Taxpayers to continue investing at Brookley Aeroplex ahead of ...

MOBILE, Alabama ? The cost of asphalt to pave over newly constructed roads, conduit for fiber optics, lights, trees and flowers might not be the most talked about things during today's groundbreaking for Airbus, but it could affect the typical Mobile taxpayer the most.

It hits them directly in the wallet.

After today's 10 a.m. ceremony at the future Airbus manufacturing site is over and the shovels are collected, public officials will get to work in getting Brookley Aeroplex upgraded for its new $600 million occupant.

"You'll see an active site," Mobile Mayor Sam Jones said. "You'll see a lot of things shaping out and the contracts bid out and we'll see a lot of people working at a construction site."

Tax-funded road projects will be the big focus in the coming months as city workers will be on an aggressive time table to kick start engineering and construction work.

Chief among those is the reconstruction of Broad Street from Interstate 10 to Michigan Avenue. The $2.5 million construction project is paid for by both the state and the city with $493,010 coming out of tax money from local gasoline sales.

Larry Wettermark, the city's attorney, said the nearly one-mile Broad Street work is a "very significant" infrastructure project that needs to be completed in a timely fashion because it's the street leading to Airbus' front door. It's also where heavy equipment will travel, such as wing sections hauled into Mobile.

Other, more minor, road work projects will be underway within Brookley. They are also tax-funded, approved by voters during the November 2012 Pay-As-You-Go program.

The City Council, in December, unanimously approved a contract with John G. Walton Construction Inc. to resurface a host of streets within Brookley. Resurfacing includes portions of Perimeter Drive, Michigan Avenue and 15^th, Madea, Nowlin and O'Donoughue streets.

All told, the public will be paying for about $12 million in upgrades to roadwork related to Airbus' arrival.

The money isn't just for paving asphalt or digging up roads and reconstructing them. Engineering costs and utility relocation expenses are also included in that final tab. Along Broad Street, the council endorsed a $105,000 engineering agreement with Geotechnical Engineering-Testing Inc. for soil and concrete examinations.

In December, $85,000 was doled out in a geotechnical contract with Southern Earth Sciences Inc. for work at Airbus Way and Aerospace Drive ? the main entrance into the future plant.

Roadwork aside, the taxpayer will likely be on the hook for some of the wireless communication and cellular phone technology for Airbus.

The exact amount of that investment is unknown.

Wettermark said public officials could be looking at investing in the conduit for fiber optics at Brookley. The conduit would have to be installed while roadwork goes on, since installation needs to take place while roads are dug up.

In recent weeks, though, there have been conflicting reports as to what extent the fiber optics installation requires.

The airport authority -- which is developing a comprehensive technology plan that will include, among other things, fiber optics -- is unsure on the exact technological needs at Brookley. The airport's director, Bill Sisson, said last month that Brookley needs to be wired for future uses; an official with a leading local telecommunications company said there is enough fiber optics at Brookley to support Airbus.

Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl said he's been assured by a private engineer that there is a strong enough system at Brookley, and questioned how much tax money might be needed for upgrades.

"I'm questioning why we need more fiber optics out there when it's in the ground," Carl said.

Other expenses which have yet to be assessed or assigned include beautification of the site ? the landscaping at the Airbus plant ? as well as the addition of lighting.

There are also questions about future incentives, which are tax-funded lures for companies to build within a community and bring jobs.

Airbus already has been promised $158.5 million in state and local incentives. Included in those amounts are the roadway improvements and site preparation work.

Suppliers also are getting incentives to locate, and city officials are hoping more come to Mobile.

The City Council, in December, endorsed $70,000 to benefit Labinal Engineering Inc., a subsidiary of Safran Engineering Services of France. The county also gave $24,000 in incentives; the state doled out $12,000.

Labinal will hold an 8:30 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new engineering office that will support aerospace and transportation companies in Alabama.

But Wettermark said there is nothing in the works as far as incentives for other suppliers. The city is hosting a suppliers networking event around 4 p.m. today at the Center for the Living Arts.

"Each project stands on its own," he said. "The word supplier can mean almost anything. If you have a company that is coming in to build engines, and we are competing against two to three communities, you bet your bottom dollar that we'd have to compete with other communities by authorizing incentives."

Incentives don't always mean public cash. It can also mean public investment into workplace training, etc.

"I just think we have to continue to aggressively market ourselves," Wettermark said. "We are on the map now. That doesn't mean you do nothing. You have to continue to support your public infrastructure and market yourself. That's really what we need to do."

John Sharp, Press Register

Source: http://blog.al.com/live/2013/04/taxpayers_to_continue_investin.html

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