Alabama City to Use Disaster Funds for Eight Projects

City officials in Tuscaloosa, Ala., are making plans for how to spend $16.6 million in federal disaster relief funding it’s getting in the wake of the deadly tornado that struck in April 2011.

The Tuscaloosa News reports the City Council is scheduled to vote next week on eight projects proposed to receive the money.

Several council members have endorsed Mayor Walt Maddox’s plan to put $11.9 million into improving streets and low-income housing projects. The mayor’s plan also includes projects to help development of a City Walk recreational trail that would trace the tornado’s 5.9-mile path of destruction.

Another $3 million would go to loan programs for homeowners and business owners displaced by the storm.