Huntsville Alabama Real Estate News

By ERIN MUSLAND

Times Staff Writer erin.musland@htimes.comMadison plannersvote to amendsome property

MADISON - Madison residents voiced concerns about commercial encroachment into their neighborhood Thursday night at the monthly Planning Commission meeting.

The commission voted to amend the designation for property on Walton Drive and Old Madison Pike from residential to commercial use, at the request of property owners.

Angela Tweedy, one of the property owners, said she wants to sell her home to escape the lights, noise and garbage from businesses near her home. But, for these same reasons, she said, her home is not marketable for residential use.

“When my dad built out here in 1958, it was all cotton fields,” she said. “I feel my property is not residential anymore.”

But if her property was open for commercial use, Tweedy said she could sell it at a better value.

“The people that have inquired on our property - it’s all commercial,” she said.

Tweedy’s neighbors agreed that the surrounding lights and noise are a nuisance, but many believed expanding the commercial lines will only make the problem worse.

“There’s got to be a line drawn somewhere to stop commercial encroachment,” said Bruce Garoppo, who lives a few houses away on Larry Place. “This is where the line’s got to be set.”

Patricia Hrivnak, who lives near the amended property, agreed.

“Any commercial infringement on our privacy is not warranted,” she said. “It’s just really sad. We thought we’d retire here.”

Neighbor Jean Gamble proposed restrictions be placed on the types of businesses that could move onto the newly commercialized property, in an effort to cut down on noise disturbances.

The board agreed, passing zoning ordinances that would prohibit businesses with “outside noise,” including day-cares and small engine repair services, from moving onto the property.

The board also decided to schedule a public hearing in March on the future land use map for recently annexed areas in Limestone County.

Board members Charlie Brown, Tim Cowles, Beverly Ashton, Pat Glenn, Damien Bianca, Lewie Bates and Lou Watts were in attendance. Members William Nichols and Stephen Brooks did not attend.

By WENDY REEVES

Times Staff Writer wendy.reeves@htimes.com

$3.5M bond issue,sewer plan for landalso get the nod

MADISON - The Madison Water and Wastewater Board approved a proposed river intake site, a $3.5 million bond issue, initial sewer plans for annexed land in Limestone County and property for a possible new water treatment plant Thursday night.

“We’re doing about all we can do right now,” board General Manager Ricky Pounders said after the meeting.

The board’s preferred site for a future intake point on the Tennessee River is in a small portion of Triana Park. Pounders said the park site belongs to the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge but is leased to Triana and the Madison County Commission.

The board passed a resolution authorizing Pounders and board Chairman Terris Tatum to ask Triana officials to amend the park lease to allow the water board to join the lease and negotiate a longer term.

If Triana agrees and the water board gets approval from the county commission and the other regulatory agencies for the river intake site, the water board will give Triana $150,000 for improvements to the park - which is just a boat dock.

Pounders said the refuge officials have told him they have no problem with the board using the site, but they requested resolutions from Triana and the commission before they’ll consider an application.

“It’s still not a done deal,” Pounders said. “We’ve still got several more hurdles to follow, but we’re on the way for our best option here.”

Pounders said after the meeting that he has also met with Huntsville Utilities about regional water solutions. The water board is still moving forward with its plans to find a solution to its city’s water needs, he said.

In other business, board members Tatum, Steve Haraway and Danny Garcia approved a $3.5 million bond issue. Most of the funds will be spent on sewer projects, Pounders said. Board members Larry Vannoy and Mike Hubbard were not present.

In other action, the board approved:

Pounders to enter into a real estate agreement with Intergraph to purchase an 80-acre parcel off Old Jim Williams Road, which is north of the quarry treatment plant. Pounders said the site may be used for a new river water treatment plant.

A low bid of $1,728,524 from B.H. Craig Construction Company, Inc. for the expansion of the quarry water treatment plant so it can handle the new Triana wells that will soon be added to the system.

A $10,000 payment to Alan Murphy for a 30-foot easement to gain access to the Triana well on his property. It will serve as a driveway and routing for the pipeline away from the well.

