Mayor Hammock at last week's Memorial Day Observance Photo by Suzannah Solomon Wilson

Hammock talks about mill property plans

By Michael Butler

Tallassee mayor Johnny Hammock is ready to see things get back to normal like most. It is expected to enable the city to get moving on future projects.

The east side mill property is now owned by the city. The site has been in ruins since a 2016 fire destroyed the 1897 textile mill.

"Tommy Hudson (the former owner) has until the end of June to get all of his stuff," said Hammock. "I won't do anything now. Right now, ADEM is doing $300,000 worth of in-kind work for the city. It's an assessment grant. You have to do that before you can even apply for a Brownfield cleanup grant."

Hammock said the Brownfield grant could bring $500,000, but expects property cleanup could exceed $1 million.

"I went through a grant class while City Hall was closed. I was chained to my office. I just finished that up. When everything gets back to normal, we'll look at some grants to do a new water filter plant. I'd like to repurpose that railroad bridge as a pedestrian bridge and emergency access bridge."

Some of those financial avenues could open up for the city possibly by late summer or early fall.

"That's my goal for my next term if I get re-elected. It takes a long time to get the grants and even longer to get them executed. I'm asking the people of Tallassee to please be patient. We've got a lot in the pipeline."