Photo courtesy of Dale Neuendorf
Dale Neuendorf
The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23.
Crossbrook Farms resident and Chelsea City Council member Dale Neuendorf is running for mayor of Chelsea.
Neuendorf has served on the city council for six years and said he hopes to continue the accomplishments made in the city over the past several years.
“There are a lot of things that Chelsea has accomplished that I think serve the citizens well, and I think our current mayor has done a good job of managing the finances of the city and making significant improvements for the citizens,” he said. “… There’s so many more things I want to do.”
Neuendorf said he would like to see the city continue to grow and bring in more businesses, as that is the main tax base for Chelsea.
“I want us to contract with a business-recruiting firm that specializes with going out and finding the types of business that Chelsea really needs, and I want to get non-competing businesses,” Neuendorf said.
A building supply and hardware store would benefit Chelsea, he said, as would bringing in a shopping center with a large anchor store or constructing an office park to house lawyers, accountants or other offices. These additions could help the city grow without losing its rural town charms, he said.
“We maintain the rural lifestyle, but we’re also able to shop and eat without having to go over the mountain,” he said.
Because the city does not have ad valorem or property taxes, these businesses would be a way to improve the amenities around the city, he said. In his vision for the city, Neuendorf said he would like to add a new fire station on Highway 32 and consider a fourth station near the Chelsea Sports Complex on Highway 11, give a facelift to existing baseball fields in the city and add more amenities at the Chelsea Community Center.
“We’ve got a lot at the community center for teenagers and senior citizens, but we don’t have a lot for young children, and that’s one of the reasons I want to look at putting in a splash pad for the young children to enjoy,” he said.
Neuendorf said he would also like to work on installing a large roundabout intersection and green spaces at the intersection of Highway 47 and Highway 39.
“One of the big projects I do want to look at as soon as I become mayor, if I’m fortunate enough to be elected, is restructuring the intersection of Highway 47 and 39,” he said. “…Traffic would not have to stop there unless a train was coming. All other times, traffic would continue to flow without having to stop at a traffic light.”
Other traffic-related changes, Neuendorf said, include reducing the speed limit on U.S. 280 and improving the intersection of U.S. 280 and Chelsea Road. He said he would like to talk with the Alabama Department of Transportation to take steps past dropping the speed limit from 55 to 50 miles per hour, something ALDOT proposed and the council approved earlier this year.
“I want to continue to work with ALDOT to lower the speed limit even more,” he said. “I would like to see it 45 miles per hour all the way through the business district on Highway 280 and past the entrance to the Chelsea Park subdivision.”
Community involvement is something Neuendorf said he would like to encourage. If elected, he said he would like to create citizen advisory committees on topics ranging from parks and recreation to streets and roads to public safety. In addition to those committees, Neuendorf said he believes live-streaming city council meetings and providing the video online and installing at city hall an electronic sign to display community events would help increase involvement.
“It’s a vision that I’ve got for Chelsea to continue to build on all of the great things that we already have and to never be complacent, but to continue to look toward the future and to make things more efficient,” he said.
For more information, visit daleformayor.com.
The election for Chelsea mayor and five city council seats is scheduled for Aug. 23. Council member Alison Moore Nichols is also running for mayor.
If you are running for city council or mayor in Chelsea, you can reach our community reporter Erica Techo at erica@starnespublishing.com.
