Prichard mayor claims Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council failed to consider his city

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Gulf Coast
Gulf Coast

The Alabama Gulf Coast Recovery Council — tasked with distributing funds earned from the civil penalties paid by companies involved in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill — made recommendations last week to fund more than 40 improvement projects to the region.

Totaling $315 million (which includes $118 million for projects in Baldwin County and $161 for projects in Mobile County), the projects are mostly economic or environmental in nature.

But not everyone who hoped to get funding for a project got it.

Prichard Mayor Jimmie Gardner voiced his dismay over his city being left out of the funding projects during a news conference on Monday.

“I understand that the City of Mobile is the hub of this area,” Gardner said during the news conference. “I support that, but if we don’t start funding these other cities who may not have the budget that a city like Mobile may have, you’re just a part of a problem in allowing these cities to deteriorate. Help them do better.”

Prichard had hoped money to receive funds for drainage and sewer infrastructure improvements on West Turner Road and Lovejoy Loop.

As in most of our counties in Alabama, the infrastructure underneath the ground is poor. The city of Prichard has very old pipes which causes for the flooding. The BP restore act money was for drainage to be corrected on West Turner Road and Lovejoy Loop,” the city Tweeted.

Gardner also criticized the fact his Mobile-County city was not represented on the 10-member council — which includes Baldwin County Commissioner Frank Burt, Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier, Bayou La Batre Mayor Terry Downey, Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft, Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, Fairhope Mayor Karin Wilson, Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson, Mobile County Commission President Merceria Ludgood, Alabama State Port Authority Executive Director Jimmy Lyons and former U.S. Rep. Jo Bonner, who is serving as a liaison to Gov. Kay Ivey — that selected the projects.

“We got to look at a better way to make sure that everyone has a fair opportunity, beyond someone else suggesting ‘my project is better than your project,'” Gardner added.

He is now asking its residents to make use of the public comment period to request funding for Prichard.

Everyone please remember there is a 45-day public comment period. The city of Prichard and a couple of other municipalities did not receive any BP Restore funds. I believe there was a slight disparity in the allocation of the funds + heaviness towards Baldwin and mobile counties,” Tweeted the city person Gardner’s request.

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