An addition to an engineering design and survey services contract with Krebs Engineering for a 4.1 million gallons-per-day sewer pump station that will serve recently annexed portions of Limestone County. The cost is not to exceed $98,000.

An addition to an engineering and survey contract with Krebs Engineering for the construction of 15,000 feet of sewer mains along Moore’s Branch and Oakland Spring Branch. The contract cost is not to exceed $155,000.

A revision in an engineering design and survey agreement with Municipal Consultants to create a new route for a portion of 13,000 feet of 36-inch water main along Wall Triana Highway because of conflicts with the City of Huntsville and Huntsville Utilities. The estimated budget for the additional work will increase the price about $7,500 from $136,500 to $144,000.

By Sonny Turner
sonny@athensnews-courier.com

Three bills aimed at stopping a rock quarry from locating in Tanner were introduced last week in the state legislature and at least one other bill will be introduced this week, State Sen. Tom Butler, D-Madison, said Saturday.

Butler and Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, introduced the first three bills after the legislature convened Tuesday in Montgomery. Butler said Rep. Henry White, D-Athens, Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur, and Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw, are working to get those bills passed in the House.

Rogers Group, the quarry owner seeking to relocate its Limestone County Crosskey quarry to Laughmiller Road at Tanner, is opposing the bills, Butler said.

“They have called for a public hearing next week and they are fighting it,” Butler said. “We’ve now got to fight back and get in on the floor for a vote.”

One of the three bills introduced by Butler and Orr requires approval of the Limestone County Commission to establish a rock quarry outside of any corporate limits in the county. A second bill introduced is a statewide bill that requires county commission approval before the Alabama Department of Environmental Management can issue a permit to a rock quarry and the third bill pending would authorize the Limestone County Commission to regulate water usage outside the city limits of a municipality in the county.

“This bill was introduced to try and protect the water table when they start mining at a quarry,” said Butler. “I know there have been some concerns from people in business in that area about the loss of the water table. The bill is out of committee and has passed the Senate. It’s now headed to the House.”

Butler said another bill that he and Orr will introduce this week makes it illegal to blast within a certain distance of a nuclear plant and school.

“It says there can’t be blasting within five miles of a school,” he said.

Tanner High School is within four miles of the proposed Tanner quarry. The Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant is also nearby.

Rogers Group announced last year it intended to close its quarry in Crosskey in northwestern Limestone County and move it to a site of more than 200 acres on Laughmiller Road near Tanner.

Residents in the area say a quarry would damage houses, lower property values, prohibit development, endanger residents, trigger a shutdown at Browns Ferry, pollute waterways, endanger wildlife and create an eyesore.

Butler said more than 100 residents expressed concerns about the rock quarry during a public hearing in October.

By Karen Middleton
karen@athensnews-courier.com

Athens and Limestone County officials have teamed to try to stop the land grab from the east.

In the most recent annexation Dec. 18, Madison annexed a section west to Henderson Lane and south to Burgreen Road. City leaders have said they plan to build a new elementary school in annexed areas.

“A new school makes it a whole different ballgame,” said Commission Chairman David Seibert. “It changes the tax structure. It’s hard for our school systems to know how many students they have.”

Mayor Dan Williams and Seibert announced Friday they have worked with three local law firms to draft local legislation to prevent further annexations into Limestone. The bill – which is set to be introduced Tuesday on the floor of the House – states that annexation by other municipalities after Feb. 12 would either have to be unanimously approved by the County Commission or go before county residents for a vote.

The bill “The mayor and I met starting in October because we were concerned, naturally, with all of these annexations,” Seibert said. “We worked with the law firms of Wilmer & Lee; Latham, Moffatt and Wise; and Hand Arendall to help us draw up local legislation.

“There is already legislation in St. Clair, Etowah and Marshall counties that prohibits annexations by municipalities outside – for us they would be Decatur, Madison and Huntsville. We got with Sen. Tom Butler (D-Madison) and Rep. Henry White (D-Athens), and it is their feeling that it is a constitutional amendment that should be voted on within Limestone County because it’s local legislation.”

