A look ahead at 2023: 'Beautiful' land may lead Trussville news in 2023

Trussville will look to make hay while the sun shines in 2023.

That idiomatic saying, defined as taking advantage of a favorable situation while the chance is there, is connected to farming, and a farm might be a large focus for the city of Trussville in 2023.

The Trussville City Council in November approved a resolution for the purchase of 230 acres of Glendale Farms, where a development that would have included 419 homes and a fourth city elementary school was denied in August 2022. The Beard family owns the property. Paul Ott Carruth Jr. and Lindsey Bowers Carruth have assigned a first right of refusal on some of the land to the city for $10. According to the resolution, “the city believes that accepting the assignment purchasing the property will provide additional public space — a necessity due to the population growth Trussville has experienced in recent years and additional space for the construction of a public school by Trussville City Schools.”

Trussville Mayor Buddy Choat said a fourth elementary school is the top priority. Some industry and businesses could eventually be located on the 230 acres. There is a lake and two ponds on the property, so there are also recreational opportunities.

“There’s just some beautiful land there that, once we close on the property and get a chance to work with a team to lay out our wish list and see what’s available, we’ll be able to define more exactly what we’re going to be able to do out there,” Choat said. “To ride that piece of property and see how beautiful it was and see what the opportunities were, we were hoping that we would get an opportunity.”

Choat said the 230 acres do not include close to 75 acres that are closest to Carrington Drive.

Where will the school be located? How many students will it be constructed for? When will it be constructed? These are all questions to begin answering in 2023. Choat said no matter where the school is located, greenspace will remain important.

“There will not be concrete and asphalt and buildings all over that property,” he said. “I can assure you that.”

Outside of Glendale Farms, infrastructure and construction projects appear ready to dominate the Trussville news cycle in 2023. The U.S. Highway 11 widening project from North Chalkville Road to Parkway Drive should finish in 2023, Choat said. It began in February 2022.

Trussville has secured bonds to pay for Trussville Fire Station No. 4 on Trussville-Clay Road. The to-be-constructed fire station, which will also house the city’s inspections department and fire administration officials, will likely go out to bid in early 2023, Choat said. It will likely take 12 to 18 months to build.

“That’s something that’s been a long time coming,” Choat said.

Choat said Jefferson County has been securing right-of-way for an eventual widening of North Chalkville Road from the Stonegate subdivision to Interstate 59. Eight covered pickleball courts will be constructed in 2023 in the outfield area of the former 15- to 18-year-old baseball field at the Trussville Sports Complex. Choat said those should be ready for play by summer.

Various Trussville City Schools athletic fields soon will have artificial turf, and part of a field will be covered. The Trussville City Council on Sept. 27 authorized the release of up to $7 million from the city’s public school capital improvement trust fund for phase one of Trussville City Schools’ athletics master plan. Phase one includes turf fields for Goldie Paine Field for softball, Phil English Field for baseball, the competition soccer field and the field behind Hewitt-Trussville Middle School, as well as a half field covered beside the football fieldhouse on Husky Parkway.

Choat said the utilities portion of the downtown loop roads project should happen in 2023. He said civil engineers will be working to relocate utilities in preparation for the construction of two loop roads. The first road connection to be constructed will begin at Talley Street and pass in front of where the Trussville Church of Christ building once was and behind Trussville First United Methodist Church. It will connect with Glenn Avenue, which ends at the intersection with Main Street by Marco’s Pizza, where there is now a traffic signal.

The second loop road will involve creating a road beside and around Trussville Pediatric Dentistry that connects with Vann Circle and ends at the intersection with Main Street by Edgar’s Bakery, where, Choat said, the Alabama Department of Transportation has indicated another traffic signal may be constructed. Choat has said that it will take 18 to 24 months to complete. He expects that project to go out to bid by early summer.

“I guess what I would look for in 2023 is to continue with our process of making Trussville better,” Choat said. “What we’re trying to do with everything we’re doing now is to try to make us be the best that we can for the people that live here and our business owners here.”