I hope you all have had a great summer. Foley celebrated America’s 250th anniversary with several community events to mark the creation of our country.
While the temperature may not feel like it, summer is winding down. School is back in session. Please be careful driving near school zones and watch out for buses and children on their way to school.
Summer has been busy in Foley. The City opened the Foley Community Library on Aug. 4. This $20 million center has twice the space of our old library. That space is filled with an amazing variety of new services and features that will be a huge benefit to our community.
That’s not the only new Foley facility. On July 27, we celebrated the opening of our new Public Works Campus. Our Public Works, Sanitation and Engineering departments have a new home that replaces buildings that opened years ago when Foley, and the departments, were much smaller.
In July, the Parks and Recreation Department, Communications Department and Leisure Services offices moved into the former National Guard armory building behind City Hall, now officially named the Foley Activity Center. The facility will open to the public in August, featuring a new indoor gymnasium.
Our sidewalk construction projects have continued to move forward this summer. Workers have been completing walkways between Azalea Avenue and Pride Drive near Foley High School. Once that is done, you will be able to walk from Miflin Road all the way to Peachtree Avenue, a trek of about 4 miles all the way through central Foley.
This project is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to expand sidewalks around Foley. The city has been spending about $1 million a year over the last few years to improve walking around Foley.
We’re now working on plans to extend sidewalks from the Mills Community to link with our other walkways on Cedar Street. Construction should start soon on that project.
Other projects in the works for the near future include plans for our new Senior Center and our new Aquatics Center. Our goal is to have both of those needed facilities under construction in the upcoming year.
We’re also looking forward to the opening of BJ’s Wholesale Club this fall. The store will be the first BJ’s in Baldwin County.
In addition to America’s birthday, another notable celebration this year is the 110th anniversary of the creation of Riviera Utilities. Riviera is owned by the City of Foley, but operates as an independent agency. For decades, Riviera has offered outstanding services for our citizens at some of the lowest-cost power in Alabama.
As summer winds down, please remember that we are in the height of hurricane season. We always hope that Foley will be spared from storms, but we do need to be prepared.
While we are blessed to live in this area, we have to be ready to deal with some of the things that come with being on the Gulf Coast.
That’s about all for now. It’s been a great summer and I hope you have a great autumn.