Albany Commission approves application for $4 million grant to mitigate COVID-19

Alan Mauldin Author email, The Albany Herald, Ga.
·3 min read

Apr. 13—ALBANY — A $4 million grant request to help the city respond to future health crises was one of three requests, totaling nearly $5 million, approved on Tuesday by the Albany City Commission.

Commissioners approved a list of projects for potential funding through proposed federal infrastructure legislation. The amount of those projects totals some $11.4 million, which would include $9.1 million in federal funding and $2.3 million in matching funds from the city.

"We have this opportunity to address health literacy in the community, specifically in response to COVID-19," Albany-Dougherty Planning Services Director Paul Forgey said of the $4 million grant. It will entail "community education to increase the vaccination rates and make the community more resilient to future health emergencies."

The commission handled the grant approvals during a special called meeting because of looming deadlines on the proposals. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Resources is expected to enhance equitable community responses to COVID-19.

If approved, the city would act as the fiscal and administrative agent and partner with Albany State University, which would be responsible for quality assurance and evaluation of research, Forgey said.

"Part of the grant is to create a health literacy task force," he said. "This will include a broad base of community leaders and organizations that work in the health field."

Among the groups that will be involved is the community advocacy group is SOWEGA Rising, which was instrumental in bringing the grant to the city's attention.

The task force will design and oversee implementation of projects.

At the top of the items identified in the list of transportation needs was the relocation of utilities over the Oglethorpe Boulevard bridge, which crosses the Flint River. The state has approved funding for replacing the nearly 80-year-old structure, and bids for what is expected to be a $16 million project will be opened in July 2022.

The city's estimated cost to move utilities is $2.5 million, and federal funding, if approved, could pay $2 million of that cost. The city's match would total $500,000.

Forgey said the list of top projects was prepared at the request of U.S. Rep. Sanford, D-Albany, for possible inclusion in his requests for funding.

The other projects include $3.9 million for four-laning Nottingham Way from Stuart Avenue to Westover Boulevard, $349,000 for adding turn lanes at Georgia Highway 234 and Westover Boulevard, $2.5 million to widen and realign the intersection at Sands Drive and Radium Springs Road, and $368,791 for safety improvements at the intersection of Nottingham Way and North Westover Boulevard.

The commission also approved a grant application for $500,000 in additional funds for its brownfield revolving loan fund. The city received a grant of $800,000 a year and a half ago, Forgey told commissioners, and the additional funds would allow for the inclusion of up to five additional projects.

Under the program, the city makes loans to developers to clean up contaminated sites to put back into productive use.

The final grant was for street safety striping and raised pavement markers totaling $350,000 from the Georgia Department of Transportation. The city's match would be 30 percent of that amount.