(Profile) Garden City renovates, expands fire station

Mar. 30—Fire and water may be on opposite ends of the elemental spectrum, but together these two matters kept the Garden City Town Council busy for most of 2023.

Using a portion of the funds from the same Tyson Restitution Settlement responsible for renovations at Garden City's River Park, the town began construction on a new, expanded fire station in January 2023. Mayor Tim Eskew said that the town had "outgrown" its previous facility which had been in use since the 1970s.

Slight modifications were made to the buildings plan during its construction to create more areas for storage, but upon completion the new facility provided a garage bay area, adequate office space, a training room plus a pair of restrooms and showers.

The Alabama Department of Environmental Management awarded the town $650,000 in unspent money from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020. The town has allotted the funds to upgrade a drinking water supply line that will ultimately cross the Cullman County border at the Mulberry River and connect with Garden City's Blount County neighbors to the south.

"They have water on that side, but not an adequate supply. Right now, there's not even a fire hydrant on the other side of the Mulberry in that immediate area. After we get done with this project, there'll be at least two," Eskew said.

The town continued its ongoing discussions as to what will become of the Garden City School. The issue has popped up in town meetings since a legislative act in 2020 transferred ownership of the property to the town, but contained prohibitions from selling the property of demolishing the building.

Last year, state legislators approved an amendment to those provisions which would allow a 7.2 acre portion of the property to be sold provided that the schoolhouse itself remained under the town's ownership.