By STEPHANIE BRUMFIELD / Staff Writer

WILSONVILLE – Wilsonville had several out of town guests visiting yesterday, as surveyors walked the streets with Wilsonville mayor Lee McCarty. The group walked along Hebb Road and McGowin Road in preparation for a $500,000 sidewalk project to be completed within two years.

As part of the Federal Transportation Alternatives Program, Wilsonville was awarded $400,000 in federal funds at the beginning of September to fund sidewalks along Hebb Road and McGowin Road. The city will provide a $100,000 match for the project.

McCarty said the survey of the land to be affected by the sidewalks should start next week and be completed within a month. Once the survey is complete, an engineer will draw up plans for the sidewalks, which will be brought to Wilsonville Town Hall for public input. McCarty said he hopes to have plans for the sidewalks in hand by the first of the year, barring any significant delays.

“If everything went perfectly, which it won’t, we could have it done by next September,” McCarty said, noting rain delays, construction hiccups and other things could hold up the project. The grant requires the project be completed within two years, or by September 2015, McCarty said.

Once the project is completed, the city expects to apply for another grant to add sidewalks along Alabama 25 leading to the post office, though those sidewalks can’t be built until lane-widening on Alabama 25 is completed, McCarty said.

In addition to providing safe walking paths to various places throughout town, McCarty said the sidewalks will also help with recreation. Currently, anyone wishing to walk for exercise “has to walk in circles,” he said.

“It’ll be a much more interesting walk (with the sidewalks),” he said.

In other business:

-The city has plans to applyi for another grant that would fund new water meters. At a city council meeting Nov. 4, McCarty said 47 percent of the city’s water meters were 25 years old or older, which means they will need replacing soon.

The grant, which is funded through the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, would essentially provide free water meters that could be read from the office, McCarty said.

As part of the grant application process, the city will seek public input at a council meeting tentatively scheduled for Dec. 2 at 6:30 p.m.