Foley, Ala. – (OBA) –  Foley has several major projects planned for the coming year, including the construction of a new library center and the completion of the Public Works campus. During his annual State of the City presentation on December 12th at the South Baldwin Chamber’s luncheon, Mayor Ralph Hellmich highlighted the city's significant accomplishments over the past year and outlined plans for future initiatives. He announced that construction on the new library is set to begin next month, as project bids came in under budget.

“We'll start construction in January,” Hellmich said. “We're very proud of this library community center. It is very modern. It's going to be twice the size of our current facility.”

Work continues on the complex that will house Foley’s Public Works and Sanitation Department. That facility is scheduled to open in 2025. Moving Public Works will free space at the department’s current facility for other offices.

“We believe that by mid-summer, we'll be able to move Public Works,” Hellmich said. “Once Public Works gets moved that frees up the space where we can then move our Parks and Recreation.”

Foley will continue to improve roads and sidewalks around the city. In the last year, the city opened the South Juniper Street extension, which allows traffic to move between U.S. 98 and Baldwin County 20 without having to use Alabama 59 or the Foley Beach Express.

The city is also improving intersections. Hellmich said much of the local congestion is due to traffic at intersections as millions of vehicles move through the city each year.

“Our roads are not the problem,” Hellmich said. “It's the intersections that cause the glitch.” 

Foley and the Alabama Department of Transportation are coordinating light signals at intersections through the city.

The city is also spending more than $1 million each year to maintain existing roads.

“We do about $1 million and in some years we do more in repaving. So those projects will generally be between $1 million to $1.5 million. That's just to maintain the quality of our road structure. We did an engineering study of our road structure. Normally, if you grade above 80 that means your roads are well maintained. We grade at about 87, so we have good roads with very few potholes. Our job is to make sure that number doesn't drop.”

Foley is improving pedestrian travel around the city. The city spent about $1 million in the last year on sidewalk construction and has budgeted another $1 million for the current year.

The city installed a solar-powered crosswalk signal on North Pecan Street and plans to add more.

“You'll start seeing the solar powered pushbutton crosswalk, where you have mid-block crossings on busy roads that will allow for better pedestrian safety,” Hellmich said. “Technology has improved to the point where these signs are affordable now.”

Foley is also extending East Jessamine Avenue to link Heritage Park with the area near City Hall and making improvements on the east side of Heritage Park.

Extensions are also in the works for Bullard Street and Pilgrim Street in the Beulah Heights community. 

Work is almost complete to widen and add shoulders along the Foley Beach Express. Foley and the state have agreed that the city will transfer the highway to ALDOT when that project is finished in upcoming weeks.

The city opened the new restroom facilities at Heritage Park earlier this month.

More park improvements are also planned around Foley. The city is building a new park in the Mills Community and is developing plans for recreational improvements, such as the pickleball and sand volleyball courts under construction near the Coastal Alabama Farmers and Fishermens Market.

Other accomplishments include the purchase of a World War II Navy training aircraft to continue the city’s work to educate the public about Foley’s role in training aviators during the war. The National Park Service designated Foley as an American World War II Heritage City. The city opened a museum exhibit commemorating the designation and the Navy training center at Barin Field that opened in 1942.

Downtown improvements are also moving forward. Hellmich said the Foley Main Street downtown improvement group opened the Cat Alley walkway area in November and more than 20 businesses have located in downtown Foley in the last year.

Foley now has a downtown Arts and Entertainment District. The entertainment district will bring more business and activity to downtown in order to enhance community engagement and cultural activities.

The district opened in November as part of the continuing work to improve and revitalize the city’s historic downtown. 

“I’m very proud of what they’ve done and of our council for creating the Main Street program several years ago,” Hellmich said. 

Four pillars guide city planning and development. 

“This is what we concentrate on. Everything fits within these guidelines – public safety, education, infrastructure and quality of life. Each are equally important,” Hellmich said. “Each has projects and support that we can do, and we are working in every one of those facets.”

The mayor said Foley is expanding the police and fire departments to meet the growing needs of the city.

“We're going to keep supporting our first responders,” Hellmich said.

 The city approved hiring six additional firefighters and expanding the size of the Police Department to 75 positions.

To support education, the city created the Foley Enhanced Education Committee. The City Council agreed to provide $250,000 to support education in the Foley school feeder pattern.

Hellmich said Foley is one of the fastest growing cities in the state and that growth is expected to continue.

We're moving forward,” he said. “We are known as the Forward City and we're going to keep being that. We're going to keep taking it forward.”