OAKWOOD — A long-awaited improvements project is now poised to get under way in downtown Oakwood.

City Council voted Monday to approve a $127,400 contract with Johnson Landscaping Inc. to complete the project. City officials had no other details about the company.

A transportation enhancement grant the city received three years ago from the Georgia Department of Transportation is paying for the work.

The Jaeger Co., a Gainesville landscaping and design firm, worked with Oakwood on the project, including analyzing construction bids.

The work calls for new sidewalks and other pedestrian fixes on Railroad Street between Main and Allen streets. The city’s police station and park, which features a swimming pool and community room, is along that stretch.

One side of Railroad Street between Main and Allen is completely vacant except for parking spaces and trees. Railroad tracks run parallel to the roadway.

“The basis of our application was that (the city has) a lot of sidewalks that are deteriorating, uneven and where tree roots have grown into them,” City Planner Larry Sparks has said. “We’ve even got some areas that don’t have some sidewalks.”

The city has been approved for another transportation grant, totaling $100,000, to do further improvements. That project has yet to be designed.

In other business, the council gave its first OK to annex 1.08 acres at 3931 Old Flowery Branch Road and rezone the property to office professional from agricultural residential.

Officials scoffed at Hall County’s formal objection on the matter, saying the applicant approached the city and that commercial zoning mostly surrounds the property.

“I can’t see a basis for the county’s objection,” City Attorney Donnie Hunt said. “... If it goes further, (the county is) going to end up paying for the whole arbitration process.”

The Flowery Branch City Council won’t hold its regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday because of a lack of agenda items, City Clerk Melissa McCain said.

The council normally meets the first and third Wednesday of every month at 9:30 a.m. at City Hall, 5517 Main St.

The next meeting is set for Oct. 7.

For more information, call 770-967-6371 or visit their Web site.