December 2011

The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) announced today that it is the recipient of a Distinguished Budget Presentation Award from the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The award was presented to the RPCGB for the start of its 2011-12 fiscal year.

According to the GFOA, the award represents a significant achievement by the entity. It reflects the commitment of the governing body and staff to meeting the highest principles of governmental budgeting. In order to receive the budget award, the entity had to satisfy nationally recognized guidelines for effective budget presentation. These guidelines are designed to assess how well an entity's budget serves as: a policy document, a financial plan, an operations guide, [and] a communications guide.

"To my knowledge, we are the first regional council in the state to receive such an award and one of only four or five other local government jurisdictions in the state," said Dr. Ray Morris, RPCGB Deputy Executive Director.

Budget documents must be rated "proficient" in all four categories, as well as the fourteen mandatory criteria within those categories, to receive the award. Award recipients represent excellent examples of budgetary practices by governments throughout North America.

"This is a tremendous testament to the unwavering support of our board and member governments. We look forward to maintaining this level of fiscal responsibility for years to come," said Charles Ball, RPCGB Executive Director.

About the Government Finance Officers Association
The Government Finance Officers Association is the major professional association serving the needs of appointed and elected local and state-level government officials and other finance practitioners. It provides top-quality publications, training programs, services, and products designed to enhance the skills and performance of those responsible for government finance policy and management. The association, which has 17,500 members, is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, with offices in Washington, D.C.

About the Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham
The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham (RPCGB) is an advisory planning agency, providing services in the areas of community, economic and transportation / transit planning and data development/mapping and healthcare-related services. RPCGB's service area includes Blount, Chilton, Jefferson, St. Clair, Shelby and Walker counties. For additional information about the RPCGB, please visit www.rpcgb.org.

Hometown: Sao Jose dos Campos, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Education: I have a dual master's degree in planning and architecture from Georgia Tech and a bachelor's degree in architecture from the University of Florida.
How long have you been with the RPCGB?: I have been working at RPCGB for about 2 months.
Give a short overview of your job: So far I have been involved with the planning and urban design of commercial corridors in suburban and regional contexts.
What is your favorite aspect of your job?: I enjoy the freedom of pursuing my own ideas and to an extent, the direction of my project, while having access to the knowledge and resources from colleagues of various disciplines and backgrounds in the office.
Tell us one thing we don't know about you: I have a twin brother.
Finish this sentence: "Ten years from now, I hope to be...": Leading a team in the planning, design, and development of large-scale projects and setting a high standard for how communities should be built!

• Elected as the first minority city councilman of Jemison in 1976; and elected as mayor in 2004 and 2008
• A public high school teacher in the Chilton County School system from 1967-1994; an adjunct instructor of sociology at Wallace State Community College from 1987-2007
• Holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Daniel Payne College and a Master of Education degree from the University of Montevallo. Post graduate studies at UAB, Auburn, Alabama States as well as studies from Southeastern Bible College.
• Serves as Worshipful Master of Pride of Jemison Lodge No. 630; serves as Patron of Rainbow Chapter of Eastern Star No. 398; serves as Program Director for The Center of Humanity United for the Revitalization of Church and Home (C.H.U.R.C.H.); and appointed a Member of the Policy Advisory Board of Shelby Baptist Medical Center.

The RPCGB held its annual Building Communities Conference on November 3 at the McWane Science Center. This year's conference was titled Transformation: Creating New Life from Existing Assets. The conference focus was finding opportunities for development in the Jones Valley's underutilized properties.

Attendees heard from multiple speakers including Andy Mayo from the City of Birmingham, Harris Hollans from Auburn University's Master of Real Estate Development Program, and Philip Amthor and Steve Ostaseski from the RPCGB.

Highlights from the conference included an overview of the current state of the local economy from John B. Norris of Oakworth Capital Bank and a look at downtown redevelopment from Joe Minicozzi, the Executive Director of the Asheville, NC Downtown Association.

Stay tuned for the next episode of RPC-TV, as we will feature a story on this year's conference.

The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham and it's consulting team at RS&H held a public open house in November for the U.S. 280 Corridor Transit Study. The open house gave the public an opportunity to hear about the latest developments in the study from the team.

After spending the last year analyzing multiple alternatives for improvements to the U.S 280 corridor, the study is currently in the selection of Locally Preferred Alternatives phase. The team narrowed options down to six possible alternatives, including bus-rapid transit, premium bus and enhanced local bus service.

The study team developed a survey for open house attendees and online participants to gain a better understanding of the desire for transit along the corridor. Approximately 200 individuals responded to the survey, which revealed that the greatest interest was bus-rapid transit. Of those surveyed, 55% would use a bus-rapid transit system and 23% are willing to consider using it. Bus-rapid transit incorporates high quality transit vehicles on a dedicated lane through a corridor.

The next step in the study is to finalize an alternative transit option and present the findings in the first part of 2012. For more information on the study, please visit the U.S 280 project website.

MIDFIELD, Ala. (WIAT) - Developers continue to ask for input as plans for the Southwest Corridor continue to take shape.

The Regional Planning Commission of greater Birmingham spent Wednesday in Midfield discussing those plans with residents. It was the last of this year's planning workshops.

"Part of every good transportation planning study is public involvement. We work hard to interact with the communities, get their input and keep them informed," developer Jack Schnettler said.

Click here for more information.

Via CBS.

MIDFIELD, Alabama -- The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham is holding land use planning workshops and an open house Wednesday at the Midfield Community Center, 410 Grant Street.

