We are all here tonight because we have something in common.  We all share a deep love for and dedication to our Spring Hill Community.  We also share something else, a genuine concern about what our community is becoming because of a lack of planning and vision for the future.  We want a community that has more of a pedestrian emphasis.  We want safe access to all the wonderful amenities our area has to offer.  We want sidewalks, we want trees, we want to improve the aesthetics.  We all want a community we can be proud to live in and we all believe Spring Hill can be better. 

This belief is confirmed in the number of you who show up for these meetings and who give constructive suggestions and offers to help in any way.  At our community meeting last year over 500 of you gave us your opinions about what you wanted for Spring Hill.  We used these suggestions to set our goals for last year and then we all got to work.  As it turned out at the end of the year, 2006 would prove to be a very good first year for The Village of Spring Hill.

Before we could get started working on all of these requests we needed approval of our tax exempt status or we wouldn’t qualify for any grants to help begin our revitalization efforts. We submitted our application to the IRS and waited and waited and waited.  We wrote an expedition request and sent this in with a letter from Council member Gina Gregory basically saying we are desperate.  I think the IRS loves desperation.  This request was promptly denied.  So we waited and waited some more until we couldn’t stand it any longer then we called Congressman Jo Bonner.  It took him two weeks to find our application buried under a pile of applications to be rejected because they thought we were a municipality and we didn’t qualify.  In three days He had our application read, reviewed and approved.  We couldn’t have even started anything without him.  In hind sight we probably should have called him a little sooner.  Finally we were ready.

Our first mission was your number one request, more sidewalks.  While we were looking into grants available for sidewalks the new sidewalks down McGregor Avenue to the Park were being completed.  Those of you who have walked down them have probably wondered why there is a sign at the top of the hill that says “trail ends”.  We are use to trails ending in Spring Hill without any explanation. We don’t need a sign!  This has become a way of life for us.  All the residents who live here know that when the concrete runs out, the trail has ended.  You must continue your journey across broken ground dodging traffic.   

What we really needed was a sign telling us why the trail ended because a lot of people have been asking this question.  The reason the trail ends is because there are right of way issues on that side of the road, the sidewalk had to cross the street at that point to be continued.   We are trying to resolve the right of way issues for this sidewalk and continue on the same side of McGregor Ave.  Regardless of this small problem the sidewalk is a tremendous asset to our neighborhood, thanks to the hard work of Commissioner Steve Nodine.  If you haven’t walked down them yet, you are literally missing a beautiful walk in the Park.  Thank you Steve. 

Meanwhile, we were successful in finding a sidewalk grant available for our needs but it could only be requested by the City of Mobile.  Because all of you made it very clear that sidewalks are a priority for our community we were able to arranged a meeting including Mayor Jones and a group of people who could represent the Spring Hill’s interest in sidewalks.  Senator Hap Myers, State Representative Jamie Ison, Commissioner Steven Nodine, and City Council Members Gina Gregory and  Reggie Copeland, all told the Mayor how important sidewalks were to our  community  As a result of this meeting a Transportation Enhancement Grant was requested on our behalf by the City of Mobile. 

The grant would fund sidewalks connecting Spring Hill College and The University of South Alabama.  Letters of support were written to the State by everyone involved including Fr. Lucey, president of Spring Hill College, Gordon Moulton, president of The University of South Alabama and U.S. Congressman Jo Bonner.  Jamie Ison followed the grant through the approval process making sure the importance of this project to our community was clear.  Jamie called me today to say she spoke to the Governors Office and it has not been announced officially but the grant to fund sidewalks down Old Shell Rd. for 379,000 has been approved!

Just about everyone wanted more trees in Spring Hill except the Utility Companies.  This was your number two request.  Through the Herrin-Chandler foundation a grant to Keep Mobile Beautiful allowed us to successfully plant 122 Oak Trees down Old Shell Road and Museum Drive.  I would like to thank the City of Mobile Transportation Dept, Bob Haskins the Coordinator for Keep Mobile Beautiful, Dan Otto, the Superintendent of the Parks and Recreation, Allen Reed, the City of Mobile Landscape Architect for their expertise on the type of trees to be planted and proper spacing and placement.  We only needed about 35 volunteers but 100 of you showed up to do the work.  Bob Haskins said this was the fastest tree planting project in the history of Keep Mobile Beautiful.  We hope this will be the first of many projects to replace the trees in our area.  In the fall we would like to aggressively pursue removing the Pear Trees in our core commercial district.  We have all enjoyed the white blooms of the Bradford Pear Trees in the spring for over 15 years.  Unfortunately Bradford Pear Trees have about a 15 year life expectancy.  They will never look better and will continue decline.

Number 3 on your list of important issues facing Spring Hill was moving Power Lines.  We have found out that this is no small request and have been working on this since May.  It was obvious after talking to the Power Co. that burying the lines would be cost prohibitive.  So we began meetings and discussion with the Power Co. trying to engineer the power lines out of the intersection of Old Shell Rd and McGregor Ave.  To begin the engineering and discovery process to move the lines, we needed to commit to the estimated $180,000 cost.  We asked Council Member Gina Gregory if she would support this initiative since we did not have the money.  She  agreed not only to provide the $180,000 but also committed money to cover the $40,000 cost for the green traffic arms to hold the traffic signals after we move the power lines.  Gina has committed over $200,000 from her budget to improvements to the intersection.   We have gotten quotes from the other utilities on the poles and the engineering process is mostly complete.  I am going to be honest this is hard, very complicated and very expensive.  We are confident however, we will be able to come to a cost effective solution with the Power Company, maximizing the aesthetics of the intersection.

