Your Town Alabama: Designing Our Future

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Community News

Central Alabama Action Commission (CAAC) report
The Central Alabama Action Commission (CAAC) held its monthly meeting on August 28th at John’s City Diner in Downtown Birmingham.  The CAAC is one of seven new Alabama Rural Action Commissions created by Governor Bob Riley to improve the quality of life and economies of rural communities.  The CAAC will focus on improving rural life in Region 3 (Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, Walker and Chilton).  The new commissions are modeled after the highly successful Black Belt Commission.
Governor’s Alabama Rural Action Commission Assistant Director Chad Nichols stated that the workforce development subcommittees had been very active.  He said this was largely due to Gov. Riley’s big push to streamline workforce development in Alabama.  According to Nichols, the Governor wants all entities involved in workforce development to coordinate their efforts to ensure they meet the needs of both existing and future employers.  He said Alabama’s ability to successfully do this will determine whether it continues to be attractive to employers.  Nichols went on to discuss successful Black Belt Commission programs, such as the new Black Belt Eyecare Consortium, which could be duplicated in other parts of the state.  He said several different organizations were separately working to improve eye care in the Black Belt.  However, none of the organizations knew the others existed.  The Black Belt Commission got the groups together.  Now they are working together on this problem.  This has allowed the groups to eliminate duplicate efforts and reach more residents.  Nichols also briefed the group on the new Rural Scholars Program for high school students in the Black Belt.    
The group then discussed efforts to recruit members for the four subcommittees of the Commission.  Mr. Nichols and Rep. Cam Ward encouraged the committee chairs to recruit members from each of the six counties in Region 3 (Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Blount, Walker and Chilton).   They said this would be important because the rural communities of each county are unique and, therefore, will have different needs, challenges and resources. The next Commission meeting will be held on Tuesday September 25th at John’s.  Additional information on Alabama’s Rural Action Commission may be found at:  http://www.camward.com/RuralActionCommission.htm
  
Five Mile Creek Clean Up
Location: Brookside Alabama on Five Mile Creek
Meet at the parking lot of the Five Mile Creek Canoe and Company in Brookside Alabama 20 minutes northwest from I-65 and I-20.  See web site for directions www.brooksidealabama.com
Date:    Saturday September 29, 2007
Volunteers: All welcome, MUST wear close-toed shoes
Activity:  Remove tires and trash from Five Mile Creek
Time: 9 am until noon, Hot dog lunch provided
NEEDED:  Trucks to haul tires to landfill
Contact: Francesca Gross, Five Mile Creek Greenway Partnership at 264-8464 fgross@rpcgb.org

Lee County Commission Receives a Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Grant:  The Lee-Russell Council of Governments on behalf of the Lee County Commission applied for and received $50,000 in LWCF grant funds to develop one 300’ radius baseball field to meet the need for recreational facilities in the rapidly growing area of Smiths Station.  The total cost of the project is $182,600 with the City of Smith Station ($82,600) and Lee County Commission’s Recreation Board ($50,000) providing the required cash match of $132,600.   The proposed field will be built on the 78 acre site known as the Lee County Park at Smiths Station.  The proposed project includes the fine grading, sod, infield mix, fencing, lighting, irrigation, bleachers, dugout benches, and walkways for one field.  The field will be used for boy’s baseball teams ages 13-16 and will also be open to the public.  LRCOG will administer the grant for Lee County.

RPC Planner learns the “how-to” at brownfield seminar and available to assist those interested in redevelopment
On July 31, 2007, Planner Robyn Jackson attended the Brownfield Redevelopment Task Force, EPA Region 4 and ADEM Meeting/Grant Writing Seminar & Presentation of Alabama Grant Awards for 2007. The meeting and seminar were both informative and exciting! To learn that two of the four grantees in EPA Region 4 are located in the RPC region. Those awardees included the City of Cordova and the Freshwater Land Trust, Jefferson County who received grants in the amounts of $200,000.  A presentation was given to walk applicants through the EPA Brownfields Grant Application and provide a “how-to” on achieving the highest score possible.  A panel discussion was lead by Mayor James Perkins, Jr.-City of Selma, Martha Cato-City of Valley, and Dr. Chris Reaves-UAB to discuss best practices and lessons learned from Alabama grantees.
If any communities are interested in applying for grant monies to revitalize Brownfields in their area, please contact Robyn Jackson at 264-8425.

