York and the artistic movement that has come to town in recent years have worked very well together to spark improvement all over the city. Monday night, the city welcomed another new face as artist Allen Peterson was introduced to the council and asked to discuss some of the projects he has in the works. Amy Horst, who has been in York working with the Coleman Center for the Arts made one last appearance at the council meeting to introduce the new artist.

“We just wanted to give you a chance to meet him,” Horst said. “He is doing a public piece out there and he has talked to quite a few people about that already.”

Peterson said he has been working on some projects at a local park and hopes to do a lot to beautify it.

“I have been out in Cherokee Park now for a few days doing the edging on that sidewalk area,” Peterson said. “I am also going to try to use varnish or something to unify the color of the concrete.”

Peterson said he would also like to add a little extra to the Cherokee Park project.

“I would also like to put a sculpture in on the concrete,” Peterson said. “I also want to put in a concrete park bench. It is just a beautification element.”

York Mayor Carolyn Mitchell Gosa said the city would be happy to work with the artists on any project they had in mind.

“We look forward to having that done and any assistance that we need to provide to you will be available,” Gosa said. “We know you have talked to different people and have gotten the guidelines to what you need and we will be happy to help you get that done. Welcome to York.”

Gosa told the new artists they were excited, sad and optimistic about the changes that lie before York.

“We are very excited about what you are all doing in York,” Gosa said. “We are sad that Amy and Richard are leaving, but we look forward to working with you too.”

While on the topic of city improvement Gosa took the time to ask the citizens of her city to take the time to do their part as well.

“I just want to encourage everyone to do a little spring cleaning,” Gosa said. “We have been talking about the paper that has collected along the highways and neighborhoods. Please pick up your paper. Be a good citizen and pick up someone elses paper if necessary to beautify our town.”

With spring cleaning Gosa said she hoped a sense of pride for the city could be displayed to those passing through.

“If we have pride people will want to come here,” Gosa said. “If people come into town and they see paper everywhere they will think we do not care about our city. We just need to pick up the paper and do some cleaning during spring break.”

The council also announced they are one step closer to beginning their Sewer, Drainage, Street improvement project. Bids were recently taken and the council voted Monday to accept the low bid of $453,025.80 from Cornerstone Construction out of Tuscaloosa. Gosa said the bid the city received last month would cover most of the expenses and matching funds and a small amount extra would take care of the rest.

“We got a $400,000 grant and our match on that is $47,000,” Gosa said. “That will leave us with only a little over $6,000 extra.”