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Walgreens eyes T'ville's oldest eatery for store site
Mayor Sheldon Day said at Monday night's council meeting that Walgreens has an option to purchase the Grill restaurant property at the corner of Highway 43 and Bashi Road. The Alabama Grill dates to at least 1949, co-owner Craig Wells said, and has long been a popular eatery in Thomasville. "We don't know what they [the Grill owners] will do if Walgreens moves forward with the option. We would hope they would find another spot," Day said, adding that the restaurant has a good clientele that would follow it to another location. Wells, who owns the business with Troy Stabler, said they do not own the property, Charlie Gaston of Camden does and Walgreens approached him about buying. Wells admitted they were not real happy with the situation. "We are weighing our options as to what to do if Walgreens buys the property. We [he and Stabler] both have jobs but 23 people work at the Grill who depend on it for a paycheck." Wells and Stabler have owned the business for five years and Wells said it is doing well and has always had a good following. Wells said he wished Walgreens had looked at other available property instead of the location of Thomasville's oldest eatery. Walgreens has been opening stores in other smaller towns in Alabama. The chain pharmacy has reportedly looked at Jackson but no announcement has been made for a store there. More council news, Page 6A.
Day detailed other business news: D & D Furniture of Frisco City will soon open in the old Heron's Nest on Highway 43. Southern Gas and Supply and Westco Welding Supply have recently opened welding supply stores. People's Corner restaurant in downtown has changed hands and is closed for renovations but will reopen soon. The buyers of the Crown building are ready to close the deal on the old plant facility. Plans are being readied for a new spec building in the new south industrial park. Developers are looking at building two new subdivisions and work should start soon on 17 new townhouses previously announced in the downtown area. Day said last week's Rural Supplier Conference was as good or better than the first a year ago. That, coupled with an article on Thomasville in Business Alabama magazine and other articles in other publications "have the phone ringing off the hook" from businesses and developers wanting information on the city. "The chamber has had 12 requests for information packages today [Monday] alone," he said. Day thanked everyone who helped make the Rural Supplier Conference a success and singled out Burke's Mechanical which brought a big boom rig to hoist a giant U.S. flag over Alabama Southern Community College for the meeting. The rig would normally have cost thousands of dollars but Chip Burke and his crew provided it free of charge. Day said the city is applying for grant funds for drainage work. He also noted that bids to renovate the old high school to be a civic center came in far too high-over $5 million as opposed to a hoped-for $3.5 million. He said the city is reviewing its options. "We can't do that for $5 million," he said. A proposed zoning ordinance is ready and will go first to the planning board where it will be reviewed. That group will hold a public hearing and seek input. If the board approves, the matter will go to the city council where a second public hearing would be held before a vote is taken on the matter. Day said the earliest that zoning could be approved would likely be the first council meeting in October. Regarding the wet-dry issue, Day said the council is standing by its commitment not to move forward on a vote on alcohol sales until zoning is in place. "We are going to be true to our word," he said.
Solid waste fees likely to increase The city has recently voted to change solid waste collectors, going with Arrow over Allied Waste (formerly BFI). At the current rates being charged residents and businesses, the city will be subsidizing solid waste by up to $120,000 next year. "Folks, that is a drain on our general fund and we can't continue to do that," Day said. He said rates have not been increased since 2002 but that they will need to be next year. He said he and City Clerk Debbie Ballard are preparing figures for the council to consider rate increases.
Other items The council agreed to sponsor a Leadership Clarke County student scholarship for $250. The council authorized a $8,250 third quarter payment to the Bloom Group for lobbying and economic development work. Eighteen building permits were approved-four for commercial work and 14 for residential work. Of the residential, the majority was for roof repairs, likely associated with the hailstorm earlier this year. The council agreed to support the Rambling Rose Charity Run to be held Oct. 7. It will be 3.1 miles and will also include a 1-mile "fun run" this year. In personnel items, the council approved a six-month raise for Policeman Doug Scott. Two vacancies for equipment operators in the street department will be posted. The council did not act on the library board's hiring of Jeff Simmons as a part-time employee but said the board should have proceeded through the city's personnel board. Alvin Callier, representing a recycling program manned by mental health patients, asked the city about the $1,000 per month it promised. Day said that because the program is independent, the work will have to be bid but told Callier it will likely be funded. The new management team for Clarke-Mobile Gas was present. They are Tommy Horsley, Al Bean and C. J. Arnold. Day said the three were doing a good job. Horsley briefly told the council about work to tie in a natural gas line with Wilcox County to the north and said that work has started on a six-inch line to serve the new Louisiana-Pacific mill. Councilman Gaines Smith was absent from Monday's meeting.
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