Cawaco RC&D FY 2007-2008 grant cycle
Cawaco Resource Conservation & Development Council is seeking grant applications for the Challenge Grant Program and ACES  Educational Grant Program in Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, Shelby and Walker Counties.  Grant applications and additional information can be found on the Cawaco website at www.cawaco.org.  To be considered, all proposals must be received by September 30, 2007.
Challenge Grant Program
The Council offers small Challenge Grants ($1,000 - $5,000) to assist public and other 501(c)(3) agencies in their efforts to serve community needs. Projects funded support Council and USDA-NRCS Goals that promote the economic and community development and the responsible use of the area’s resources.  Previously funded projects include community gateways, tornado sirens, tracking bracelets for alzheimers patients, and nature trails.
ACES Educational Challenge Grants
The Council partners with ACES / Alabama Cooperative Extension System to offer small Educational Challenge Grants ($1,000 - $5,000) for projects that provide information and/or instruction to children and adults.  Educational Challenge Grant projects must:

• Be consistent with the mission of the RC&D program, which is to "help people protect and develop their economic, natural, and social resources in ways that improve their area's economy, environment, and quality of life” 
• Include one or more clearly defined educational objectives (a description of what you are trying to teach people)
• Clearly describe the intended audience
• Be intended to teach people how to use natural resources to improve the quality of life in the community without adversely affecting the environment.
• Have significant community benefit

EPA Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup grants
EPA announces over $70 million in funding available for Brownfields Assessment, Revolving Loan Fund, and Cleanup grants to help states and communities around the country clean up and revitalize brownfields.  This year’s grant deadline is October 12, 2007 -Eligible entities include: state, local, and tribal governments, general purpose units of local government, land clearance authorities, or other quasi-governmental entities; regional council or redevelopment agencies; or states or legislatures. Non-profit organizations are eligible to apply for Cleanup grants.  To apply, applicants submit a proposal for each grant type that they are applying for. Each proposal must address the selection criteria outlined in the guidelines. Electronic copies of the Proposal Guidelines will be available from the EPA Brownfields Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm
Grant Proposal Deadline  The proposal due date for 2007 Assessment,Revolving Loan Fund and Cleanup grant proposals is October 12, 2007. Visit EPA’s Brownfields Web site at:  http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/applicat.htm  EPA Grant writing workshop: EPA Region 4 will be hosting interactive online grant writing workshop on Sept 13.  To register, please visit: http://www.cluin.org/conf/tio/r4bfgrantwriting/

Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) Awarded to Russell County:   The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs has awarded a $185,000 Emergency Shelter Grant to Russell County. The grant proposal was submitted by Lee-Russell Council of Governments on behalf of Russell County and will provide funding for essential services at the House of Restoration in Phenix City. The mission of the House of Restoration is to restore homeless individuals to healthy, productive, and self reliant lifestyles. LRCOG will administer the ESG grant.

Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Funds Awarded to Russell County: The Alabama Emergency Management Agency (AEMA) has just sent notice of award of FEMA Funds for Russell County Commission.  The Lee-Russell Council of Governments applied in May 2009 for $209,871.00 on behalf of the Russell County Commission for weather warning sirens.  This is an effort to take Russell County’s current siren count from 18 to 38 sirens, blanketing some of the more rural regions of the county.  This grant will be administered over the next eighteen months.

The Russell County Emergency Management Agency was also awarded HMGP funds that will provide for an interior safe room at their facility.  This is a concrete-walled steel-reinforced room that first responders can use during time of severe weather, enabling them to man the Russell County EMA during even the most extreme forms of severe weather.

Final technical training session for U S Census, Local Update of Street Address (LUCA)
The U.S. Census LUCA Program allows local municipal and county governments to assist with the collection of accurate street address information for the 2010 Census.  This information is key for jurisdictions to have an accurate census count for 2010.  Census numbers influence the amount of federal funding for which jurisdictions can qualify, so an accurate count is important.  Funding follows population and undercounts can cost local governments millions of dollars. The final technical training session for LUCA participants is October 3rd from 9am to 1pm in the 1st floor conference room at the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham located at 1731 1st Avenue, North.  For more information please contact Brett Isom at bisom@rpcgb.org or call
251-8139.

Investing and Improving Appalachia’s Infrastructure seminar
October 24-25, 2007, Charleston, West Virginia, Sponsored by the Appalachian Regional Commission.  The focus is how communities can build, improve and better manage the basic components of physical infrastructure systems to provide clean drinking water, wastewater management and telecommunications.  Topics: Financing options for small communities; training and management strategies for small water systems; improving services through energy efficiency; providing access to broadband networks in rural areas and alternative wastewater technologies. For program and registration visit www.arc.gov/backtobasics

Alabama Association of Resource Conservation & Development Councils annual conference
November 4-6, 2007, Embassy Suites Birmingham.  A project spotlight will be the Brookside Greenway. For more information and to register visit www.cawaco.org