MARBLE HILL EXHIBITS COMMUNITY PLRIDE

MARBLE HILL -- What are the best things a town like Marble Hill has to offer?

The town's administrative assistant says it's the residents themselves.

"There are some down-to-earth, real honest and hard-working people here," said David Jackson, a former city alderman who took over as administrative assistant just a few months ago.

"Most of them are interested in creating a better standard of living for everyone. And lately, there has been more community pride than I've seen in a long time."

Even though some people still refer to parts of Marble Hill as Lutesville, Jackson insists the time isn't far away when most will accept the fact that the town of Lutesville is no longer on the map.

The two towns were consolidated in 1985, but the transition has taken quite some time to really take hold. In fact, the Lutesville Post Office was closed only last year.

"Some people are just now beginning to realize that we are better off this way," he said. "And it took a long time for people to feel this way."

Regardless of any lingerings of it being two towns, Marble Hill has recently made some strides city officials are proud of. Several projects that have been on the back burner for a while are finally being started, Jackson said.

"Some long-term projects are beginning to materialize," Jackson said. "And some of them have been a long time in coming."

A newly-adopted planning and zoning rule has allowed some of the street names in the town to be changed. Jackson said because of the merger some streets had the same names.

A new city map also has been developed, along with two new metal city signs. A third sign will be erected soon, he said.

Jackson said many residents are looking forward to construction of a city swimming pool. Made possible by a trust donated to the city several years ago, construction should begin this year, he said.

The pool complex will be just west of the intersection of Highways 34 and 51 in west Marble Hill. The startup date for construction was pushed back slightly because of bad weather.

Next to the pool complex will be a new city post office, Jackson said. Construction will start on that in about a month. He said the old Marble Hill Post Office was only large enough to serve the town before the merger.

Hopes are also high that the city will receive a Community Development Block Grant it has applied, Jackson said. The grant would enable city crews to repair and replace worn and deteriorated water lines.

"We've applied before for similar grants, but this is a more direct appeal. We really need lines replaced. It seems that the repairs just never stop. It's a real need," he said.

Jackson said that between 4,000 and 5,000 feet of water lines mostly on the west side of town in old Lutesville need to be replaced or repaired.

As far as new jobs in the town, Jackson said construction of a sheltered workshop owned by VIP Industries is near completion. It will provide about 25 new jobs, he said.