By By MICHELE GERLACH Publisher
Christmas came a little early this year for the City of Brewton when Mayor Ted Jennings and other city officials learned they had gained approval for a $383,000 grant to pave the access road to the city's industrial park.
Jennings said business owners in the industrial park wrote letters of support detailing how road improvements would allow them to continue and expand their businesses.
The funding comes from the Alabama Industrial Access Road and Bridge Authority.
The project will resurface the industrial park road, pave roadside ditches and add a turn lane on U.S. Hwy. 31.
Jennings said two of the industrial park's six tenants have planned expansions in 2005. He said the deteriorated access road was built more than 20 years ago and was never adequate for 18-wheel traffic.
Jennings said now that the grant has been approved, the city engineers will prepare the specifications for the project, which will be put out for bids after the first of the year. He speculated that work will begin in the industrial park in four to five months.