Parrish receives grant to make repairs at high school

PARRISH – The Town of Parrish has been selected to receive the Don Drummond Family Fund 2022 “Bricks and Mortar” Grant from the Walker Area Community Foundation. The $34,000 grant will be used to replace the doors on the gym and repair HVAC units affecting the future head start units at the old Parrish High School.

Parrish mayor Bubba Cagle said the doors at the gym have continued to deteriorate since the school closed in 2013.

“We’ve tried to have the doors repaired but have had trouble finding the parts to do so,” he said. “It’s both a security and safety issue with them, so to be able to get that fixed will be a good thing.”

The old high school, which will house the Jasper Area Family Services head start program in Parrish starting on September 6, used to run off an old boiler room. The grant money will be used to repair existing units and install dual units.

Parrish has also received $111,000 the second installment of the American Rescue Funds. Cagle said that the town has not decided yet to where to allocate the money.

“They have broadened the restrictions on what the money can be used for,” he said. “We are going to see what’s possible and find the best way to use it.”

Tuesday’s regularly scheduled council meeting was rescheduled to next week due to not having enough members present to form a quorum. The council had planned to vote on a resolution to move forward in Alabama’s lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson, McKesson Corp and Endo International.

That vote has been pushed back to Tuesday’s meeting.

The State of Alabama reached a $267 million settlement with the three companies in April

“Per the terms of each agreement, the settlement funds are to be used to remediate the harms caused by the opioid crisis in Alabama,” a statement read from Attorney General Steve Marshall in April.

Cagle hopes to use the money from the lawsuit to work with other county communities to affect real change in the area.

“We are working with the Walker Area Community Foundation and the Healing Network to find ways to best use that money for preventative measures,” he said. “I’m hoping to build synergy between the communities to get some things done. That’s what we’re hoping.”