By Staff
Jonathan Willis
PHIL CAMPBELL – Several county residents took their opportunity to share concerns and voice their opinions with U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby Friday.
Shelby, a four-term Republican senator from Tuscaloosa, stopped in Phil Campbell late Friday afternoon as part of his annual trip across the state.
Meeting with local officials and county residents at the Phil Campbell community center, Shelby briefly spoke about a couple of national topics and then listened as several people shared concerns they have about certain issues.
Phil Campbell Mayor Jerry Mays told Shelby about the city's plan for an 80-acre industrial park along U.S. 43 near Spruce Pine and then expressed some concerns he has.
"We are educating so many children that are leaving Franklin County," Mays said. "It's time to do something about it."
Shelby agreed that providing good jobs in the county was necessary to keep people from leaving the area.
County Commissioner Rayburn Massey told Shelby that a major concern in the county's efforts to attract more industry is the fact that Corridor V has not been completed.
The Corridor V project will eventually make Alabama 24 a four-lane highway from the Mississippi state line to Decatur.
"It is a very important road and it ought to be finished," Shelby said.
The senator said work is progressing quickly on the completion of Corridor X, which is the construction of Interstate 22 just south of the county, which will connect Birmingham and Memphis. Once that work is finished, he hopes more money can be used to complete the Alabama 24 project.
"Hopefully we can pump some money into Corridor V then," Shelby said.
A number of issues were brought to Shelby's attention, including concerns about the high number of cancer patients in north Alabama, the current national housing crisis, education and vocational and technical training, border security and the outlook for food and farm production.