Alabama veterans agency says state home repairs on schedule, federal funds bolster plan for new North Alabama veterans cemetery

General Jeff Newton, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Veterans Affairs, told the Senate Veterans and Military Affairs Committee on Feb. 11 that repairs to the Command Sergeant Major Benny G. Adkins State Veterans Home continue "on budget" and "on time," and that the department expects to return residents to the facility in September. "Everything is going on budget. Everything is on time, and we're really excited about, getting our veterans back home in September," Newton said.

Newton said the department is moving quickly on a second State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Madison County. He described the planned site as about 2 miles north of Madison County High School in Maysville, roughly 12 miles east of Huntsville, and said the department has selected an architect and engineer. Newton told the committee that the National Cemetery Administration has offered federal funds to supplement state monies and that the department must obligate those federal grant dollars by Sept. 30, prompting an accelerated schedule.

Newton also noted personnel work under way at the agency. He said the department is recruiting a new women's veterans coordinator to serve the state's approximately 45,000 women veterans and that the department's deputy commissioner, Mrs. Sandra Lucas, and executive assistant John Stafford, both retired Army veterans, are assisting the effort.

Newton recounted the April fire at the Adkins State Veterans Home and said displaced residents are currently housed at the Enterprise Health and Rehab Center while construction proceeds. He thanked lawmakers for support and invited committee members to a Feb. 18 ribbon-cutting for a new veterans resource center on Dexter.

The session did not include follow-up votes or formal direction tied to the update; Newton's timetable and budget statements were not challenged during the hearing.