After our meeting last year, Senator Hap Myers contacted us to ask how he could help.  We told him we needed money for a comprehensive community plan that would guide the future of Spring Hill.  We also needed money to start implementing the plan.  He found money in the general fund budget that could be used for urban development.  With His guidance and after following the required process, which really means answer a whole lot of questions, a grant through the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs was approved in February for $300,000.

After researching qualified firms nation wide for the last 8 months we are now in the selection process for an Urban Planner.  A plan to create a vision for what Spring Hill can become, will be a reality.  This plan will include input from all the stakeholders in our area and will address all the other concerns and ideas you gave us last spring at our meeting. 

I would like to recognize all the people responsible for the approval of these grants.  It takes the determination and a lot of people willing to get involved for things to happen.  Would Senator Myers, Council Members Gina Gregory, Reggie Copeland, Commissioner Steven Nodine please stand?  Representative Jamie Ison and Congressman Jo Bonner couldn’t be with us tonight.  Each one of these elected officials have said they support what we are doing and are willing to help anyway they can.  They have done exactly what you elected them to do.  They have represented your interests at the City, State and Federal level.  None of this would have been possible without their help.  They are behind scene helping things happen for Spring Hill.  We realized very quickly after organizing, that it takes more than a village to rebuild a village, it takes the help of politicians. 

On behalf of this community Thank You All.

There have been so many of you in this community who have offered to give their time and expertise to help us achieve our goals.

We would like to thank St. Pauls for offering their Theatre for our use tonight and assisting us with parking for no charge.

Roberts Brothers, Dauphin Realty and Praytor Realty are all participating in a program giving a percentage of every listing they sell in our area to The Village of Spring Hill.

Mike Chadwell of Spring Hill Garden Center has volunteered to landscape and maintain the medians at I-65 and Old Shell Rd with seasonal flowers.

Several neighbors have expressed an interest in adopting public spaces near their homes to improve.

Some of the merchants have been looking at ways to improve their businesses.

Things are beginning to happen in Spring Hill!

The only reason we were able to do many of the things we did last year was because over 500 of you came to our last meeting.  500 people in any community supporting the same thing open a lot of locked doors.  The most powerful tool we have as representatives of this community is you.  People Power opened door after door after door for us this past year.

I think we have all been a little guilty in the past of taking more from our community than we have given back, I know I have. But I really think it is because we’ve never been asked to do any different until now.  The support this community has shown towards these efforts has been amazing.

I’m sure each one of you is probably sitting there wondering what can I do to help?  Well I’ll tell you.  First, JOIN, we need to be able to say we have 2,000 members or more to have our requests seriously considered. The support of this community in this effort is invaluable to its success. Give us your e-mail or street addresses so we can inform you about everything happening in our community, good and bad.  Support our merchants by shopping in their stores.  Participate in the second annual Clean Up Day scheduled for March 31 and continue to pick up litter in our community on your daily walks, people do notice.  Keep updated by going to our website www.thevillageofspringhill.com.  These may seem like small things but even the small things can make a big difference.

This year our goals are to begin implementing the grant for the sidewalks down Old Shell Rd.  We will continue trying to resolve the right of way issues for the new sidewalk.  We will also research the possibility of putting sidewalks down McGregor Ave.  Unfortunately this project would not meet the qualifications to be grant funded and will have to be a private initiative.  If anyone is interested in funding this project please contact us, I think we would be willing to name this walking trail after someone. 

A comprehensive community plan for Spring Hill will be completed and we will begin improvements to the intersection of Old Shell Rd and McGregor Ave and begin removing the Pear trees and replanting.

We would like to thank everyone who has been a part of this organization’s efforts for the last year, including many people I have not mentioned tonight.  It doesn’t matter how large or small your contribution was, through all of our combined effort we made 2006 a very good year for The Village of Spring Hill and with your support, I know 2007 will be even better. 

Before I close I would like to introduce, our Board of Directors, the people who are making all these great things happen.  Without their commitment to this community of their time and talent none of this would be possible.  I have tremendous admiration for each and every one of them this is truly a labor of love.  Vice President is Judy Marston, Sissy Hungerford is Secretary, Mike Johnson is Treasurer, Helen DuMars, researches grants, Kellie Myers is in charge of all sidewalk initiatives.  Mike Thompson is our Accountant and Brian Thames is our Attorney, Sullins Arendall is our community representative, and Ruth Austill represents the interests of the merchants.  

At one of our Board Meetings, last year during a long discussion about a particular issue.  Ruth uncharacteristically had said nothing the whole time.  Finally she said “I just have one question.”  We all looked at her and said, what is your question?  She pointed at me sitting across the table from her and said I’m confused, are you the president?  So for any of you out there who are still confused:  My name is Linda St.John and for what it is worth, the answer is yes, I am the President.

Thank you for coming out tonight and listening to what we had to say.