From the Mayor’s office at Heflin City Hall on July 17, Anna Berry explained what her administration has done over the past eight years and addressed statements made by mayoral candidates. Berry is seeking a third term as mayor and said she has “tried to think about what is in the best interest for the city” during her time in office.
The mayor’s office provided the six-page document City of Heflin, Alabama 5-Year Strategic Plan 2011-2015 which outlines six separate areas for city growth. It is the second Strategic Plan Mayor Berry has used for the City and lists more than 30 individual contributors from Cleburne County. Sponsored by The Economic and Community Development Department of Alabama Power Company, the Strategic Plan documents economic and community development along with education, leadership, healthcare, and cultural enhancements, and provides goals and time-tables for completion.
Mayor Berry said she took an “economic development intensive course” at Auburn University. “It is surprising what economic development really is,” she said about the nuances of attracting businesses to Heflin. Along with providing property to new or expanding companies, she said a well-trained workforce, proper utilities, and a “vibrant looking town” are equally important factors.
Along with traditional ideas for city growth, Berry said groups like the City Beautification Committee and the Heflin Arts Council are often overlooked but still vital components to economic development and town identity. “If the children of their [potential business] employees don’t have access to things like ballet or musical programs,” she said “those quality of life things matter whether this town is chosen or another town.”
The industrial park near Exit 205 on Interstate 20, owned and managed by the City of Heflin since April 2008 after the joint City/County ownership was dissolved, remains unoccupied. With recent water and sewage systems installed on the site, Mayor Berry said “we have the infrastructure there,” but “a lot of cut and fill” is necessary to have the park ready. She estimated three companies have visited Heflin but did not select the city due to the underdevelopment.
“We are in the process of getting the park developed,” Berry said. She commented on the recent bulldozer acquisition from a military surplus inventory in New Jersey. “It’s expensive to move dirt,” she said, but the city has the people to use equipment to work at the industrial park. “Now that we have the equipment,” she said “we can just buy fuel and begin that process.”
Looking at the August 28 municipal election, Berry hopes to continue her work and said she is proud of the Strategic Plan. A City Election Fact Check sent by City Hall to In The Field says that “the city is not aware of any incident” where the two governments could not work together. She also said Emmett Owen, the County Commissioner for the City of Heflin, works on a regular basis with city government.
Ex-Officio Chairman of the Cleburne County Commission Judge Ryan Robertson said the working relationship between the City and County is good. He said in a July 9 interview “we handle our business and they handle theirs.”
-MDS
A thoughtful, informative article. Based on what I read, it seems that Mayor Berry has some good ideas, including the focus on cultural activities for the local children and young adults. Also, in tough economic times like these though, would it be more helpful, for a while, if the city and county narrowed the emphasis either on developing downtown Hefin first to attract future business owners, or aggressively developing the “Industrial Park” so that more of the I-20 traffic can be captured thereby effectively channeling funds into developing downtown?
The article made me feel that Mayor Berry would help in bringing the community together by encouraging family enrichment, community development and business success. When it comes to expanding, though, frankly Heflin has been a tough nut to crack, but if any mayor loves their town and the people that live there, then it will show in sincere community service, amicable inter-governmental leadership with common strategies and positive results for it’s residents. And as important, the way in which this particular article is written makes me feel that Heflin really is a great town to want to beautify, have pride in and bring it’s resident’s around some common goals and dreams so that their children would want to, and could afford to stay and build their own homes and businesses here. Hopefully the author will continue striving to bring us a good, quality source of information that we can all know together and talk about as a community….