Montgomery development news - Page 98

thoraudio · #**1941** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 12:30 PM**

in unrelated news, I noticed a sign at the Smoothie shop at Byron's place that said it would open this Thursday. Anybody for a mini-meet this week or next to help the new place out?

kevinlpugh · #**1942** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 2:44 PM**

More News about Old Cloverdale...

Quote:

Program aims to preserve Montgomery trees

By Kenneth Mullinax

Montgomery has established a new program to replace trees recently lost to drought.

The No Net Loss Tree Policy ensures that whenever a city-owned tree dies, Montgomery's urban forester plants another one in its place, Mayor Bobby Bright said.

"The city planted approximately 1,000 new trees last year, and while it lost 10 percent of them due to the drought, without the citywide volunteers who helped us water them weekly, our losses would have been upwards of 70 percent," Bright said.

Early this summer two volunteers, Karen Benton and Jean Smyth, started a grass-roots effort encouraging residents to adopt trees in peril because of the drought. They now say they're "cautiously optimistic."

"Since the rains began falling a few weeks ago, the trees we have been watering appear to be greener and more lush than before," Smyth said.

"Thank goodness the rains have finally come, but our volunteers don't need to let their guard down," Benton said.

Larry Grewelle, president of the nonprofit Montgomery Tree Committee, said he thinks the city's trees are out of peril for the short-term.

"While we are fine now, we certainly aren't out of the woods yet," he said.

The majority of the new trees lost to dehydration were in the neighborhoods of Capitol Heights, Old Cloverdale and the Garden District and were purchased with a federal grant for trees lost during Hurricane Ivan, said Russell Stringer, Montgomery's urban forester.

He said the trees that died this summer had been planted between October and February.

He said the cost to replace them would be about $12,000, which will come from city funds and grant money.

Last week, he and his four-member staff inspected the 1,000 new trees his department planted last year and marked those that had died with a "Rest in Peace" sign.

The "RIP" message signed by Stringer and attached to each dead tree read: "The City of Montgomery appreciates your efforts in caring for this tree. Unfortunately, we were not able to save it from severe drought conditions. I will have to remove this tree, but I will be back this fall to plant a new one in its place."

Stringer said his department will plant trees native to the area.

RSAHort · #**1943** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 5:48 PM**

I bet they lost more than 10 percent of the trees. In the downtown area where I have seen trees they planted almost all of them are dead.

EXbubba · #**1944** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 7:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSAHort

I bet they lost more than 10 percent of the trees. In the downtown area where I have seen trees they planted almost all of them are dead.

I bet they need to plant something that can take all that concrete/asphalt heat. Maybe locusts, cause then they wouldn't have to rake!

rbp · #**1945** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 10:57 PM**

Did they replace the trees in front of City Hall in the past 6-8 months? It looks like something changed there.

bystander1 · #**1946** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 11:16 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thoraudio

in unrelated news, I noticed a sign at the Smoothie shop at Byron's place that said it would open this Thursday. Anybody for a mini-meet this week or next to help the new place out?

I would love to, but I don't know when I will have another day off.
But at some point, having a mini-meet there soon would be perfect.

RSAHort · #**1947** Posted **Jul 17, 2007, 11:43 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbp

Did they replace the trees in front of City Hall in the past 6-8 months? It looks like something changed there.

Yes they did. I just wish they were all straight... some are leaning a little.

kevinlpugh · #**1948** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 2:15 PM**

This just ain't right...

Quote:

Knology, city can't connect on contract

By Francis X. Gilpin
[email protected]

Montgomery has begun the process to remove Knology as one of its two cable providers.

The Montgomery City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to go along with Mayor Bobby Bright's recommendation to begin the process of declining to renew Knology's contract with the city. The council members voted without comment.

The vote is a result of stalled negotiations with Knology concerning the company's refusal to address the city's future cable needs, said Jeff Downes, an executive assistant to Bright.

