Albany City Council held its regular meeting last Tuesday evening, September 1 with all members present.

During the meeting, the council voted to seek funding through a grant proposal that could see the extensions of sidewalks in the northern area of the Albany City limits.

On a motion by councilman Tony Delk, members voted unanimously to give Mayor Nicky Smith the go-ahead to apply and complete the application process for a Transportation Alternative Program, or TAP grant, formerly known as the Safe Schools program.

Mayor Smith said the city is applying for that 80/20 matching grant with the county, in hopes of making it more feasible for funding. If approved, money from the grant would be used to extend sidewalks from around the Talbott Funeral Home northward to around Mountain View Park, a project the city has been working on for sometime.

(More details on the joint grant application can be found in the fiscal court meeting article beginning on page 1.)

In other business:

Council members were first presented the monthly project update report, which saw no changes from the previous month, as the application for funding for the $19 million 12 inch water line extension project along the bypass is ongoing. It may be sometime next spring before anything definitive is approved. The project will be constructed with a combination of grants and low-interest loans through the USDA Rural Development program.

The council then opened bids on surplus property, mainly a Ford F150 pick-up truck that was bid “as is” with two bids being received. The high bid was from Eric Smith at $311.27. The council, on a motion by Leland Hicks, voted to approve the high bid.

There were no bids of some weedeaters that were also advertised as surplus and the council opted to re-bid those items and also declare as surplus and sale at sealed bid “as is” on a 2005 Chevy half-ton 4×4 truck.

The council also received news from Mediacom cable, announcing that late this month, they will begin the process of transforming the TV channel lineup in Albany and Clinton County from an analog format to an all-digital format. According to correspondence to Mayor Smith dated August 27, “This transition will move channels 23-77 to a permanent digital home. Once the change is complete, customers will see improvements in internet capabilities and a better video picture as well as enhanced sound quality.”

The letter stated that any TV already connected to a Mediacom Digital Box will not be affected by the changes. However, customers not connected to such a box will need to obtain a Mediacom Digital Adapter in order to receive the new digital line-up.

Customers needing a digital adapter in Albany and Clinton County can pick one up on Tuesday, September 22 at the Best Western Hotel. Customers may also contact customer service at 1-800-479-2095 or go to mediacomcable.com/order to obtain the necessary equipment.

The first channel drops will be September 29 and the final drops on October 13. November 30 will be the deadline to get up to three DTA’s free for the first year. After August 31, 2016, customers will be charged the standard rate of $1.99 per DTA per month.

The council also set the fourth annual downtown city clean-up day for Saturday, October 3 and once again, ribbons will be available to place at business locations around town in memory of Aleigha Duvall, a small child who was killed in a tragic accident on Halloween four years ago. Anyone wishing to volunteer to help on clean-up day should be at Albany City Hall at 8 a.m. that date, or for more information may call Melissa Smith at City Hall at 387-6011.

Councilman Delk also requested the mayor look into re-striping some streets in the Nolan Subdivision as the current striping is barely visible on the streets in that area.

Finally, Judy Hatcher from the Lake Cumberland Area Development District, who was on hand only to observe the meeting, told the council that if they had any community service projects in they were planning, now would be a good time to make preparations to apply for CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) funding as those applications begin being looked at in the spring of each year.

The next regular meeting of Albany City Council is scheduled for October 6 at 5 p.m. at city hall and is open to the general public.