ANNA — Things are looking up for the village of Anna, a community of about 1,500 and the largest village in Shelby County.

“About $90,000 in curb replacement and pavement repairs were undertaken on Commerce Drive south of Wendy’s and Speedway,” said Village Administrator Wayne York. “The concrete pavement and curbs had begun to deteriorate and major repairs were required. Look for additional pavement repairs on Commerce Drive in 2018 in order to get Commerce Drive into the kind of shape required for all of the auto and truck traffic on this busy commercial street.”

His report continues:

The village began a systematic program of repairing or installing sidewalks in 2017. The first streets were North Second Street, Cherry Lane and Apple Lane – near the Elementary School- where there were no sidewalks whatsoever. For 2018, watch for sidewalks to be installed or repaired along Pike Street (County Road 25A) and Main Street (State Route 119) east of the CSX Railroad Tracks. About 60 properties will be involved.

Two blocks of Young Street were reconstructed in 2017. The other two blocks of Young Street were reconstructed two years ago. Look for the village to pursue the reconstruction of South Street over the next couple of years.

New housing continues to be built in Mitch Middendorf’s Timber Trail Subdivision at the south end of Anna.

The biggest development in Anna in 2017 would be the agreement to annex the Anna Truck Stop to the village corporate limits and to extend water and sewer lines under I-75. This has been a hurdle that the village has attempted several times in the last twenty years. The Annexation was approved by the Shelby County Commissioners in early January. Engineering plans will be developed over the next few months and construction is expected in summer of 2018.