Felix Boccucci, a Knology vice president for business development, acknowledged the two sides are far apart in negotiations, but said he hopes city officials remember what Knology has done for Montgomery.

"Knology came in and brought competition to the city of Montgomery," said Boccucci. "The city seems to not be taking that into consideration."

City staffers said Knology's proposed contract renewal would give it too much time to provide service to customers in newly annexed areas and would eliminate the city's ability to regulate cable rates, among other problems.

The staffers also claim the company's proposed contract language would do nothing to prevent Knology or the city's other cable provider, Charter Communications Inc., from selling its franchise to the other, thereby eliminating competition within the city limits.

Knology's last contract has expired already, and the company is currently doing business in Montgomery as a holdover franchisee.

The city has proposed a 10-year contract renewal. But city officials said Knology wants the 10 years, plus an additional five years that would renew automatically.

Knology operates 44 cable franchises in five Southeast states. The company has never has been refused a renewal of one of the franchises or had a franchise revoked.

The company doesn't disclose the number of cable customers it has signed up in Montgomery, Boccucci said.

With Tuesday's vote, Knology is now free to challenge the city's "preliminary assessment" that its contract not be extended. The city would then have to hold an administrative hearing and take testimony on the contract renewal.

Citizen activist K.T. Brown gave the council members a preview of what might be heard at such a hearing. "You don't seem to have any control over these cable companies," Brown told the council. "When you call them, they give you the runaround."

Brown said she was speaking for herself as well as her neighbors. "I complain for my whole area because we are disgusted," she said.

RSAHort · #**1949** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 2:49 PM**

Can someone explain this to me further? I really don't understand this contract thing. If the city doesn't renew the contract they can't do business in the city is that right? I really do not want to go back to Charter.

thoraudio · #**1950** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 3:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSAHort

Can someone explain this to me further? I really don't understand this contract thing. If the city doesn't renew the contract they can't do business in the city is that right? I really do not want to go back to Charter.

Same for about half the city.

I went from Charter to Knology and haven't looked back. While I'm in Prattville, and (presumably) I'd be able to keep my service, I feel for those having to go back to Charter.

I'm hoping it's just hard ball negotiating by the city, and that's it.

Brown Duckz · #**1951** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 5:42 PM**

I'll start a protest at city hall over this one.... this is wrong on so many levels. Knology has done great things for this area... and is a growing company, plus there customer service is hard to beat!

RSAHort · #**1952** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 6:12 PM**

"The staffers also claim the company's proposed contract language would do nothing to prevent Knology or the city's other cable provider, Charter Communications Inc., from selling its franchise to the other, thereby eliminating competition within the city limits."

Oh...and not allowing them to do business in Montgomery isn't eliminating the competition?

OldCloverdale · #**1953** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 6:56 PM**

maybe they'll fill the void with another competitor like Time Warner

http://www.timewarnercable.com/

kevinlpugh · #**1954** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 7:34 PM**

As a former Knology employee my take on this is probably biased... But cutting them off is not the way the city should handle business. Just because a couple of people had problems with the service doesn't mean you should throw out the baby with the bathwater...

Besides, my sources tell me that this will all wash out very soon and there is nothing to worry about...

EXbubba · #**1955** Posted **Jul 18, 2007, 7:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thoraudio

Same for about half the city.

I went from Charter to Knology and haven't looked back. While I'm in Prattville, and (presumably) I'd be able to keep my service, I feel for those having to go back to Charter.

I'm hoping it's just hard ball negotiating by the city, and that's it.

Could be a negotiating tactic, but everyone should try satellite tv (dish or direct) as they might give you more bang for the buck and a better picture than analog, not to mention perhaps a better price/channel selection... but lets get back to the reason for the thread.

Brown Duckz · #**1956** Posted **Jul 19, 2007, 2:36 PM**

Hyundai Motor says U.S. sales exceed 5 million vehicles

Associated Press - July 19, 2007 10:14 AM ET

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Hyundai Motor Company, once ridiculed in the United States for perceived shoddiness, says it has reached a milestone with cumulative US- sales exceeding five million vehicles.

