AROUND THE AREA

Opportunity comes to Alexander City

The gig economy has reached Alexander City by way of two food delivery apps, DoorDash and Waitr.

Amie Walmsley, a DoorDash driver, moved to Alex City last month expecting to have to commute to other cities to find delivery gigs. Not long after arriving, however, DoorDash added Alex City as one of its "zones." "I was like 'Hey, it's perfect,'" she said. "Right when I move here they add a zone here."

Walmsley said DoorDash has been in Alexander City since March 30. So far, only three fast food restaurants show up for Alexander City.

Since then a competitor has entered the market. Last week, Waitr, a regional platform based in Louisiana, was advertising for drivers on Facebook, though its app only listed one restaurant. Within the past week they've signed on a dozen local restaurants, both mom and pop businesses and fast food franchises.

Dianne Khan, matriarch of family-run restaurant Carib Kitchen, said a representative from Waitr came by earlier this week offering the Khans a free trial. Waitr would handle the logistics and provide an iPad to take orders from. After the one-month trial, Carib Kitchen would provide Waitr a 15% cut of every order delivered. Maliyah Norris, a Waitr driver, said having control of her own schedule is a plus as a parent. "You do it on your own time, pick what times are available to you, and you can start when you want to," she said. "So it's flexible if you have kids such as me." Walmsley, also a mother, drives for DoorDash and is able to bring her children along for the ride. Norris, an Alexander City resident, has been a Waitr driver for three months now. Up until a week ago, she had to drive to Montgomery for delivery gigs but now she's able to work locally. Sareth Chea, owner of Daylight Donuts, Providing Opportunities Daylight Donuts signed up for a free owner Sareth month with Waitr and Chea embraces said he's had some success, with seven bringing the Waitr orders in the first three days. opportunity ~Siri Hedreen to Alexander City.

Utility rates to see increase

Utility rates in Alexander City likely to increase as infrastructure improvements evolve.

In Alexander City’s sewer system alone, staff with the accounting firm Jackson Thornton have made presentations the city is only receiving $44 for every $100 it spends on sewage while other city utilities are close to breaking even or showing a slight profit. It leads to the conclusion that rates, especially sewage, have to increase for the city to prosper.

“Electric, water and gas are probably not going to see a lot of change,” Alexander City Mayor Woody Baird said. “Sewer is probably going to double. If we double sewer we are still going to be at a 50 percent loss.”

To help with the rate study increase the city has employed Chris Cousins and Municipal Consultants to help navigate potential rate increases. And the city has already found places to improve issues, which includes simplifying procedures for employees.

“We are trying to work through recategorizing,” Baird said. “We are trying to simplify our billing system. We are trying to have three categories in each utility and we have hit some obstacles.”

Baird said he has already had conversations with the Alexander City Housing Authority about the issue as it’s already budgeting for the next fiscal year. Councilmembers asked about when the issue might come to the table for a decision.

“We are going to get there; middle of summer we should have rate increase advice to bring to you and see what you’re thinking,” Baird told councilmembers. “We are trying to align it with the new budget.”

The rate studies done by Jackson Thornton were done from audited fiscal year 2017 numbers based on rate increases from 2008. Baird said rate increases are not popular but the city and councilmembers will just have to chalk it up to a decision that has not been made in many years. ~Cliff Williams