Muscle Shoals Must Eat a Lotta Chicken

From yesterday's TimesDaily, the town of Muscle Shoals...

approved a resolution allowing the city to purchase the former Backyard Burgers building on East Avalon Avenue, renovate it and lease it for 20 years to Chandler-Wilson LLC. The company will open a Zaxby's restaurant and pay $2,000 a month for the first 10 years and $2,500 a month for the remaining 10 years of the lease. The city granted a 50 percent credit on sales taxes that will be applied to the lease payment. The city agreed to spend up to $800,000 in renovation costs and improvements for the property.

Rumors have abounded for months that Zaxby's would be moving into the former Backyard Burger location in Florence; but now Muscle Shoals has confirmed the speciality chicken chain will be occupying the vacant Backyard Burger building directly across from city hall. Great news, but everything has a cost.

Muscle Shoals has agreed to purchase the property (at an undisclosed price) and further to pay up to $800K in improvements on the building. We're sure that Zaxby's will bring its unique style of restaurant to the location, but the Backyard Burger building is less than six years old and was, after all, originally built as a fast food/take-out eatery. What will the city of Muscle Shoals receive in return? Rent for the next 20 years, assuming Zaxby's remains in Muscle Shoals, will total $540K--leaving a possible $260K deficit on the improvements alone.

The city will also take .25% of its .5% sales tax in lieu of actual rent. We have no idea how much Zaxby's would gross in one month, but based on a figure of $50K in gross sales, Muscle Shoals would take $125.00 off the amount of rent due. This incentive deal must make other city restaurants extremely happy. Will Ruby Tuesday now have Zaxby's envy?

The disposition of this .25% tax/lease payment should also be of great interest to Muscle Shoals City Schools. Will the funds remain in the sales tax account or be transferred to the account designated for rents?

Returning to the original purchase/lease agreement, if these figures are correct as reported, something is very much amiss. The average life of a McDonald's or Burger King building rarely extends past 20 years--it's called built in obsolescence. If we were residents of Muscle Shoals, we would be giving our councilperson a phone call.

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Today marks the last day that Trader, Nurse Nan, and Amaryllis will officially be part of our blogging group. We wish them the best with the new Internet magazine The Connection.

Be sure to become a fan of The Connection, as well as these other sites, on Facebook:

The Connection

Trader Evaluates

Larry Fisher

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Collect James Joiner memorabilia? Here's a 45 produced in Florence c. 1965: Link




Shoalanda



Get Connected Tomorrow!

If You Cry 'Bout a Nickel, You'll Smile for a Dime...

Unfortunately, Shoals leaders and business recruiters have reversed the thought in this particular version of the old Robert Johnson blues standard. They will shrug at the loss of a Ford plant, but call a press conference concerning a new paper clip business locating in an abandoned store front.

From the August 22nd TimesDaily:

Folks at the National Alabama railcar plant in western Colbert County are talking to two or more companies unrelated to the railcar industry about a business partnership that would lead to the 2.2 million-square-foot facility reaching production mode. National Alabama officials are mum about the rumors, though. One project appears to be further along than the others.

Yes, that said 2.2 million square feet. Hmmm, a lot of flea market booths.

So, one of our frequent questions from readers is who exactly is in charge at National Alabama. Is it David Bronner or John Stein, plant manager? We would doubt that Dr. Bronner would have any interest in micromanaging the plant, if the word micro could apply to such a behemoth. As for actual legal owners and responsible individuals, this is the latest published data from the Alabama Secretary of State:

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The almost 70K square foot former Sears building on East Tennessee Street in downtown Florence is almost history. We predict a new medical office building coming soon.

The building housed Sears department store for approximately 41 years. After a fire and lying vacant for several years, the building was home to the central office of Martin Industries for approximately 20 years until the manufacturer went bankrupt in 2003.

Oddly, Sears seems to have provided many fond memories for Shoals residents, while Martin memories are less than pleasant--perhaps why the home heating honchos went bankrupt?

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Be sure to catch Trader's new blog on some Shoals menu staples: Link

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Shoalanda



Get Connected in September!

Lewd Lawayne Back in the News/Smile for the Camera

Lawayne Harrison, mayor of Leighton, announced Monday that he didn't care if he had a council to work with or not. Harrison is no stranger to controversy:

Sex and Lies in Leighton

Same Song, Second Verse

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Thanks to Doc's Political Parlor for mentioning Lecia Ford's excellent account of her early life in Leighton. We'll have more from Lecia later. If you've never visited Doc's Parlor, you've been missing the best political blog in the state.

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Be sure to catch Trader's new review of Ichiban in Sheffield: Link

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The latest on the Cherokee Council meeting this morning from C. R.:

Smile for the Camera, Cherokee

With WAFF TV cameras rolling Councilman Steve Glover withdrew his motion and vote in relation to the hiring of his mother-in-law Becky Berryman Wadkins. Councilman Glover submitted a letter to be put into the town’s minutes that explained Glover’s oversight on the vote. Councilman Glover stated “he did not realize that it was an ethics violation to vote on a matter relating to his mother-in-law.”

Mayor Chuck Lansdell had a statement put into the town’s minutes. The Mayor stated “I told and the City Attorney told Councilman Glover his actions were in violation of the law and he decided to vote on the matter anyway.” The Burger King Four Malone, Glover, Mason, and Franks voted to allow the withdraw and Mayor Lansdell and Councilwomen Lambert voted against it.

Councilman Mike Malone made a motion to abolish any part time as needed office vacancies until the next council meeting on Tuesday August 3rd. The Burger King Four passed the motion.

