is the right to vote in the Municipal election. We need to offer more because they deserve more. Our citizens have invested in Semmes for a longtime, some a lifetime, and now we start investing in them and with the help and organization of our City Panner, Jeffrey McKee, and the Annexation Advisory Committee we can achieve our plans and vision for annexation. Another Service we now offer is passports. Through the direction and implementation of our City Clerk, Mrs. Debbie Hanbury, and the help of our City Purchaser, Mrs. Monica Helton another Service the City of Semmes is now offering is the processing of passports. We are now the only City Clerk’s Office in the State of Alabama to process Passports. More services are in the pipeline in the future and I look forward to offering much more to our community.
Addition to the road plans listed in the video we are also opening the old McCrary Rd. as a westward bound turning lane onto Moffett Rd. just west of the current McCrary Road. This project will decrease the amount of traffic congestion at this intersection and will keep our school buses flowing better to improve route times.
Our main project this year is Semmes City Hall. The Semmes City Council was able to save the City of Semmes $3,000,000.00 in the cancelation of the old City Hall Project and the creation of a new city hall project. Through the efforts of my staff and I, we were able to create a new City Hall that meets all the fundamental needs for the citizens of Semmes in our new design. This design will create a one stop shop for our citizens, businesses, and developers. We were able to create a new project, design it, and start construction in less than a year. This will be a building our community will be proud to call their own and will meet the future need and growth of Semmes.