Road improvements may be on the way in the future after the Chilton County Commission approved a resolution to apply for an ADECA community development block grant during its meeting on July 9.

According to Stacy McKean with Grant Management, the purpose of the grant is to help pave some dirt roads in moderate to low-income areas of the county.

The area identified for improvement is 4.1 miles that includes County Road 127, County Road 128 and County Road 201.

Each of the roads connects with each other and is situated in the northern end near the county line.

“There’s about 140 houses in the area,” McKean said. “It’s going to have a positive affect on the lives of many people.”

The Commission agreed to apply for a request of $350,000 in grant funding, which is the maximum amount that can be asked for.

The amount requested would pay for the asphalt needed for the project, while most of the equipment used is already owned by the county.

July 22 is the deadline for the grant applications. McKean expects a decision to be made in September.

Commissioner Matt Mims helped clarify the situation by stating that if the county gets the grant, the project would cost less than it would to pave a mile of road with federal funds.

The Commission also scheduled a work session on Aug. 6 at 6 p.m. to discuss the various commissioner-proposed road plans and which would be the best fit moving forward.

Inmate medical at the jail should be covered through the month of July following an approval to move some funds around internally from areas that were not on track to spend their allotted amount of the budget.

Commissioner Joe Headley opposed the decision.

The costs for August and September are still up in the air and being looked into.

The next Commission meeting will be July 30 instead of the traditional fourth Tuesday of the month.

In other news from the meeting:

• The Commission approved an alcohol license for Worthy Food Mart. Commissioner Jimmie Hardee opposed.
• Community Corrections program was approved to continue operating within the county limits. It is a program under the Alabama Department of Corrections that institutes a form of probation and rehabilitation process outside of jail or prison.
• Jacob Varden, Mason Manley, Adam Geisler and Waverly Powers were approved to be reclassified as full-time corrections officers with the Sheriff’s Office.
• Jeremy Naish, Zachery Williams, Lucinda Martin, James Harper and Kenneth Ray were approved as part-time corrections officers with the Sheriff’s Office.
• A request by parks and recreation director Gerald Arrington to post for the job position of park ranger with Higgins Ferry Park was approved.
• The Commission approved the minutes from the June 25 meeting.
• The Commission approved to pay its bills.