Local legislation must be supported by the entire local legislative delegation—besides Butler and White, that includes District 4 Rep. Micky Hammon, R-Decatur; District 25 Rep. Mac McCutcheon, R-Capshaw; and Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur.

“It would only affect annexations after Feb. 12, 2008,” Williams said. “Anything before would not be affected.”

Seibert said that the bill would be introduced Tuesday on the floor of the House.

“This are normally killed in committee, then they’ll likely approve it as a local bill,” Seibert said. “We’re going to call on all our local legislators, and I’d like to say that they’d all be as adamant as Henry. Butler said he is optimistic it would pass.”

If the measure wins both House and Senate approval, it will appear on the November General Election ballot, Seibert said.

Talk of a new Madison elementary school in annexed areas was the deciding factor in acting now, said both Williams and Seibert.

“We know the countywide sales tax would be affected,” Williams said. “It would take away from our city and county schools. We’ve got a situation of children living in Madison County coming over here and going to school and getting the benefit from our taxes. One thing we want to stress is for everyone to get in touch with his or her legislator, especially with those who live outside the county. This is not an effort to undo what’s been done, but to get it (further annexation) stopped.”

Seibert said there are other reasons beside distribution of taxes.

“It’s a control issue,” Seibert said. “The people of Limestone County by a vote asked to be dry, then there were annexations by Huntsville, Madison and Decatur, and by that they became wet.”

Seibert said it also causes confusion on whom to go to for services such as law enforcement.

“Who are they going to call when they have problems? Limestone County, because they always have,” Seibert said. “Eventually, it’s going to be a ‘who’s in charge?’ kind of thing.”

Wednesday, January 30, 2008By WENDY REEVES

Times Staff Writer wendy.reeves@htimes.com

Marketer running for mayor calls for ‘fresh approach’

Local businessman Paul Finley says he wants to offer residents “a fresh approach” to city government as he announces today his plans to run for mayor.

The mayor’s post and all City Council seats are up for election in August. 

Finley, 44, is president of Fins Marketing. Over the past year, he said he spent time with residents to develop his mayoral platform based on the needs and issues he identified as the most critical areas for change.

“The number one concern of residents is that our growth has already exceeded the capacity of our existing infrastructure, our roads, schools and other amenities.” Finley said. “With both the normal growth patterns and the projected increase resulting from the impending BRAC activities, it is clear that more and more families will be coming to Madison. We must have both a solid, well-defined plan for accommodating the inevitable residential growth and an aggressive approach to economic development for the city.”

Finley said one way he will do that is by being a visible and approachable mayor who leads the city with vision and purpose. “We must work purposefully to improve our relationship with the city of Huntsville and find common ground that will benefit both municipalities,” he said. “When we work collaboratively on common areas of concern, we stand a much greater chance of bringing our federal and state tax dollars back to North Alabama to benefit everyone involved on issues such as the problems that exist on (U.S.) 72.”

As a business owner, Finley said he understands the challenges and opportunities available in the city. He said he’d like to see business operation requirements and processes become more streamlined.

Finley said since the school system is a big draw for new residents, he also wants to increase city support for the school system by taking a more active role in helping the system work through its growth issues.

He said he believes he can use past successes in leading community service projects to foster productive relationships with residents and corporate sponsors to continue to improve the city’s amenities.

Finley served as chairman of Project PROUD to help get $270,000 worth of improvements at Palmer Park. He’s also on the board of the Heart of the Valley YMCA and has worked to help bring the $12 million facility to the community.

“I will represent Madison with integrity and to be accountable for building positive and proactive relationships,” he said.

Finley is married to Dr. Julie Finley, assistant principal at Bob Jones High School. They have three children, Tyler, Tanner and Kyle.

More information is available about the campaign at www.paulfinleyformayor.com

By Jean Cole

jean@athensnews-courier.com

Madison school officials have announced plans to build a new high school in the annexed portion of eastern Limestone County, forcing Limestone County and Athens schools to either agree to pay part of the tax burden or be stuck with it all.

