FAUXHOPE
FAUXHOPE is living up to it’s name. Fairhope is not what you think when it comes to municipal government. The waste of taxpayer money is staggering, yet few people are even interested. The delay of the waterfront project is just one example. For close to a year the council has tried to get around any ADA compliance for the project. From day one the then Mayor Wilson explained that the grant, 6.2 million, required ADA compliance.
“The Fairhope City Council voted to approve a resolution to add the access required under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act. The federal grant providing the money for waterfront improvements will require that the city provides ADA access, Mayor Sherry Sullivan said.”
It took Mayor Sullivan close to a year to understand the provisions of the grant.
The Mayor and Council have now conceded to the inevitable decision that ADA compliance is mandatory. The swim area and rock jetties designed to protect the pier foundation and bulkheads has been eliminated by Council President Burrell, because HE does not like the look. When the citizens see what they get for 6.2 million they will be sorely disappointed.
“Then came the municipal elections and the political distortions about the overall plan. In as little as a few weeks, in the new administration, the entire plan went from something resilient and sustainable to short sighted maintenance.”
“Councilman Jay Robinson said city officials have to develop a plan that provides access and that preserves an area that is a part of the community’s heritage.”
Jay, aka Marble mouth, did not fail in making a scripted comment while ignoring the time the council wasted in proceeding with a project a year behind schedule.
“The plan was hatched during the election, to replace Brown, after the election, with jay Robinson, who chose not to run for office. The citizens of Fairhope of course did not know the plan.”
To add insult to injury the Alabama legislature passed legislation that moves municipal elections a year forward. So Fauxhope Council and Mayor will serve an extra year without a single vote. Welcome to Alabama
“. If a city has good leadership, it’s a good change. If a city has bad leadership, it’s not so good.” This is called voter disenfranchisement, Alabama style.
“The academy award for lying, goes hands down to Mr. Stewart “The Liar” Speed of the Leaf River Group, the developers from Mississippi. Mr. Speed , told the Fairhope audience, 250 to 300 citizens, that the apartments would be a luxury apartments. That they were going to be the signature apartments of Leaf River and would never be sold to any other apartment management group. He said it would be environmental sound and never contaminate Fly Creek. Everything he told the audience was lies and he knew it when he said it. This was all recorded live so there is no denying it.”
“Burrell said the acquisition will give the city control over storm water retention and drainage at the location at the intersection of Alabama 181 and Baldwin County 48.”
Burrell is known for his liability land gifts. The real gift is city liability, just like what he did for his developer buddy Arthur Corti.
Mayor Wilson appropriately expressed shock and concern that the City should not have taken ownership of this property. She was right.
“The project involves the creation of a community-driven comprehensive land use plan for the City of Fairhope to address growth with an emphasis on environmental stewardship and legal foundation for implementation. Included in the project scope of work is plan development that envisions sustainable community growth infused with aspects of green infrastructure “
Don’t ya just love how they write something so sound! Trouble is it is all B.S. What kind of Comprehensive Plan allows an electric sub-station in a single family neighborhood. What kind of Comprehensive Plan ignores the citizens of the community?
FAUXHOPE has had two previous Comprehensive Plans both were failures and the most flagrant violator of the so called Comprehensive plan is the city itself. FAUXHOPE’S Comprehensive Plans always favor the developers. The current plan will only waste paper and air because this council and mayor are going to do what they want, and that is development before infrastructure.
“Filling in the retention pond behind the ABC store was costing us about $1 million in dirt, so by paying $250,000 for this land, we saved about three-quarters of a million,” Burrell said. “We thought we were being good stewards of the people’s money.”
The backstory to the electric sub station is that the Mayor and Burrell were caught lying to the press and citizens of FAUXHOPE, about optional locations that were available.
“The city of Fairhope bought the K-1 Center and surrounding property from the Baldwin County Board of Education in 2019 for $2.5 million. The former school campus was built in 1925 and was closed in 2011. “
Thanks to Jack Burrell this has become another project like the waterfront. If Burrell is allowed to make all the decisions about K-1 future plans, you will see a wasted space and money down the drain.
“Specific terms of the agreement require the city to develop an SSO response plan, an SSO and surface water assessment and a public notification plan, and adopt minimum standards of procedure for operation and maintenance of the wastewater treatment system. The city must provide quarterly progress reports to ADEM.”
The city will also be required to put out health warnings after a sewer spill and warn any swimmers of the danger, something they omitted in the past.
Thank You Tim Cant and Jack Burrell who did absolutely nothing as far as sewer infrastructure work for years. Mayor Wilson is who tackled the sewer issue and obtained millions for sewer infrastructure. She also was responsible for the 6.2 million for the Waterfront project.
Mayor Sullivan and Council have to complete the work. At the rate they are going it is going to take their entire term, plus one year, to complete the projects Mayor Wilson left on the plate.
This Council and Mayor with their pro development, at all costs, is changing the quality of life in Fairhope and in just a few years FAUXHOPE will just be another small town swallowed up by urban sprawl. Traffic is a good indicator of poor planning, remember that.