Fairhope, Alabama
ELECTION 'CANVASSED'
This morning, the city council authorized city clerk Lisa Hanks to open and count all provisional/absentee ballots from the August 23rd election and then voted to certify the final tally.
Out of a total of 68 provisional ballots submitted, 55 were accepted by the board of registrars and counted.
No major problems were reported at polls on election day.
Final totals:
Tim Kant 3089
Karin Wilson 3559
Jack Burrell 5126
Meredith smith 1299
Rich Mueller 1990
Jay Robinson 4325
Diana Brewer 2941
Jimmy Conyers 2797
Murray Lawrence 653
Robert Brown 4323
Phil Nix 2131
Kevin Boone 3528
Gary Gover 2763
A runoff election for place three will be held on Oct 4th.
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| Hanks at far left |
ELECTION 'CANVASSED'
This morning, the city council authorized city clerk Lisa Hanks to open and count all provisional/absentee ballots from the August 23rd election and then voted to certify the final tally.
Out of a total of 68 provisional ballots submitted, 55 were accepted by the board of registrars and counted.
No major problems were reported at polls on election day.
Final totals:
Tim Kant 3089
Karin Wilson 3559
Jack Burrell 5126
Meredith smith 1299
Rich Mueller 1990Jay Robinson 4325
Diana Brewer 2941
Jimmy Conyers 2797
Murray Lawrence 653
Robert Brown 4323
Phil Nix 2131
Kevin Boone 3528
Gary Gover 2763
A runoff election for place three will be held on Oct 4th.
Comments
And those who promise them the most personal favors!
No wonder things are in such a mess.
Some citizens complained about the vacant store fronts in the Publix shopping center: more residents are needed within walking distance to make that "village" successful.
In surveys and during town hall meetings over the years, citizens indicated overwhelming approval for the city's 'village model' comprehensive growth plan -- with higher density residential within walking distances of commercial "nodes" like the Publix
But, since it is so misunderstood by the public and difficult to implement in the real world, mayor-elect Wilson and councilman-elect Burrell are proposing to scrap it altogether in favor of a more conventional/realistic one.
However, even though the apartments may have reduced the density, I doubt that the condos/townhouses originally approved would ever have come to fruition b/c I don't believe that there is a market for them. The younger people who are moving here want nothing less than to live in a complex behind a grocery store. They are purchasing starter homes that have a resale value so that they can 'move up' later. Most people who are attracted to a place like Fairhope would rather live in any other city than to have Fairhope turned into a ticky-tacky apartment complex area.. This is probably why the developers switched the plan to apartments. The only winner here would be the developers who are not from Fairhope and don't care what happens here. I believe that no one could ever prove pay-offs to Mayor Kant, etc, but I do believe that after they went against Fairhope to approve these that some very nice things came their way. I don't know Karin personally but I think that all of this change is for the very best for Fairhope and its future. Too many deals have been made behind closed doors and presented to the residents as a foregone conclusion. It's time for the backdoor deals to come out into the light. You do a wonderful job of making us aware of what has happened but we need to know why these things happen. I believe that the new Mayor and Council Members will make us proud.
The "housing" market, -- single family, condominiums, townhomes, etc. as was originally planned for the site -- collapsed nationwide in 2009 during the Great Recession (home values declined significantly here too) and alternatives like rentals became more popular/affordable nationwide.
The financing would not be there if the project was not deemed financially feasible by the banks, he said.
One good question to ask now though is "have home values/markets recovered from their lows of 2011-12 ... to make the apartments less attractive for the investors today?"
"Is it still worth the risk?"
Presumably the answer is "yes" since the amended development is still planned ... as far as we know (apartments).