A spokeswoman for Jack’s has confirmed the company will open a restaurant in Andalusia early in 2019.
Sarah Cain, communications and merchandising manager for Jack’s said in an email late last week, “We’ve officially signed on to a property there and based on construction schedules we’re hoping for early next year.”
The company has not provided particulars about its plans, but is said to be locating a restaurant on the bypass where Kentucky Fried Chicken formerly operated.
The City of Andalusia has scheduled a public hearing related to Jack’s construction during its Tues., August 21, city council meeting.
Founded in 1960, Jack’s, originally known as Jack’s Hamburgers, is headquartered in Sumiton, Alabama. That first location was a walk-up hamburger stand that served 10-cent sodas, 15-cent fries, and 20-cent shakes.
The company has 155 locations in Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi and Georgia, but currently operates no restaurants south of Montgomery.
The restaurant’s lunch and supper menu is focused on burgers and fried chicken. It also offers biscuits during the breakfast hours, served with fried chicken, pork chops, steak, sausage, smoked sausage, ham, or bacon eggs and cheese.
Leases airport hangars designed for C-130s
The South Alabama Regional Airport officially welcomed Yulista Holding, LLC to its complex Friday.
Yulista is an Alaska Native Corporation with operations in 14 states, and doing business in 28 countires, CEO Josh Herren said. Its shareholders are of Yup’ik descent. The company has been operating in Huntsville since 2002.
Herren said he moved to Alabama two years ago.
“For the last five to seven years, Alaska has been a bit closed to business,” he said. “They make it very hard to do work in Alaska.”
It is refreshing to see communities here be so open for business, he said.
“ I think it’s going to be very good for (your) community.”
Yulista changed its strategy about five to seven years ago and adopted a diversified approach, seeking all kinds of business rather than concentrating on its core.
“We started winning,” he said. “The team really embraced this concept of going out and getting business. In five years, we’ve almost doubled our employees.”
The company has almost outgrown its Huntsville facility, he said, and needs more facilities, which made them a good tenant for SARA’s twin hangars.
“This will give us an opportunity to seize some customers on the Gulf Coast,” he said. “We have some work to do to grab some customers and bring them in. But we’ve proven over time we can expand and scale this organization of where it needs to be. “
The Andalusia complex was designed specifically for C-130 and B-737 aircraft, but easily accommodates rotary and tilt rotor aircraft.
“Yulista is excited to be working with SARA and becoming a part of the Covington County and Andalusia communities,” Herren said. “Our SARA facility is going to be instrumental in serving our customers by increasing our capacity and giving us the ability to support different customers, their missions and platforms.”
Yulista entered an agreement with the airport authority to lease the hangars in the late spring. Yulista chief engineer Rick Toliver, who made a presentation to the authority, said then he expected to have work here by September.
Approximately 100 people attended the announcement ceremony Friday.
City’s half-cent education tax puts $1M in schools
Andalusia Superintendent Ted Watson said Tuesday he hopes the approximately $1 million from a half-cent education sales tax locals schools receive each year helps enhance the marketability of the community for years to come.
“We do not take the money you all give us lightly,” Watson said just after the city council approved the city school board’s funding request for the 2018-19 school year. Language in the city ordinance authorizing a half-cent sales tax for education requires the board to present its annual proposal and request for use of the money in July of each year.
“Everything we’re putting funds in to is part of our plan to work on safety, improve buildings, or add technology to enhance our curriculum,” Watson said. “There is a big wheel called Andalusia and we are a cog in that wheel. We take that very seriously.
“We hope when every comes in, they see what we do as an extra positive for employees and businesses and corporations, so we can enhance Andalusia’s marketability for years to come.
The council approved the board’s requests, which includes:
$500,000 toward the Andalusia High School auditorium/stadium project, currently under way.
$110,000 for the system’s Apple computer lease. The lease puts 1,347 ipads, laptops and desktops in the school system.
$75,000 for continuation of the music program at AHS.
$262,000 for the STEM/CTE initiative.
The allocation includes $212,000 to implement four V-Tech labs, including one each at Andalusia Elementary and Andalusia Junior High, and two at AHS.
The allocation also includes $15,000 for an analyst and $35,000 for equipment needed to run the new video board in the stadium. Students will learn to manage the equipment and produce video in a career tech class.
$15,000 for contingency funds.
$108,000 for the first year’s debt service on the construction bond funding the AHS projects.
Settlement reduced to $50K if paid in 90 days
The Andalusia City Council on Tuesday approved a resolution that put abatement compliance costs to the property owners totaling almost $127,000 the city paid in cleaning up the abated properties, or settle the matter with property owners for $50,000 if that amount is paid the city in 90 days.
The council first took abatement action on the four properties involved in 2016, declaring they included structures or items in disrepair that caused a public nuisance. In the abatement, if a property owner does not comply with the legal directive to correct issues within a specified timeline, the city may choose to do what it deems necessary, and pass the costs along to the property owner.
That was the action taken by the city, but not yet resolved with the owners of the properties.
As a result, the city council approved a resolution attaching the charges for those property improvements to the owner’s or owners’ property taxes. The resolution relates to:
- 201 S. Three Notch St., owned by Tisdale Family Properties, and also known as the former opera house. Total cost of repairs: $18,818.65
- 223 South Cotton, owned by John Tisdale, the depot. Total cost: $17,032.74
- Lot adjacent to 233 South Cotton St., owned by John W. Tisdale Jr. and Jennifer H. Tisdale. Total cleanup cost: $19,784
- 254 Historic Central St., where the city completed cleanup of buildings in the process of being torn down, and dealt with rail cars, Moore said. Total cost: $73,088.78
The totals include a 10 percent fee that will be charged by the revenue commissioner’s office if the settlement costs aren’t paid in 90 days and the costs have to be added to property taxes. Current Revenue Commissioner Chuck Patterson explained that if the revenue commission office collects costs associated with an abatement, the county commission receives 10 percent of the abatement money for their efforts in collection.
Neither Tisdale nor his attorney attended the public hearing, but Mark Christensen, who serves as the city’s attorney, said they reached an agreement in principle last week.
Mayor Earl Johnson said the settlement agreement takes into account actual costs from outside companies incurred by the city.
“The other costs were for the work the city’s employees did,” he said.
With Andalusia’s first home football game only 24 days away, crews with Wyatt Sasser Construction are working to put safeguards in place to make the stadium usable before construction is completely finished.
Last month, the Andalusia Board of Education approved a “Plan B,” that includes building temporary, handicapped accessible sidewalks to the two entrances that will be used until the facility is completed.
Brian Ray, who is overseeing the project for Wyatt Sasser Construction, said fans can enter the stadium beside the auditorium, or on the visitors’ side by the field house.
“We have had lots of calls asking if the stadium will be ready,” he said. “We will play football. But we want people to know it’s not going to be finished. They need to watch their kids and make sure they stay away from the fenced-off areas.”
The new concession in the field house is expected to be in use, but the concession stands in the base of the pressbox and in the plaza will not be ready. Superintendent Ted Watson said the state building commission inspector has said if concessions are offered in the field house (visitors’ side), concessions also must be offered on the home side. It is expected a vending trailer will be used on the home side for the beginning of this season.
The old bus barns on the bypass side of the field recently were torn down to make way for visitor parking. Additional lighting will be added at the entrance on the home side of the stadium. And in the next 24 days, aluminum seats will be added to the home bleachers, and the new grandstands also are expected to be in place.
The base for new video board is in place, and the board should be delivered today or Wednesday.
Andalusia’s first home game will be Aug. 31.