Two years ago, Hyundai opened its first US- factory in Montgomery.

In the more than two decades since entering the American market, the South Korean automaker has worked hard to overcome its early poor image, with recent sales growth led by the Sonata sedan and Santa Fe sport utility vehicle.

It now ranks as the world's sixth-largest automaker and South Korea's largest.

EXbubba · #**1957** Posted **Jul 19, 2007, 8:22 PM**

What does a thumbs down on my last post mean? I am not promoting a company as those are the only two that exist in US.

thoraudio · #**1958** Posted **Jul 19, 2007, 8:31 PM**

it means they suck.

no.... actually it means you accidentally hit the thumbs down post icon in between the reply field and the submit reply button.

like I just did with the thumb up.

EXbubba · #**1959** Posted **Jul 19, 2007, 8:34 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by thoraudio

it means they suck.

no.... actually it means you accidentally hit the thumbs down post icon in between the reply field and the submit reply button.

like I just did with the thumb up.

I guess I just died in the arena. Oh, well...

EXbubba · #**1960** Posted **Jul 19, 2007, 8:38 PM**

Report shows 2006 tourism down, but predicts increase

By Cosby Woodruff

Tourism brought more than 1.3 million visitors to Montgomery County in 2006, according to the Alabama Bureau of Tourism and Travel.

Even though that number was down slightly from 2005, a Regional Economic Commentary prepared by Wachovia bank economists predicted tourism will grow in the tri-county area.

"Montgomery is a leader in the tourism initiative of the Southeast," the report states. "Current projects include an updated convention center, development of the riverfront and expanding the airport. Hotel occupancy rates were above the state average and growing, which bodes well for future tourism growth."

The travel bureau report actually pointed to occupancy rates below the state average. Montgomery County hotel rooms were 59 percent occupied last year, compared with a 62 percent state average.

Either way, Montgomery County has more than 6,000 hotel rooms with another 1,000 or so expected in the next year, said Dawn Hathcock, vice president of the Montgomery Area Chamber of Commerce Convention and Visitor Bureau.

Hathcock agreed with Wachovia's report that Montgomery's riverfront and the new convention center would bring more visitors downtown.

"There is so much going on," she said. "The downtown development is spurring a lot of this."

Of course, not all of Montgomery's attractions are near the river. In fact, most of them are not in the center of the city.

Those attractions, Hathcock said, range from golf courses to the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama plant. Some of the new hotel construction is in areas that easily can serve golf visitors or those who tour the automotive plant.

Golf and manufacturing attractions only add to the core of Montgomery's tourism, she said.

"History in Montgomery is extremely well-known," she said. "A lot of people want to see the past.

"We also have great art and entertainment venues," Hathcock said.

She pointed to the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts as attractions that bring additional visitors.

Montgomery is one of five counties that make up the heart of Alabama's tourism industry, one that enticed visitors to spend more than $8.3 billion last year. That spending was a 10 percent jump from 2005.

Wachovia's report identified other key factors to Montgomery's economy.

It pointed to steady employment as the area's key economic plus. The report listed May's unemployment at 3.5 percent and the average monthly unemployment for the previous 12 months at 3.4 percent.

Wachovia's economists, Mark Vitner and Adam York, noted that local, state, federal and military employees make up a large percentage of Montgomery's workforce.

"A potential risk to the low unemployment is the inherent uncertainty of government spending, which will affect job creation in the public sector," they wrote.

I believe that MGM tourism numbers would logically be down if no conventions were held downtown. I would not however count on a pretty portion of concrete without any shade as being a "tourist draw" except perhaps as a place to kill time. Gots to develop some mo' effort in that respect. When I was a teen we would have killed for that bandstand to use for local bands as in battles of the bands. But the local gentry didn't want nobody messin with their decaying downtown.