Mayor sees business development as year’s top priority

By Staff
Clif Knight, Hartselle Enquirer
Hartselle Mayor Dwight Tankersley believes business growth is the answer to generating the additional revenue needed to maintain and improve city services. He acted on that belief in 2006 by convincing the city council to purchase 18.8 acres of prime commercial property at I-65 and Highway 36. He says the next step—providing sewer access and marketing its development—will be the focus of his attention in 2007.
Tankersley said extending sewer to the I-65 tract will make it more attractive for commercial development.
The price tag for the proposed development is a big one. It could cost the city up to $600,000 to extend sewer and other utilities to the property. The cost of the land was $1.9 million with $550,000 paid up front and the balance financed by the owner at 6.5 percent interest over five years.
Already, the land has been cleared and grubbed by the Public Works Department and approval is pending from the Alabama Department of Transportation for the removal of trees on I-65 and Highway 36 rights-of-way.
The mayor said he has made contact with prospective developers about the I-65 property in recent weeks but has not found anyone who is willing the make a commitment. Fortunately, there’s better news with respect to the pending development of commercial property on Highway 31.
The Central Business District is also targeted for a facelift thanks to a $420,000 Transportation Enhancement Grant.
The money will be used to replace the flat roof on canopies on Main Street, replace sidewalks and some of the curbing.
Several capital improvement needs are also on the mayor’s list of priorities even though no money was set aside for them when the current operating budget was approved last September. If approved, funding would have to come from the general fund, which had a balance of $5.5 million in December.
Tankersley said he wants to see the council move forward with the upgrade and resurfacing of Foote Road next summer.
A conservative estimate of the cost is $250,000.
Other capital needs he mentioned are a new fire engine for the fire department, new patrol cars for the police department and the completion of the first phase of a soccer field complex in Sparkman Park.
The city’s sales tax gain in fiscal 2005-06 was 1.3 percent or about $250,000. So far this year it is about 2 percent above last year.