Mayor Bob Hembree Jr. gave an overview of just about everything going on with city government in his “State of the City“ speech last week for the Chamber of Commerce.
Here are the highlights of his various topics:
Branding
The city’s logo – a blue wave with the name Guntersville – is being included on more of the city’s vehicles and city’s signs, the mayor said.
He said Craig Woodward had worked with the city to develop the logo.
He said it helps the city to look more professional.
2011 In Review
Mayor Hembree said the January snows last year got the city off to a rough start, but it was nothing compared to the tornadoes of April 27.
“There was no loss of life in Guntersville, but there was significant damage,“ he said. He said he was proud of the work city departments did to get life back to normal in the wake of the storms, especially the Electric Department.
He said the administrative people at city hall did all the proper work to make sure the city would get reimbursed from the federal government for its cleanup work.
“Dwain Elder and Lesa Bellin did a great job,“ he said.
He said the extensive damage at the State Park impacted the city’s lodging tax.
“They’re still not at 100 percent, but we are glad to have them back in operation,“ he said.
Projects & Progress
The mayor said the city’s “Vision Guntersville“ marketing video had been updated in 2011.
“We’re are looking forward to Factory Connection relocating its headquarters to Guntersville,“ Mayor Hembree said. “JST is expanding. We have purchased 19 of the 20 parcels of property we need for our airport expansion.“
Other important projects, he said, included benchmarking trips by the Chamber of Commerce, a new marketing initiative for Conners Island Industrial Park, finishing the downtown renovation and the High Point Project to deal with drug dealers in town.
“Factory Connection will be relocating its headquarters to Guntersville in 2012 and bringing 100 jobs to town,“ he said. “JST, a maker of electronics components, is expanding.“
He said the new Fire Station 3 near the airport would be opening in the next few weeks.
2011 Events
The mayor praised the weekend long 4th of July festival held at the City Harbor by the Mountain Valley Arts Council that led to the city’s fireworks show.
He said the triathlon is always a good event.
He said the city Christmas tree lighting this year was the best attended ever due to “A Night Before Christmas“ celebration hosted by the Northtown merchants
Financials
The mayor said the city’s general fund is running $16 million, while the overall budget is $22 million.
“We have $5.3 million in reserve,“ he said, “$3.5 million for general use and $700,000 in the special corrections fund.
“We’ve very proud that our bond rating was increased to AA-,“ the mayor said.
He said sales tax collections were up $43,000 in the first quarter of the current fiscal year.
“We’re proud of the job our sanitation and recycling department is doing,“ he said. Landfill costs were down $30,000 last year, while the city’s recycling income was up $20,000.
He said those numbers could improve even more if more people recycled more.
Conners, Airport, Harbor
The mayor also talked about increased efforts to market Conners Island. He said Grant DeMuth of his office is responsible for the work.
He said they’ve just about finished the acquisition work for the runway expansion at the airport and he predicted the project would be completed in the next 4 year mayor’s term.
He said the city harbor is a long range project. The city is currently trying to acquire a CSX rail spur that splits the property.
“It hasn’t been used in 30 years,“ Mayor Hembree said. Acquiring it will make the harbor property more attractive for a future development.
Challenges
He said aquatic plant management is an issue that continues to be a challenge. Plants in the lake could pose a real problem for the city’s recreation and tourism if weather conditions were right for them to flourish.
He said animal control is another challenge and that the city ought to move quickly if the situation ever develops for it to own its own shelter.
He said some of the city’s recreation facilities “are a little long in the tooth“ and need upgrading.
He said more and more cities are offering their own incentives to get industries to locate in them.
“We are going to have to decide if we are going to do that or if we are going to sit on the sidelines and watch as industry goes somewhere else,“ he said.
The mayor announced that he would not be a candidate for re-election and talked about how much he had enjoyed being mayor.
He received a standing ovation from the crowd.