The new year is expected to bring new business, a continued real estate rebound, and new challenges, area leaders said.
Andalusia
Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson said there are a number of prospects on the horizon for 2013 – retail, restaurant and industrial.
“We expect an announcement very soon about one of those,” he said.
Johnson said his hope is that the city will continue down the road of transforming Andalusia into a commercial center for South Central Alabama.
“We think we have sort of turned the corner,” he said. “Some of those businesses wouldn’t look at us before because our numbers and demograhics didn’t fit their criteria. Ordinarily, they would not consider Andalusia as a place to locate. That is changing, as is demonstrated by the the announcement expected early in 2012.”
Like the rest of the world, Andalusia’s leader is watching to see what Congress will do with the so-called fiscal cliff.
“It is affecting us, because business people are unsure of how it will be resolved and what the tax laws will be,” he said. “They are waiting to do anything until they find out.”
Meanwhile, he said the city administration remains committed to improving the infrastructure of South Three Notch Street.
“We have a grant application pending with the Department of Transportation and are waiting to see what they will do,” he said. “We also want to develop an entertainment district in the downtown area, much the way many other cities in Alabama have done.”
Opp
In Opp, Mayor John Bartholomew said there is a lot the city will be looking at in 2013, from infrastructure to community developmentto economic development.
“We are continuing to prioritize and address our streets through the different areas of town,” he said. “We are identifying areas that need maintenance to the drainage systems, and we are developing a plan that ensures a systematic means of keeping the streets clean.”
Bartholomew said as community development projects, the city has its sites set on the next Rattlesnake Rodeo as well as restoring the historic depot downtown and improving recreation facilities.
“We are exploring options to remodel the depot,” he said. “This will act as an anchor to our downtown activities as the year progresses. We are seeking funds and assistance to repair our parks and revitalize the recreation areas throughout our city.”
New growth and existing businesses are also top priority for the city.
“On the economic development front, we continue to address retaining our existing businesses while developing areas for new growth along the bypass,” Bartholomew said. “We intend on developing a master plan for the best means of locating any new company that wishes to invest in our community. We are seeking ways to best utilize and upgrade our current city buildings.”
Florala
In Florala, 2012 “paved the way” for a brighter future, and 2013 is expected to bring more of the same projects, Mayor Robert Williamson said.
City streets were given fresh and updated looks with new asphalt and some new sidewalks. Work began on the runway rehabilitation at the Florala Municipal Airport – one of the key components needed for 2013, Williamson said. He said work will also focus on a comprehensive plan for the city.
“We will continue to pursue tenants for the airport in 2013,” he said. “We are continuing to work with the hospital on attracting more services to our medical community.
“We also have to continue working on infrastructure,” he said. “I would also like to see us create an incubator for businesses using some of the property the city already possesses and begin the process of developing a recreational park. Obviously, funding, or the lack there of, is an inhibitor, but we can initiate the first steps toward such a facility.”
Real estate
Covington Association of Realtors president Donna Raines said the county experienced a rebound in real estate in 2012, and she hopes changes being implemented by local Realtors will help them build on that rebound in 2013.
On Monday, she announced to association members that the group will begin using electronic lockboxes on listings.
“These boxes will be able to tell us who goes into a property, and when they went in,” she said.
The showing agent will automatically receive an email asking for feedback. The system should be installed around March 1.
In addition, association forms are being moved online and integrated into the multiple listing service, or MLS.
Health care
As the healthcare community prepares for the implementation of The Affordable Care Act, also known as Obama Care, Andalusia Regional Hospital CEO Rebecca Brewer said she and other managers are bracing for what could be a challenging year.
“The issue is we really don’t know exactly how the Affordable Care Act is going to impact us,” Brewer said. “They are still going through it, making sure regulations are what it is supposed to do, and just getting it figured out.”
Regardless, she said, hospitals expect to continue to see government reimbursement rates go down. That can be problematic for rural hospitals like ARH, which treat a disproportionate number of Medicare and Medicaid patients. Special funding extended to hospitals like ARH in the past expired in September, and health care officials were hopeful the funding would be reinstated by the end of the year.
“With all that is going on in Washington with the fiscal cliff, it’s not likely that will happen,” she said.
Government-funded programs are really scrutinizing what they get for the dollars they put in health care. Hospitals are the largest pocket, so they will be under a lot of scrutiny this year, she said.
One good thing that will come from the Affordable Care Act is a focus on health care quality, Brewer said.
“In the past, we were paid to provide a service,” she said. “Now, the focus is not on the rising cost, but on the quality.”
The health care industry has a list of “never” events, or things that should never happen. For instance, if a patient enters the hospital with a urinary tract infection, he or she should not develop one while hospitalized. Other examples are bed sores.
“If, in fact, your patient develops a bed sore, etc., they penalize us financially. That, I think, is good. Really challenges us to give something of value,” she said.
Similarly, if a patient leaves the hospital and is readmitted within 20 days, the hospital is penalized.
“This challenges us to work with home health, nursing homes, and other agencies,” she said.
The third biggest thing in health care will be a trend of patients being responsible for a larger part of their health care expenses, she said.
Still, she is optimistic about health care in Andalusia.
“We just have to find a way to get people traveling out of Andalusia for services we can give to stay at home for those,” she said. “We’ve got a hard year ahead of us of telling our stories to get more people on our campus for services.”
