DBTechnologies founder and owner David Branscomb was on site and getting his hands dirty alongside local helpers Wednesday, prepping the Hanceville facility that’ll soon host his startup high-tech fabrication company ahead of its upcoming move-in. DBTech got its start as an incubator project at Wallace State, but is making the big leap to its new permanent home — a repurposed industrial building along Alabama Highway 91 in east Hanceville.

HANCEVILLE — The push to finish a refurbished industrial property and welcome a new tenant to Hanceville got a boost Tuesday, as city leaders signed off on tapping the city’s share of American Rescue Plan Act funds for infrastructure upgrades at the future local home of DB Technologies.

At its regular meeting Tuesday, the Hanceville City Council approved $11,600 in spending from its share of the $1.9 trillion federal bailout measure that Congress passed earlier this year. At a previous meeting, the council already had authorized the upgrades at the industrial site along Alabama Highway 91. Tuesday’s vote to use Rescue Plan funds for the project came after council members learned that those upgrades are eligible expenditures under the Act’s spending stipulations.

The city and the Hanceville Water and Sewer Board have committed $11,600 each to the industrial project for a total of $21,200. The money is being used to pay for water and infrastructure upgrades at the property, which is being redeveloped to accommodate DB Technologies as a leasing tenant.

The Hanceville Industrial Development Board purchased the property earlier this year in order to accommodate the local company, which previously had operated from a temporary startup space on the Wallace State campus.

In other business, the council:

Held a public hearing concerning a proposed rezoning for property located on Blountsville Street downtown. No one spoke either for or against the rezoning during the hearing. The council subsequently rezoned the property from ID – institutional to R-1 residential on a unanimous roll-call vote. Council member Kim Brown was not present for Tuesday’s meeting.

Agreed to attend an informal event at the city’s Fire Station No. 1 immediately following the Cullman County Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 4. The event will celebrate the Hanceville Fire Department’s official induction of the city’s new fire truck into operational service. The parade begins at 12 p.m. on U.S. Highway 31 near the Wallace State Campus, proceeding south along the highway to its ending point in downtown Hanceville.

Approved the minutes of the council’s Nov. 18 regular meeting.