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Reply to "Bringing Industry to the Shoals"

quote:
Originally posted by logical:
Combine Florence, Muscle Shoals, Tuscumbia, and Sheffield into a single city.

Finish Hwys 157 and 133


While combining all four cities would be best, the reality is; that's almost impossible. Mainly because it involves two neighboring counties. That would require something on the order of an amendment to the state constitution. The two counties would have to be combined and a new county seat determined. I just don't see that happening. However a Metro government combining the three cities on this side of the river with the Colbert county commision would be a major step in the right direction. And it's doable.

There are several things that stand in the way of this unification. One is te loss of identity. No one wants to lose their place in the world. The residents of each city think that their town has the most to lose. Even Sheffield residents, as poor as that city is, are against the move deep down if their city were to lose it's identity. Unfortunately this simple obstacle is going to be a major thing to overcome.

The next thing is the assumption of debt. Muscle Shoals is currently the most solvent of the three cities in question. They are growing, slowly but growth none the less. If they aren't careful though they could find themself in trouble. Sheffield is boxed in. Built up all around. Muscle Shoals could wake up in the same shape if they mess with Harvey Robbins enough. He's still on the move in Tuscumbia and south of Muscle Shoals with the Industrial Park/Longhorn Arena area. He's also moving on the east side with the golf course development. He's got the money to pen Muscle Shoals in if he wants to. Tuscumbia is growing but not enough. I'm happy to see the improvement being made but we need more.

Combining the three city governments and the county commission would be awesome. Just think of all the benefits. Better city services for everybody. Better fire protection with more fire fighters and better training and equipment. Bigger and better police department with more officers and better training. One utility department, one street and sanitation department, one parks and recreation department all with more money and therefore more grant money to spend on further improvements.

I know it's easy to ennumerate the plusses of combining these different government entities. I also know the hard part is actually doing it. The only way I know of to address a problem is to decide where I want to go, make a list of all the things that stand in the way, then try to figure a way to overcome them. That's what I'm doing here. Making the list of the what. Now let's start to work on the how. We already know why.

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