The City of Brundidge is taking its first steps in forming a comprehensive city plan, thanks to a grant they received toward 2008’s end.

In November, the city council announced they had been awarded a $33,000 grant from the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs, and they are taking the first steps in formulating that plan now.

City Manager Britt Thomas said officials are preparing data requested from ADECA that has to be completed before a contract can be executed. But, once that is done, Thomas said a citywide study will mark the plan’s beginning.

Thomas said he anticipates the plan to come to completion before the end of 2009.

The city plan will be similar to the one the City of Troy is working to complete now, encompassing the transportation system, zoning ordinances and mapping requirements.

Nothing in the plan will be a project that will necessarily be completed, but it will guide future development in Brundidge.

“It will be a very comprehensive plan as it relates to the city and the future of the city,” Thomas said. “It will provide some very opinionated direction that will always be subject to change.”

This plan will mark the first one the city has had in some 30 years.

Before any plan is approved, there will be several steps the city has to take in its implementation.

The study, public hearings and approval from the Planning Commission and ultimately the city council are some of those steps.

Earlier last year, the city council held a preliminary public hearing to see what types of areas residents would like to see included in the plan.

Mayor Jimmy Ramage said retail was one of the primary areas residents addressed at that time.

And since, Ramage said he has heard several ideas from the public, like adding a walking trail and adding soccer fields.

Ramage said whatever the study shows, he wants to see the plan put to a use that will serve residents the most.