Shelby County manager tells Hoover chamber economy is booming

The economy in Shelby County is the hottest it has ever been, Shelby County Manager Alex Dudchock told the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce at its Feb. 20 luncheon.

During the great recession of the late 2000s, when the housing market took a sharp turn downward, the county abruptly lost $4.7 million in revenues for county services, Dudchock said.

In more recent years, the county has been growing incrementally, “but over the last two years, it has been very, very positive,” he said.

Property tax revenues for the first four months of fiscal 2020 are up 5.1%, from $15.5 million in the first four months of fiscal 2019 to $16.2 million this fiscal year, he said.

The half-cent of sales tax money that Shelby County receives brought in $5.7 million in the first four months of fiscal 2019 but a little more than $6 million for the same period this year — an increase of 6%, Dudchock said.

Per capita income is up by about $1,200 to $35,330, and the median household income in Shelby County rose by $1,753 to $74,063, he said.

The unemployment rate in Shelby County is 1.8%, which means the county probably is employing what statisticians say are the “unemployable,” he said. That likely means that the county needs more job training and making sure those “unemployable” people have the skills needed for hard-to-fill jobs, he said.

The number of airplanes at the Shelby County Airport has increased 115 percent from 67 in 2008 to 144 in 2019, and there almost is no more space for more, Dudchock said.

Shelby West Corporate Park, right next door to the airport, has just six sites left undeveloped, totaling almost 43 of the 400 acres in the industrial park, he said.

Dudchock said he is proud of the county’s joint effort with the state and Hoover to keep McLeod Software from leaving the Birmingham-Hoover area and instead relocate into Meadow Brook Corporate Park.

Since the company moved into its new offices there, its workforce has grown from 357 employees to 448 at that location, Dudchock said. That’s an additional 91 technology jobs available for people in Shelby County — jobs that give young people a reason to stay here after they graduate college, he said.

There are plans for more infilling of corporate buildings in the U.S. 280 corridor that hopefully will be announced in the near future, he said.

GOVERNMENT PROJECTS

Dudchock also gave the chamber an update about numerous government projects affecting Hoover.

Bids should be opened in March for a new traffic signal at the intersection of Hugh Daniel Drive and Shelby County 41, but it likely will take 10 months to have them installed due to a backlog of orders in that industry, Dudchock said.

Design and survey work has been completed for road widening and intersections improvements on Valleydale Road from Interstate 65 to Bearden Road in Pelham, he said. That’s a joint project between the federal government, state, Shelby County, Hoover, Pelham and possibly Helena, he said.

Some resurfacing work recently was completed on Valleydale Road from Caldwell Mill Road to Lakeview Lane, and plans remain in the works for widening Valleydale from Caldwell Mill Road to Inverness Center Drive. That also is a joint project between the state, federal government, Shelby County and Hoover.

Dudchock talked a lot about governmental cooperation. He noted that Shelby County invested $304,000 for design fees for construction of the National Computer Forensics Institute at the Hoover Public Safety Center. The county got a good return on that investment, he said.

Over 11 years of operation, that facility has trained 10,519 people from all 50 states and U.S. territories, generating 118,371 hotel night stays. At an average stay of $90 per night, the county recouped all of its $304,000 investment, plus another $275,000 in lodging tax revenues. The American Village in Montevallo received another $231,000 in lodging tax revenues because of those hotel stays, he said.

Shelby County also invested a small amount in the Explore playground and splash pad at the Hoover Metropolitan Complex even though that complex is not in Shelby County, Dudchock said. That’s because county officials don’t believe another facility like that will be built in the region, and they see it benefiting both Shelby County residents and visitors, he said.

Shelby County plans to close its Inverness license office, but not before it builds and opens a new county services building near the intersection of U.S. 280 and Shelby County 41, he said.

Shelby County will move its sheriff’s substation for that part of the county there, and the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency plans to put a full-service driver testing site there as well, Dudchock said. That will be the third location in Shelby County for driver testing and Star IDs for driver’s licenses, with the current locations being in Columbiana and Pelham.

That new county services building should be ready to open in May 2021, said Chad Scroggins, who will replace Dudchock as county manager when Dudchock retires at the end of March.

Meanwhile, the county has completed four new restrooms, two basketball courts, two pickleball courts and two of three road projects at Oak Mountain State Park, Dudchock said. Close to nine miles of roads were repaved, with bike lanes on both sides of the road, he said. Also, improvements were made at the Alabama Wildlife Center in the park.

Over the last 20 months, the northern section of Cahaba River Park opened, including 17 miles of hiking and biking trails, pavilions and restrooms along the Cahaba River off Shelby County 13, Dudchock said.

COUNTY SERVICES AND CENSUS

Dudchock also discussed the importance of providing services to people who struggle with substance abuse, people with intellectual disabilities and people with mental illness who need psychiatric and therapy services.

Central Alabama Wellness, formerly known as Chilton Shelby Mental Health, served 4,374 people last year, an increase of 582 more clients than in 2018, he said.

Finally, Dudchock encouraged everyone to participate in the 2020 census because of the financial impact it will have on the state, counties and cities and the potential for Alabama to lose a seat in Congress if its population is not high enough. Anyone with a physical address who doesn’t receive a census form in the mail by March 20 should contact the U.S. Census Bureau, he said. People who don’t respond to the survey will receive home visits between May 13 and May 31, he said.