There are currently no part time open vacancies, so one could conclude the council has realized the hiring of Steve’s mother-in-law last week was illegal. The matter will be brought back up at the next meeting. It might be time for the council to attend a few ethics violation classes.

Shoalanda

Kossuth Students: They Beat a Duck...

Photo of ducks in Spring Park courtesy of T. L. Martin Sr. Visit his page on Flickr.


Kossuth is a small community in Alcorn County, Mississippi. According to Asst. Supt. Wayne Henry, due to academic requirements in place at this time, there's little opportunity for field trips. For an end of year treat, the Kossuth Middle School took such a field trip--to Tuscumbia's Spring Park.

According to news reports, the group was large. According to Mr. Henry, there were chaperons. Henry states that the majority of the six involved were 13 years-old--old enough that they should not have needed constant supervision. Yet, six of these students managed to acquire a plastic baseball bat and beat a duck. That's right--a duck! Let us say this again: Six Kossuth Middle School Students beat a duck with a baseball bat.

From accounts in the TimesDaily, the duck lived and is supposedly recovering. If the children belonged to any of us, they would not be faring so well.

Henry went on to tell us that the students had been disciplined under the guidelines of the school handbook; he could not elaborate further due to school policy. Any additional punishment will be decided by the Tuscumbia/Colbert Park authorities and the Colbert County Juvenile Probation Office. Oh, and of course he added the parents of the children...

Children? They were mainly 13 years-old--teenagers. Calling a spade a spade, they were little thugs who should not be allowed in public again until they learn some common decency. How long will that take? In their case, it may be too late already.

Will the Kossuth School District be returning to Colbert County, or any county in the Northwest Alabama area for future field trips? Mr. Henry isn't ruling anything out.

We liked Wayne Henry. We also felt sorry for Mr. Henry, who stated that it should be the parents' job to teach ethics and morals while the school teaches math, science, etc. Very true words, Mr. Henry, but whether the fault of your school district or not, Kossuth has left a lasting impression on the Shoals and it's not a good one.

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Trader has a new restaurant evaluation posted. If you've been thinking about visiting the Rice Box in North Florence, you need to check out his latest blog.

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Don't forget to vote in our latest poll. The poll will end at 11:59 p.m. on May 31st. At 7:00 a.m. the next day, a different sort of poll will open. We hope that each voter will choose to be informed about the various candidates and vote accordingly.


Shoalanda

An Endorsement--Then Off to Cherokee

Tammy Irons, currently Place 1 representative, would like to become the senator for Alabama District 1. Irons has a large political machine in place, as well as a more than adequate campaign chest. Does that mean no one can beat her? No, but it does mean that it will take some work.

We believe that Democratic candidate Ryan Clayton, featured in Sunday's blog, has a strong platform. More importantly, we believe that Clayton is ethical and not entrenched in the proverbial good ol' boys' network.

For more about Ryan Clayton, please visit his website or contact him in person. We believe the Shoals can make its voice heard in Montgomery and that Ryan Clayton is the best Democrat to embody that voice.

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Ah, now off to Cherokee where the water board met Monday night. From an unbiased observer:

The Cherokee Water board had a meeting today. Former Mayor Mignon Willis was present. Miss Willis made a motion to have all water board members' names and phone numbers posted at the water department for the public. The motion passed. Miss Willis then made a motion to have the department's bylaws looked at and rewritten; the motion passed. Miss Willis further made a motion to cut the water rates by 9%, but this motion failed to receive a second. The motion died.

Water board attorney Rebecca Narmore Pace advised Miss Willis to stop harassing the water board office clerk Nancy. Miss Willis stated she had not harassed anyone, and an argument broke out. Board Member Rutland made a motion to end the meeting during the argument. The motion passed, ending the meeting.

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Life beyond Cherokee City Hall goes on:

Colbert County East-West All Star High School Baseball game: Monday, May 10th, at 5:30 p.m. at Sheffield High School Baseball field. Sponsored by Cherokee Lions Club. Players from six High School Teams: Colbert County, Colbert Heights, Muscle Shoals, Sheffield, Covenant Christian, and Cherokee.

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Thanks to all who have become fans of Trader Evaluates on Facebook. The blog now features a recipe of the day, as well as a cooking game guaranteed to make vegetarians cringe, but non-meat eaters needn't worry--Trader will be changing out the game monthly.

Coming soon: A review of Sparky's Drive-In in Valdosta.


Shoalanda

Anyone Need a Good Time Machine?

They're really hard to find on eBay. In case you missed the DeLorean at the Shoals Theatre...

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Trader Evaluates has a new Facebook Fan page. Be sure to visit at: Link

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We've added a countdown clock to the June 1st primary. We're awaiting information from several candidates. We realize we may have missed some in our requests, especially in Franklin County. If you're running for office, please e-mail us your vision statements as soon as possible.


Shoalanda

"Trader Evaluates" Is Here!

Not sure if you want to try that new restaurant or product? After all, no one wants to spend twenty dollars only to discover six hours later there was a reason that chicken didn't taste quite right.

If you have questions about a new (or old) local restaurant or product, we invite you to send them to trader.evaluates@gmail.com. Many remember Trader from another popular local news site; but at our blogging group, he will be largely autonomous and have complete freedom to write as much or as little as he chooses.

So, what are you waiting for? Check out Trader's critique of the Mongolian Grill Buffet right now.


What's up with this: A reader informs us that the show in Cherokee is nothing compared to that at Leighton's city council meetings. We wonder if the mayor's former plaintiffs all show up...

Shoalanda