View Single Post
  #148  
Old Posted Dec 5, 2005, 1:59 PM
thoraudio's Avatar
thoraudio thoraudio is offline
Witty comment fail
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Prattville, Alabama
Posts: 2,906
More on the Prattville bond issue.

Quote:
Residents split on city's future

By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser


PRATTVILLE -- Feelings about Prattville borrowing up to $48 million to land two sprawling shopping centers and a convention center on the east side of town seem to be split evenly among two groups, Old Prattville and New Prattville.

Prattville has experienced tremendous growth since the 1970s, and that influx of new residents has crowded some of those who remember when Prattville was a sleepy little farm town of 13,000. The city has a population now estimated at more than 28,000. The idea of the city going into debt to foster private enterprise seems to cause the most heartburn in natives and longtime residents.

East Main Street/Cobbs Ford Road is the main road in town now, going through subdivisions and the heart of the city's primary retail area.

"I can remember when the only thing past the Memorial Drive and East Main Street intersection was cotton fields and the Holiday Inn," said Jimmy Deas, who moved to Prattville in 1975. "Prattville is not the city we raised our children in. I would like to go back to those days."

A trip back into time is impossible, said Mayor Jim Byard. As the city's chief executive, he has to walk the tightrope of moving Prattville forward while remaining true to its small town roots.

"I grew up in Prattville. I remember the time when you knew practically everyone in town," he said. "But a city that doesn't move forward stagnates. People can say we've grown too much, but most of those people would be the first to say they are glad they don't have to shop across the river for everything anymore.

"Personally, I think the thing that makes Prattville so special is its spirit, not its size. We still have that spirit of neighbor looking out for neighbor. The growth is going to continue. If we control that growth, we can always have that neighborly spirit."

Once up and running in mid-2007, the planned retail stores will produce about $10 million a year in additional revenue, the mayor said. The bond payment, about $3.8 million a year for 20 years, will come from that new revenue. Once the payment is removed, the city would see an additional $5.6 million in revenue, city hall figures state. That money will pay for additional city services, the mayor said.

Chamber of Commerce figures state the growth will create about 1,300 new jobs. On Thursday, Circuit Judge Ben Fuller validated the bond package, removing the last procedural hurdle for the city.

Carla Nelson is a newer Prattville resident. Her family moved from Montgomery about five years ago.

"I don't think that clique feeling is as big as it used to be," Nelson said. "When we got here, there was a definite feeling that we were newcomers and would always be newcomers.

"I guess it's that way in every town. That standoffishness is not as evident now. I can understand their feelings though ... people that were born here. We've been in Prattville five years and I hardly recognize the city anymore. It's grown that much."
__________________
Abandon all hope. It will help you focus.
Reply With Quote