LAUREL HILL — The City Council has tabled a motion to dissolve the city.
The dissolution issue will remain tabled until road overlaying and repaving projects — on New Ebenezer Road, 2nd Avenue and 4th Street — are completed, city officials said.
The Florida Department of Economic Opportunity in July awarded a $600,000 Community Development Block Grant to help fund the work, city officials said.
A council-appointed selection committee, including Mayor Robby Adams, Mary Bradberry and Kenneth Jackson, will score proposals for administrative and engineer positions in administering the grant, City Clerk Nita Miller said.
The project won't be completed for another 18 months, at least, city officials said.
And that's how long the dissolution issue will remain tabled.
“We won’t do anything until we close the grant out,” Council President Larry Hendren said.
SIDEBAR
Talk of possibly turning Laurel Hill's control to Okaloosa County began two years ago, when residents expressed concerns over the city's poor roads. The City Council scheduled a town hall meeting to hear public input on the issue.
After addressing the roadways and almost receiving the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity's $600,000 Community Development Block Grant, the council voted to apply for the same grant in 2013.
It was the third consecutive year that the council applied for the grant. The city came close to receiving the grant in 2012, but a missing permit disqualified Laurel Hill.
City Councilman Larry Hendren previously stated that the council did not want to rush into placing a dissolution referendum on a ballot without exploring all other options, including the CDBG grant.
Email News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown, follow him on Twitteror call 850-682-6524.
This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: LAUREL HILL: Dissolution issue tabled due to $600,000 grant