May 20, 2013
DOTHAN, AL--"Today is to show that we are committed and that we are going to move forward and that we believe that we are going to work it out," said Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz.
Friday commissioners approved a resolution to show their commitment to wanting a prospective company to occupy the Pemco facility at Dothan's airport.
A part of that resolution involves the city agreeing to do renovations to the airport if the deal goes through, totaling 12 million dollars.
"There are some basic things that need to be done to put the facilities in a good top rated condition to support future aviation opportunist there," said Dothan-Area Chamber of Commerce Matt Parker.
The city will pay 4 million dollars. The Wiregrass Foundation will pay 2 million. The other 6 million will come from the state.
The mayor says although the situation is disheartening, it's best to have everything squared away in the beginning.
"It's important to have everything completely resolved before we go ahead and make the announcement."
Just in case Dothan's airport control tower does close, Mayor Schmitz says they're still pursuing the company.
"We are going to look at a worst case scenario and then we're going to find a way to resolve this so that we can still get the company here and we can still get the jobs."
He says the number of potential jobs is one of the biggest reasons why it's important to make this deal happen.
"It will create payroll that we can flip 7 times and a lot of folks who lost their jobs and had to go somewhere else they can come home."
Yet another reason to remain hopeful.
Mayor Schmitz says the governor is still totally on board with the deal.
He also said they do have some ideas on how to resolve the tower issue if in fact it does close but they're still in the works.
Mayor Schmitz says he's meeting with Senator Richard Shelby on Monday.
