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Civic center gets green light
Over $300,000 in alternatives could trim the price to $3.5 million if needed. That is a far cry from the $5.2 million initial bid but the scale and scope of the project has been trimmed dramatically to reduce the cost. Frasier-Ousley was the low bidder when bids were opened recently. Architect Frank Rosa of McKee and Associates said the contractor had a good reputation and would do good work. Debra Wood, chairperson of the Civic Center Task Force, and others said they were pleased with the bid and asked that the project get started. Mayor Sheldon Day noted that the auditorium seating had been reduced from between 700 and 800 to just less than 500. He said the project wasn’t exactly what everyone wanted but was manageable now. The city plans to use bonds to finance the project. Reid Cavnar of Merchants Capital, a bond investment company, said a $3.8 million issue for 30 years would cost the city $235,000 to $240,000 annually based on current 4.55 percent interest rates. The city some time ago enacted sales, business license and lodging fees specifically for the project. Day said those are bringing in $250,000 to $260,000 annually so there should be about a $20,000 “cushion.” Additionally, Day said the tax income will grow over the years. Day called for a vote on the issue and council member Grace Megginson made the motion “to move forward—at last.” Council member Lewis Herron seconded. Council member Charles Allen offered opposition, saying he was not opposed to the civic center specifically but to repeated borrowing. The council had also discussed refinancing some existing bond issues during the meeting to secure lower interest rates. “When are we going to put a grip on this so we can track this and stop constantly borrowing and borrowing? It will eventually catch up with us,” Allen LifeTech Institute. The Life Tech Institute trains parolees for successful entry into the world of work and helps reduce Alabama prison overcrowding. During his remarks Riley called Day, “tenacious” and jokingly added, “irritant comes to mind.” He said Day “is one of, if not the best, mayors in the state of Alabama. He truly does want to do what is right” for Thomasville and the region. Other speakers included State Sen. Pat Lindsey, D-Butler; State Rep. Thomas Jackson, DThomasville; Mayor Day; Alabama Parole Board Chairman Sidney Williams and Associate members Velinda Weatherly and Robert Longshore; Mental Health and Mental Retardation Commissioner John Houston; Department of Rehabilitation Services Commissioner Steve Shivers; and Life Tech Director Darrell Morgan, among others. Riley also toured the facilities at the center. He walked through a dormitory to see how residents lived, and toured computer labs and a welding shop to better understand how the educational process at the facility worked. There are currently 227 parolees living in dormitories at the center, which can house up to 300. The transition center has already graduated one class of 43 parolees, with another 38 set to graduate on Friday. The Department of Corrections will be delivering 75 parolees to the facility on December 18 to begin treatment and education classes.
“I hope what I’ve seen here today is a prelude of things to come in prison reform,” Governor Riley said as he left the center. “This is just common sense.”
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