Limestone Superintendent Dr. Barry Carroll told school board members about the problem during a work session Monday at Clements High School.

“If we don’t agree, they will probably draw more taxes off of us,” Carroll told board members.

The new school – designed to take pressure off Bob Jones High School in Madison – would serve about 1,000 to 1,500 students from both Limestone and Madison counties, Carroll said. He was uncertain how many Limestone County students this would affect, but estimated the number at 500.

In an April 5 letter, Madison City Schools Superintendent Dee Fowler asked state Superintendent of Education Dr. Joseph Morton to clarify what percent of countywide tax would be paid by a school district with schools in two counties.

In a response dated April 27, Assistant Superintendent Warren Pouncey said under Alabama law, the location of the school determines who pays the countywide taxes. However, he noted that Limestone County and Madison could sign a mutual agreement and get permission from the state for a different tax-distribution plan.

Fowler asked Carroll to consider signing an agreement so Limestone would pay countywide tax only on those students who live in Madison-annexed portions of Limestone County.

Carroll told board members Monday that Athens City Schools Superintendent Dr. Orman Bridges Jr. is also aware of Madison’s plans and that, “He is about as happy about it as I am.”

Board members plan to talk to the Athens school board’s attorney to see if he can represent both city and county schools in the matter. The county’s attorney and Madison schools’ attorney both work for the same firm and therefore cannot represent their clients in this matter, Carroll said.

Board member Earl Glaze, who was elected Monday as the board’s new president, said he may call a meeting to discuss the matter before the regular board meeting scheduled Dec. 3.

Several years ago, Madison bought a large piece of land within the Madison city limits and Limestone County where the new school will be built. Fowler stated in his letter to Morton that he expects annexation to continue as the city expands its boundaries into Limestone County.

Limestone school board members asked Limestone County voters in August to approve 1-cent sales tax increase to pay for about $50 million in improvements needed at area schools. It would have included new schools and improvements to existing schools.

Voters defeated the request.

By STEVE DOYLE

Times Staff Writer steve.doyle@htimes.com

Property owner gets big tax break for use restriction.

With land becoming more expensive, the Land Trust of Huntsville & North Alabama is turning to a new preservation tool.

The nonprofit Land Trust, which traditionally has bought the sensitive properties that it wants to save, recently accepted its first conservation easement to keep 302 acres near Huntsville from ever being developed.

“Those lands for the most part won’t be open to the public for hiking, but the public benefits because the land is forever preserved,” Cynthia Parker, the Land Trust’s executive director, said last week. “It will always be a beautiful spot in the community.”

Parker declined to reveal the exact location of the property at the owner’s request; the owner also does not want to be identified, she said.

Conservation easements offer a hefty federal tax break to families who agree to permanently restrict development on their scenic, environmentally sensitive or historic properties. The family continues to own the land and may retain the ability to farm, harvest timber and carve out a limited number of home sites for relatives.

Under the most common arrangement, the family donates the conservation easement to a land trust, which ensures the deed restrictions are being followed. The family can sell the land later, but the buyers have to honor the easement.

It can be a great deal for people with big chunks of scenic land.

According to The Wall Street Journal, interest in conservation easements spiked after a 2006 change in federal pension law let families claim larger tax deductions on easements. Landowners can now deduct the value of a donation up to 50 percent of their adjusted gross income per year, up from 30 percent previously. That means if an owner’s adjusted gross income is $100,000, the Journal said, the owner is now eligible for up to a $50,000 annual tax deduction, instead of $30,000.

The value of the donation for income-tax purposes generally is the difference between what the land is worth with the development restrictions and what it could be worth if turned into a subdivision or shopping center. Families are required to have the land appraised and possibly surveyed, which can cost several thousand dollars.

“It’s an amazing tax incentive” for landowners, said Parker, who was in Fairhope Thursday and Friday for a talk by Stephen J. Small, a Boston tax lawyer who wrote the Internal Revenue Service regulations for conservation easements.

