Meeting Tuesday night January 17, 2012

Below is an email that was mailed to everyone on the Dollar General email list.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Hi everyone, I met with the contractor, Chuck Byrd, last Tuesday to discuss the traffic island and the outside of the store among other topics.  He was very friendly and answered all of my questions without hesitation.  He assured me that the outside of the building is going to be all brick just like the pictures that they sent me before they started building.  He said that the siding that is up now is a vapor barrier. 

I asked him when the traffic island would be coming out and his reply was "whenever you tell me to do it."  He did say that it will put the entrance of the subdivision down to one lane for three or possibly four days.  So he would like me to get a consensus of when it would be best for the residents to have this done.  I talked with my wife and her concern is that buses may not be able to get in and out very easily if it is done during the week.  My concern is that getting in and out of the subdivision during rush hour during the week could be bad as well.  But the weekend is when everyone is generally home and running errands so maybe that isn't so great either.  Bottom line is the island has to come out and we will have to deal with the traffic headaches, but at least they are letting us pick when we feel we will be impacted the least.

I spoke with Chuck tonight and he is willing to come to my house tomorrow night at 5:45pm to meet with residents to answer any questions and to discuss when we want the island to come out.  (He did say that they are in the process of finishing up a store in Florence, KY, but as long as an emergency at that store doesn't come up, he will do everything he can to make it)  He also mentioned that any dirt or trees that they dig up from the island would be free to a good home if someone would stop down and pick them up.  He said that they can pull the trees out by their root ball so they can be replanted.  I volunteered to take one tree home with me, but there will be others available. 

I think we have a group of pretty level headed people who can carry on good conversations relative to the topic at hand, but let me say that this meeting is not the time or place to ask questions that Chuck can't answer and has no control over.  You don't go to McDonalds and complain to the 16 year old that takes your order that the fries cost too much, because there isn't a thing in the world the kid could do about it.  Likewise, asking why Dollar General chose this location, or why our Alexandria planning and zoning is requiring the the island to come out, is above Chuck's pay grade, and won't do a bit of good.  But on things that Chuck actually has control over I feel like he will do his best to accomodate us within reason. 

I encourage everyone to attend who can, and if you can't make it, feel free to send me an email with your question or concern and I will address them with Chuck. 

I know I don't have everyone's email addresses so feel free to forward this on to those I may have missed.

I hope to see you tomorrow night,

Andy Schabell