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The City of Andalusia is moving forward with the addition of four new homes in its ongoing public-private partnership to reinvigorate the area around Robinson Park.

After a land exchange last year that provided the city with three new property lots on Railroad Avenue, the city council voted Monday to declare those lots surplus and to partner with J.T. Realty and Property for the construction of four additional garden-style homes. The partnership and the homes constructed are similar to the city’s previous effort to build homes already completed on Church Street.

The council began working in 2020 to revitalize the area in what is commonly referred to as the “garden district” by city officials. Of the three original homes constructed on Church Street, one has been sold, a second one is under contract. According to City Administrator John Thompson, with the closing on the second home, the city will fully reimburse its capital fund the expenses related to that phase of the project.

“The big thing is that the city now has comps on housing of this size: 1,200-square feet houses in the $230,000 range. That is huge and is something we’ve been trying to do. We weren’t seeing houses of that size built here because we had no comps, but now there are,” Johnson said.

In addition to the initial homes built on Church Street, and the new four homes involved in the project approved Monday, the city is also working with the owners of Grit + Grind Coffee to build four contemporary-style homes in that area, including one they plan to use as their own residence.

Unrelated to the garden district, but still in step with city officials’ goal to increase housing is the planned construction of cottage-style rental homes on the property known as Packer Field. With the recent and current projects, the city will add 24 new residences with potential for more.

“The thing about using already-existing neighborhoods is that the streets are already there, the sewer and water is already there, the utilities are already there. These projects are allowing us to replace blighted structures with new houses. So far, it’s been a good plan and is working for us. It’s only one phase of the garden district with the potential there for three more phases,” Mayor Earl Johnson said.

Another improvement coming to the garden district is the upcoming construction of a new playground inside Robinson Park.

Other items discussed by the council include:

• approving a bid from L&K Contracting to provide water and sewer construction related to the Conecuh Sausage project.
• The approved bid was for $705,800 including engineering fees. A $400,000 ADECA grant will be applied to the cost with the city and utilities board dividing the difference. Both the city and utilities board will provide $152,900 for its shares after the grant funding.
• approving the transferring of assets on a property owned by the city to the Utilities Board of Andalusia. These items remained property of the city until a debt service was fulfilled.
• approving the city’s General Liability and Property Insurance Policy. The policy is a renewal and maintains the same rates with a three-year commitment.
• approving the re-appointment of Ricky Jones to the Utility Board. A longtime member of the board, Jones will serve another six-year term.