While the Land Trust has been approached by several other local families about placing conservation easements on their land, Parker said the group is going to be choosy about which easements it accepts.

“The land has to meet the mission of the Land Trust,” she said. “We’re looking for large tracts that are going to serve as open green space and add a little break from all the development. We’ve got two or three others in process that we hope to have finished by the end of the year.”

Created in 1987, the Land Trust owns or manages 4,541 acres in Madison and Limestone counties, including large preserves on Monte Sano, Huntsville, Green, Wade and Rainbow mountains.

By WENDY REEVES

Times Staff Writer wendy.reeves@htimes.com

If council OKs increases, bills will go up in December.

Huntsville Utilities’ officials say water is becoming a rare commodity and users are going to have to pay more for it.

This month, Huntsville Utilities plans to ask the City Council to approve two rate increases over the next year. And more increases can be expected over the next several years, all to pay for more than $100 million in water system expansions.

The council could vote on the first two proposed increases in November.

If approved, all customers will see their water bills go up in December and next September.

“We’re in the third year of a drought,” Huntsville Utilities spokesman Bill Yell said. “This summer we asked for voluntary, not mandatory conservation like other big cities. We plan to meet the needs of our customers … but we need to stay ahead of our demand.”

On basic residential accounts, overall, it will mean just under a dollar more per month in December.

In September, the rate increase will be about 60 cents.

The proposed rate structure is set up on a tier system, said Bill Pippen, the utilities’ general manager. That means the more water customers use, the more they’ll have to pay.

For example:

Residential customers who use up to 3,000 gallons a month currently pay $1.15 per thousand gallons.

If the rate change is approved, the monthly rate would go to $1.20 per thousand gallons; the second increase would take it to $1.24 per thousand gallons.

After the first 3,000 gallons, the rate on subsequent water use goes up.

For customers who use between 3,000 and 6,000 gallons, the first proposed rate change is to $1.45 per thousand gallons.

In this category, there are two proposed changes. Once 3,000 gallons is used, the first proposed rate change is to $1.45 per thousand gallons. The second increase in September would be to $1.55 per thousand gallons.

For residential customers who use more than 6,000 gallons a month, the water used above 6,000 gallons will be charged at the rate to $1.50 per thousand gallons. By September, water used above 6,000 gallons will cost $1.68 per thousand gallons.

Expansion plans

The utility needs at least $100 million over the next five years for capital projects. The December increase will raise about $2 million and the September increase will generate about $1.5 million in additional revenue to help make the payments on the project loans, said Jay Stowe, vice president of operations for the utility provider.

Pippen, Yell and Stowe met with Times reporters and editors Tuesday to discuss the rate increase.

They said Huntsville Utilities needs to expand its South Huntsville Tennessee River treatment plant capacity from 36 million to 48 million gallons per day by 2010. A 5-million-gallon water tank will also be needed and the estimated total cost of both will be between $22 million and $25 million, Pippen said.

The system has a second water treatment plant in Triana that produces about 48 million gallons a day, Yell said.

Plans are also under way to build a water treatment plant on the Tennessee River near Guntersville in Marshall County.

The actual design of that plant won’t begin until the expansion is almost completed in 2009, but Pippen estimates the cost for it to be around $74 million.

The goal is to have the Marshall County plant operating by 2013, Pippen said.

Between the capital needs and maintenance of the existing water system, water customers can expect to see additional rate increases in the coming years, said Stowe.

He said the additional water is needed because of residential growth and the amount of water used.

Stowe said Huntsville Utilities can provide 83 million gallons a day. It pumps an average of about 43 million gallons a day to 83,000 meters, he said.

This summer, record-setting, triple-digit temperatures and lack of significant rainfall had Huntsville Utilities pumping record amounts of water - 76 million gallons a day on the worst days.

Stowe estimated 30 million gallons of that water was used for lawn sprinkling and other irrigation.