Part of that plan is an aggressive recruitment plan to draw younger doctors to the area, she said.
“We need good men and women to come and help us,” she said.
The Andalusia Tourism and Relocation Committee has added a new event this year on New Year’s Eve.
A celebration is planned for the court square beginning at 10:30 p.m.
The event, chaired by committee member Gwen Kelley, will feature local musicians and will conclude with a giant domino drop from the Timmerman building at midnight, complete with fireworks.
“I suggested that we try this this year,” Kelley said. “I sit at home on New Year’s Eve and watch the ball drop in New York on Eastern Standard Time. We decided to do something similar and we hope Andalusians will all go out and enjoy it.”
Bob Brooks will emcee the event. The Dixie Dandies will open the show at 10:30 with jazz music, and they will alternate with Christian Wosilek and his band.
Spiced cider and hot chocolate will be served.
The committee is working with several engineers to develop the lighted domino to be dropped at midnight.
Tourism and Relocation committee member Martha Duggan said “This is not just for Andalusia. We want the whole county to participate, and we hope to make this an annual event.”
Like most people in America, when Andalusia Mayor Earl Johnson heard about the deaths of 27 people, including 20 school children, in a Connecticut rampage, he was stunned.
On Friday, a gunman opened fire on Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Conn., where his mother worked as a teacher. The mother was found dead at her home, and 26 people, including 20 children, died at the school as a result of his rampage. The gunman later killed himself.
Johnson has two granddaughters in elementary school in Tuscaloosa. But he also felt a responsibility for all of the hundreds of students in Andalusia, a responsibility to ensure that each of them is as safe as possible.
So on Monday, he will convene a meeting of local law enforcement and safety officers, as well as the school superintendent, each of the principals, and the school board president.
“We are going to review the security situation in all three schools, and discuss whether we need to do more,” Johnson said. “We need to look at what we’re enforcing, in terms of our existing policies. And we need to establish what is the maximum level of security we could provide at school and decide how far we could back away from that?”
Johnson said he wants to analyze the risks involved with every step taken back from the maximum security that could be provided.
“In view of what happened in Newton, Conn., and recently at other locations around the country in schools and other venues, we can’t rely on, ‘We’re a small community and it can’t happen here.’
“How soon we forget what happened in Samson three years ago,” Johnson said. “That very easily could have involved schools.”
In March of 2009, 11 people died in what was described as the worst mass killing in Alabama history. A lone gunman, Michael McClendon, killed his mother in the edge of Coffee County, then traveled to Samson and Geneva, taking the lives of nine others – including several family members – before shooting himself.
While Monday’s meeting is not open to the public, Johnson said he expects there might be public meetings on the topic of school safety in the near future.
Actions like those planned in Andalusia are being taken across the nation. State superintendent Tommy Bice said Alabama’s Department of Education will immediately review school safety plans.
Just in time for the inclement weather expected to accompany the arrival of Christmas, the Andalusia Police Department has a new generator that will keep its equipment humming in the event of a power failure.
Chief Wilbur Williams said the station has been using a 1967 model generator that was donated years ago by Andalusia Regional Hospital.
“We were experiencing numerous problems with the unit and had been looking to replace it since this is designated as an emergency operations center,” Williams said. “We had an estimate for $78,000 to replace the unit but funds were not available to do it.
“We found a unit through military surplus and were able to replace the 1967 model, rated at 130KW, output with a 1999 model with 350 KW output,” he said. “The 1999 model has 132 hours of run-time and should last for many years in this capacity.”
The police department spent $3,000 on the conversion, taking advantage of city resources to keep the cost at a minimum. The generator is wired to supply power to the whole building. Once each week, it runs an automatic test to ensure that it is operational.
Work has begun on the Miracle League field at Johnson Park.
On Thursday, employees with Hammer Down of Georgia were busy laying the rubberized floor for the project that will serve children with disabilities and support the city’s existing T-ball program. It is believed the program will benefit an estimated 400 players throughout Covington County.
Barbara Tyler, project coordinator, said the field should be completed in a week – weather permitting.
“It’s going to look like a traditional field,” Tyler said. “The infield is regulation size, and the outfield is maybe a little shorter than regulation size. It’s going to look fantastic when it’s finished.”
Tyler said families interested in participating in the Miracle League should contact Andalusia’s department of leisure services at 334-428-2106.
“We’re trying to keep a list of people who want to play, coach or be a buddy,” Tyler said. “The season will coincide with the regular ball season. Things are still a bit up in the air, but we’re shooting for (ML) registration to be somewhere at the end of February or the first part of March.”
Tyler said the hope is there is enough support for two teams.
“Then, we can do some friendly competition, and the teams in Troy have agreed to play us, as well,” she said.
The plan is to have one game per week, she said.
Tyler said project fundraising is still ongoing.
“We’re close to our ultimate goal, but we’re still a little short,” she said. “So, donations are welcome.”
Tyler said work on the special-needs playground will begin in February, with site prep work completed by the end of the month.
“The goal is to have a community build, where we set aside a week to come in and get things done after all the prep work is done,” she said. “Things are beginning to move along nicely.”
Those interested in making a donation may contact Tyler at 428-1127 or mail to Miracle League of Covington County, P.O. Box 1971, Andalusia, AL 36420.