[Tuscaloosa] ROBERT DEWITT: City planning can’t infringe on property rights

The tornado that hit Tuscaloosa on April 27 didn’t create a blank slate. But the path of destruction is large enough to create visions of complete redevelopment.

Many of the areas hit are begging for redevelopment. The problem is, not everybody shares the same vision.

In about two and a half years of covering City Hall under Mayor Walt Maddox’s administration, I learned a few things. The mayor loves visionary plans. He thinks big and he thinks optimistically. He doesn’t think things move forward unless someone pushes them forward.

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[Tuscaloosa] City plans go beyond rebuilding, bringing cost up to $33M

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Task force to rebuild tornado's damage

TUSCALOOSA | The nearly 50 members of the Rebuild Tuscaloosa Task Force on Thursday learned the full scope of the work in front of them.  The task force must develop a comprehensive restoration and rebuilding plan for about 10 percent of the city of Tuscaloosa.  And do so within five weeks.

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City considers consultant for recovery

TUSCALOOSA | As the city’s newly formed task force on crafting a new Tuscaloosa prepares to hold its first meeting this week, the City Council is considering whether to hire a consultant to lead the team in a unified direction.

EDITORIAL: [Alabama] Forest Recovery Task Force is a good idea

Gov. Robert Bentley has created the Alabama Forest Recovery Task Force to help the state’s timber industry through the damage this has caused. Since timber in Alabama is grown as a commercial crop, it’s reasonable to wonder whether state government should have a direct role in a private industry.

Tuscaloosa task force visits Greensburg

GREENSBURG, Kansas (KSN) – After their town was devastated by a deadly tornado in April, a group from Tuscaloosa, Alabama toured Greensburg hoping to learn some tips on recovering from a storm.
“We just want to come out and try to learn what we can because we’re flying a plane in Tuscaloosa that we don’t know how to fly,” said William Tinker, Tuscaloosa Council Member.

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FEMA's Steve Wade gives an ESF-14 briefing at the Birmingham Joint Field Office.

FEMA's Steve Wade gives an ESF-14 briefing at the Birmingham Joint Field Office. Emergency Support Function 14 works with the state to bring together officials from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to identify and address the community's long-term disaster-related recovery strategy. FEMA photo/Tim Burkitt

Cordova Alamaba Council requests FEMA help with city’s long-term recovery

Read more: Daily Mountain Eagle - Council requests FEMA help with city’s long term recovery = 
CORDOVA — The Cordova City Council passed a resolution concerning the town’s long-term recovery during a special called meeting Thursday night.

The resolution, which passed unanimously, requests the help of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Long Term Recovery group and its partner agencies, also known as the Emergency Support Function Fourteen (ESF-14).

Cordova Fire Chief Dean Harbison said that the FEMA group would be able to provide support service to the city as well as to residents and business owners during the rebuilding process.

“It’s a panel through FEMA that will be able to help us with long-range planning,” Harbison said.

Harbison added that the partnership would provide access to professionals and resources that might not otherwise be available to the city and its citizens.

Read more: Daily Mountain Eagle - Council requests FEMA help with city’s long term recovery 

Towns hit by twisters offer rebuilding road map

By Jim Suhr and Jim Salter, POSTED: 05/26/2011

...Not far from Joplin, tiny Pierce City and Stockton rebuilt piece by piece after tornadoes reduced much of their prized downtowns to rubble, killing four. 

... "Some things came back bigger and better," said Johnson, who has spent all but four of her 48 years in Pierce City, where the population is down just 128 from a decade ago. "It's never going to be the way it was as far as physical attributes, and we lost the historical charm as far as downtown. But we're back." So is Stockton, eight years after the lakeside town was brought to its knees by the tornado that killed three people, nearly destroyed the town square and knocked out one-third of its 120 businesses. Hundreds of homes were damaged or destroyed, and the park was obliterated.

Residents wanted to start rebuilding immediately, Mayor Patty Thompson recalls. But the city council barred new construction for a few months, allowing for cool reflection about how the resurrected town should look.

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18147873?source=rss

FEMA Delivers Comprehensive Recovery Plans To Pierce City And Stockton

News Clip from 2003 ... FEMA deployed teams of technical specialists to develop plans to address the specific recovery issues of each city. Since the first week of July, engineers, architects, landscape architects, and economic development specialists have completed extensive field research, listened to community input, and analyzed the opportunities and constraints of each city. These plans identify projects which, when implemented, support and promote revitalization of the communities.

Joplin Long Term Community Recovery

JOPLIN NEWS AND INFO

Olive Hill Long Term Community Recovery Plan

Visit Olive Hill Council for Planning and Restoration site for the plan
http://www.olivehill.ky.gov/olivehillcpr/

Greensburg Recovery Info Blog Site

News and Resources for Greensburgs Long Term Community Recovery Progress

National Officals Tour Hackleburg

David Kumbroch, WHNT News 19 Reporter, 9:07 p.m. CDT, May 29, 2011

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and Congressman Robert Aderholt conducted an aerial survey of the damage before landing to tour volunteer sites and a few schools. They then conducted a brief community meeting with town leaders.  Napolitano told them, "Hang in there.  This is a strong, resilient community.  People's roots go back a long ways."

She pledged FEMA's commitment to a long-term recovery.  Napolitano assured, "This will be a marathon, not a sprint.  We are in it for the long haul."

Hackleburg Mayor Douglas Gunnin is confident the town will rebuild in time. Gunnin says, "They didn't build Rome in one day, so we're not going to get Hackleburg built back in one day.  I mean, we're talking about months, and probably a year."

However, Congressman Aderholt reminded leaders of the importance of working together at all levels. Aderholt pointed out, "It is imperative that the state and that the federal and the local government work together, and that's exactly what's been happening."

Both leaders made sure to point out that the federal government would help oversee the recovery from start to finish.

Mayor: No Hackleburg without Wrangler

By Michelle Rupe Eubanks, Published: Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 3:30 a.m. 

... U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., is expected to be in Hackleburg on Sunday or Monday to survey the site. Gunnin said Sessions told him he “would do whatever it took to keep Wrangler in Hackleburg. People at the state and federal level have all said they would help us out.”

It's that reassurance that keeps Gunnin convinced his optimism will pay off with a new plant, either on its current site on somewhere else in town limits. He also said he's encouraged by the other businesses that have begun the cleanup and rebuilding process in earnest.

“In 1943, Hackleburg got blown away, and we only had 300 or 400 people then, but we came back,” Gunnin said. “Now, we've got 1,527 people, and we're seeing progress. The Piggly Wiggly has got its place cleaned off; the Dollar General is about cleaned off. Crews have been working on the pharmacy and the doctor's office and across the street at Wachovia Bank.”