That’s why, under the proposed rate increase, all customers who have irrigation meters will pay more. Currently, irrigation water costs $1.28 per thousand gallons. The first rate increase will jump that price to $1.50 per thousand gallons. The second increase will set the price at $1.73 per thousand gallons.

Huntsville Utilities provides wholesale water service to New Hope, Triana and Redstone Arsenal.

Those rates will increase from $1.30 per thousand gallons to $1.55 in December. And 10 months later it will jump to $1.78 per thousand gallons.

Huntsville Utilities also provides supplemental water to Madison and Madison County, who will feel the rate increase the most. Those rates will jump from $2.63 per thousand gallons to $3.45 this year. Next year, the cost will rise to $4.11 per thousand gallons.

Stowe said the reason supplemental customers will pay much higher rates is because they only purchase a few months a year when the demand is high.

Builders and developers will also be required to pay a development charge of at least $1,200 per lot throughout the city, if the rate increase is approved by the City Council. Currently that $1,200 fee is charged only in the Hampton Cove and Knox Creek areas.

By WENDY REEVES

Times Staff Writer wendy.reeves@htimes.comHardiman Road landowners seek council approval

MADISON - The city limits are set to grow again if the City Council approves another residential-improvement district at tonight’s meeting.

At its Sept. 10 meeting, the council unanimously approved its first such project, the Greenbrier Improvement District. It includes 72 acres near Powell Road in Limestone County.

Tonight, the owners of the Hardiman Road subdivision plan to ask for the council’s approval for a residential-improvement district there.

The council will also hear a first reading of an ordinance establishing a city policy on residential-improvement districts for landowners who want their property annexed.

Councilman Steve Haraway represents the Limestone County residents who live in Madison. Haraway’s district is the only one in the city that isn’t landlocked by Huntsville.

The Hardiman Road subdivision will include about 32 acres, he said.

Under the improvement-district agreement, the landowner must agree to a $10,000 tax assessment on each lot, at which point annexation takes place.

That means, Haraway said, that the final owner of the property will have to pay an assessment of $10,000 over 20 years to buy the residence.

The fee will be dedicated to schools and roads that specifically benefit the home’s subdivision. Haraway said it’s a way for the city to grow and pay for additional public services that growth requires.

The council will meet at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 100 Hughes Road.

By WENDY REEVES

Times Staff Writer wendy.reeves@htimes.comBoard working on strategic planwith consultant

MADISON - Robin Buckelew wants to know if the Madison school board plans to build another high school.

She hopes so. That’s why she showed up for Thursday’s school board work session and meeting.

“I’ve got two children in elementary school. They’re in sixth and fourth grades, and I’m concerned about overcrowding in the middle schools,” Buckelew said. “I think we need another middle school.”

But she knows that a new high school is needed. And she’s done her homework.

In recent months when Superintendent Dee Fowler compared Bob Jones High School to schools in Vestavia, Mountain Brook and Hoover, Buckelew went online and checked them out.

“None of them have a 9-10 academy,” she said. “And I’m worried when I hear them talk about a 9th- and 10th-grade academy because I’m afraid it’s not the right approach.”

From a parent’s viewpoint, Buckelew said she believes that the city could handle a third high school. It was suggested several weeks ago by Dr. Cindy Bailey, a strategy consultant working with the school board on a strategic plan.

In June, she said the board needs to be thinking about a third high school. “If you don’t change, you’re going to be faced with a 3,500-student high school, and even though those exist, their challenges are apparent.”

While the board hammered out details about the plan’s vision and mission statement for that strategic plan with Bailey on Thursday, Buckelew said she’s keeping up with the process because she wants to know where the system is headed.

“I can see three high schools,” she said. “It would give our kids a whole new realm of opportunities.”

One thing, it would give students a chance to try out for extracurricular activities to participate, not to be eliminated.

Buckelew also believes that Madison residents are intelligent and educated enough to help fund future capital projects with an increase in property taxes.

“If they have a plan and can show us where they want to go, I think Madison residents will support it,” Buckelew said. “You can’t just say give me the money. … They’ve got to have a vision and sell it to the community.”