PHIL CAMPBELL – The town of Phil Campbell will soon have a new storm shelter that will service residents on the east side of town.

Councilman Danny Brown said the shelter would be similar to the one the town currently has near the new baseball field area.

“With the railroad tracks dividing the town, we didn’t have a shelter on the east side and those residents would be left without a place to go in the event of another severe weather outbreak,” Brown said.

Mayor Steve Bell said this was a major concern since that area has a high concentration of people.

“There are several houses as well as apartments that will benefit from this shelter,” Bell said.

“We want to make sure everyone has access to a place where they can feel safe if bad weather comes our way.”

The city council is expected to finish the bidding process for the project at their meeting on Tuesday.

Bids for the project were originally accepted Feb. 5 but were tabled at the last meeting.

City clerk Ann Bragwell said the shelter will measure 48’x12’ and will be paid for thanks to a grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA).

Bragwell said the town will have to provide a 25 percent match in funds, but in-kind work can be utilized.

“This is a project we’ve been working on for a while and it needed to be completed,” Bell said.

“We hope to get the bids taken care of Tuesday and move forward with the project.”