By Kristin Rover
Sun staff
Amelia Mayor Todd Hart gave his annual state of the village address during the Jan. 14 council meeting.
“Amelia started moving forward January 2012 and hasn’t looked back,” Hart said.
Hart said the village had several economic development milestones including the opening of the new Kroger Marketplace on Main Street in the village.
Other tenants joined Kroger in the shopping center, and the increase in traffic enabled the village to make additional improvements.
“That warranted the widening of Main Street,” Hart said about the Kroger project.
Hart said the widening of the road helped alleviate 50 percent of traffic accidents in the area.
“The positive changes have helped people want to live, work, and prosper in Amelia,” Hart said.
Hart said that in 2013 village officials also adopted a building maintenance code, which led to the improvement of some of the business infrastructure in the area.
He said village officials and volunteers also worked on an improvement project at Odd Fellows Cemetery in 2013 and will continue to work toward building a veterans memorial in the cemetery in 2014.
The police department also grew in 2013, according to Hart.
He said village officials hired three new part-time officers, purchased new cruisers and new radios for the department.
“The maintenance department got new uniforms and a new, used dump truck plow,” Hart said.
He said the village participated in the road resurfacing program with the county for the first time, and also put in new a new sidewalk on Amelia Olive-Branch Road.
“Residents all around are noticing good things happening in Amelia,” Hart said.
Hart said that financially, the village has improved dramatically from three years ago.
“We have become a sound operation and live within our means,” Hart said. “Two-thousand fourteen is going to be another fast-moving and exciting year.”
Hart thanked council members for their involvement during the past year and said he is looking forward to what 2014 will bring.