The workshops, part of the Southwest Corridor Transit Study, will cover potential land use concepts and strategies in five primary target areas that could be served by new, high-quality transit service: Five Points West; the Princeton Baptist Medical Center area; the Legion Field area; Aaron Aronov Drive at U.S. 11 -- the area around Western Hills Mall, and downtown Bessemer.

Three sessions will be held, from 8:30-11 a.m., 1-3:30 p.m. and 4-8 p.m.

More information is available at the study's website, www.swcorridor.org.

Via AL.com

By Melanie Patterson

FULTONDALE -- If the city of Fultondale's plans come to fruition, the corridor along U.S. Hwy. 31 will hardly be recognizable in a few years.

On Friday, at least 100 people packed the Fulton­dale council chambers to learn about the city's revitalization plan for U.S. Hwy. 31.

Fultondale Mayor Jim Lowery said the Fultondale Commercial Development Authority, the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), land planners and city officials have been working together on the plan for more than a year. The MPO is a regional planning organization made up of several cities. Kelly Landscape Architects of Birmingham created the master plan.

"This is a comprehensive plan from city limit to city limit," Lowery said.

Lowery said the plan was originally going to be created and released in phases, but the devastating April 27 tornado caused the city to change its focus from revitalization to storm recovery. Thus, the city released the first two phases together this week.

Phase 1 encompasses U.S. Hwy. 31 from Walker Chapel Road and west to the city limits. It includes significant commercial development (privately owned and city owned), including the next phase of the Promenade Shopping Center. It also includes residential growth and an expansion of municipal property.

Phase 2 goes from Walker Chapel Road and east to the Gardendale city limits. It includes commercial growth, office space, residential expansion and expansion of Black Creek Park and the Children's Park.

The next study will include a revitalization plan for Walker Chapel Road from U.S. Hwy. 31 to where the new fire station is currently under construction across from Maplecrest Lane, according to Lowery.

"If you don't plan, you don't know where you're going," said Chuck Kelly, with Kelly Landscape Architects. Kelly explained the plan to a standing-room-only crowd on Friday.

Lowery said the plan could leap from paper to bricks and mortar in as few as five to seven years.

He said the city would not have to borrow money for the revitalization project.

"It's an opportunity for people to come and build and develop," he said.

Much of the infrastructure is already in place, he added, including drainage and gutters. In addition, the Alabama Department of Transportation recently finished a $3 million paving project in the city, where it resurfaced U.S. Hwy. 31.

One of the first projects residents will likely see rise from the dust are two, two-story office condominium on U.S. Hwy. 31 near Fultondale Elementary School.

Mike Hudson is proposing to build the office condos.

"I believe in this area," Hudson told the audience on Friday. "I certainly see there's a need for professional office building."

Hudson said he wants to see professionals such as doctors, dentists and insurance agents in the buildings. He said they will be able to lease space in 2,000-foot increments, with the option to buy.

Lowery said the proposed tax base from the projects is almost $4 million annually.

"Our tax base, even with the tornado, has continued to grow," Lowery said. "This is a very promising opportunity for Fultondale."

Via The North Jefferson News

Flexible, accessible financing can make the difference between small business success and failure, especially during tough economic times when traditional financial institutions have tightened restrictions on lending. The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham, AL (est. pop. 229,424), has assembled state and federal funding to create a pool of $2.3 million to lend to small businesses as part of the organization's goal to retain jobs in the small business sector.

"The most interesting loan program I have by far is my receivables lending program," says Yvonne Murray, director of economic development. "We offer it to tenants at our partner incubators." Notes of up to $25,000 are available for a maximum of 30 days. "We use accounts receivable as collateral and require a personal guaranty from the company principals." These loans provide short-term working capital for payroll and supplies and materials for the open receivables.

"Once they collect the receivables, or when the 30 days hit, whichever is sooner, they pay us back," says Murray. "Our board has given us the authority to approve the loans up to $25,000 in house, so we are able to turn them around very quickly. Usually, the borrower calls us and we have the paperwork and check within an hour."

The dollars for these loans are from interest collected and from revolved funds from the commission's larger loans, which were originally funded by a state bond that capitalized revolving loan funds for each of the 12 regional commissions in Alabama, Murray says. The receivables lending program has been around for just over two years.

"We've made a total of 86 loans to date," says Murray. "The total amount loaned for this program so far is $1.66 million, but the great thing is that we'veleveraged about $8.27 million in receivables." Borrowers are only allowed to borrow the lesser of either 80 percent of the value of the receivables, or $25,000. The normal interest charged is 6.25 percent, so if a borrower takes on the maximum amount of $25,000, they pay about $130 for 30 days. "The beauty of the program is that we have a strong relationship with the incubators (their landlords), so we have much less risk than a usual loan. We can communicate with their landlords very easily, and we're able to really understand their financial capacity and credibility. If they run into some delays collecting their accounts receivable, we are able to work with them through flexible terms to ensure that they get us paid back."

Of the 86 loans, only one required collection action, and it was a loan of less than $10,000, she says. "This has been the most enjoyable program for me because generally I do at least one of these each week, and I get insight into such a broad spectrum of ,businesses."

The Regional Planning Commission of Greater Birmingham also operates a revolving loan fund providing supplemental financing for expanding and new businesses with projects that will create permanent new jobs. Funds can be used for purchase and development of land and buildings, renovations, purchase of equipment, and for working capital. The commission's Microloan Program serves start-ups, new businesses and expanding small businesses, with a focus on manufacturing, distribution, healthcare and technology-based companies. Microloans may be used for acquisition of materials, supplies, furniture, fixtures and equipment, and for working capital. The maximum amount is $35,000, for a maximum of six years.

Via Downtown Idea Exchange